Positive Youth Development in Organized Programs: How Teens Learn to Manage Emotions

Rusk, Natalie; Larson, Reed; Raffaelli, Marcela; Walker, Kathrin C.; Washington, La Tesha; Gutiérrez, Vanessa; Kang, Hyeyoung; Tran, Steve P.; Perry, S. Cole

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6398-2_15

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Our findings were derived with qualitative research and we are now moving to mixed methods. What we find is that youth gain networks of insights on how to navigate different types of small and larger challenges, such as: the challenges of working in teams (e.g., coordinating self, other, and group ;Larson 2007;Perry 2013); the puzzles of emotional processes (e.g., learning to understand and even use the powerful effects have on cognition, motivation, and self; Larson and Brown 2007;Rusk et al 2013); and the challenges of working to reach positive individual or collective goals in complex and sometimes disorderly real-world contexts (Larson and Angus 2011).…”

Section: Developmental Challengesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Invited Commentary: Positive Youth Development and Human Complexity

Larson

Tran

2014

J Youth Adolescence

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The process of positive development for adolescents includes struggling to address a wide variety of complex, often unstated bio-psycho-social-cultural challenges. These include formulating workable values, learning self-regulation, preparation for adult work roles-and innumerable other un-tidy puzzles. Variable-based research can only scratch the surface of how youth go about these processes; nonetheless, systematic longitudinal research like this can provide valuable information about developmental pathways and directions of change. Highlights from these papers include the finding that older youth report more goals aimed at meaningful connection with others and contributing to society; yet also that moral character did not differ by age. The papers suggest that relationships adults, hope, school engagement, participation in out-of-school programs, and intentional self-regulation can serve as mediators of positive development. Yet, a striking finding was that comparatively few youth in the study manifest a pattern of change marked by the coupling of increases in positive youth development and decreases in risk/problem behavior. We believe there is much beneath the surface to be uncovered.

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Section: Developmental Challengesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Invited Commentary: Positive Youth Development and Human Complexity

Larson

Tran

2014

J Youth Adolescence

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“…School‐based organizations can provide appropriate contexts to foster positive development competencies, such as self‐reflection, agency, bravery, and civic engagement (Mahoney, Larson, & Eccles, ; National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, ; Rusk et al., ). However, because of their stigmatized identities, LGBT youth may face additional challenges in finding safe contexts for developing these strengths.…”

Section: Gsas and Person‐environment Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Person‐Environment Fit and Positive Youth Development in the Context of High School Gay–Straight Alliances

Calzo

Poteat

Yoshikawa

et al. 2018

J of Research on Adolesc

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Drawing from a person-environment fit framework, we identified profiles of youth in gay-straight alliances (GSAs) based on the extent to which they received information/resources, socializing/support, and advocacy opportunities in their GSAs and the extent to which this matched what they desired from their GSA along these three functions. Further, we examined profile differences in positive developmental competencies while accounting for community-contextual factors. In a sample of 290 youth from 42 Massachusetts GSAs, latent profile analyses identified five subgroups. Overall, youth receiving less from their GSAs than they desired, particularly regarding opportunities for advocacy, reported lower levels of self-reflection, bravery, civic engagement, and agency than youth who received information, socializing/support, and advocacy that matched or exceeded what they desired.

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“…When youth are ready, leaders help them capitalize on the potential for focused attention—to use the anxiety and worry for problem-solving on the challenges in their work. In an analysis of a similar case example of anxiety, Rusk et al (2013), suggested that a program leader’s strategy was to shift a youth’s attention from an initial reaction—in which attention may focus on fear of failure and avoidance—to a process of challenge appraisal, in which attention is focused on problem-solving. Not every youth in this subset experienced extreme disruptive anxiety; many seemed to benefit from leaders helping them to use anxiety for problem-solving.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because youth trust program leaders, they may be more willing to talk with them about sensitive issues like self-doubt, anxiety, and feelings of failure. Several studies suggest that youth programs are contexts in which adolescents learn about emotions that arise in their projects (e.g., excitement, anger), and that staff sometimes play a coaching role in supporting emotional learning (Larson, 2011; Rusk et al, 2013; Smith et al, 2016), but these studies did not focus on how staff support teens who are experiencing disruptive anxiety.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the one hand, programs for adolescents often engage them in projects with difficult real-world challenges (e.g., creating videos, planning events, producing a play), which can lead members, like Amanda, to have experiences of being overwhelmed by anxiety (Larson, McGovern, & Orson, 2019). At the same time, these programs can provide favorable conditions and supports for youth’s project work and for learning to manage strong emotions (Larson & Brown, 2007; Rusk et al, 2013). Members are typically highly invested in their projects and learning from them; programs generally have a culture that supports learning from mistakes; and youth often develop positive mentoring relationships with program staff (henceforth: “program leaders”) (Smith et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Helping Teens Overcome Anxiety Episodes in Project Work: The Power of Reframing

Orson

Larson

2020

Journal of Adolescent Research

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Overwhelming challenges in youth program projects (e.g., arts, leadership, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM]) can create intense anxiety for adolescents that disrupts engagement in their work. This study examines how experienced program leaders respond to these episodes to help youth overcome anxiety. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 veteran leaders from high-quality youth programs about their experiences with these situations. Programs primarily served Latinx, African American, and European American youth (ages 11–18). We utilized grounded theory analysis to examine leaders’ descriptions of the situations, their strategies, and the goals of those strategies. Leaders’ most frequent response was reframing—providing youth new cognitive frames to understand anxiety-eliciting situations, reduce anxiety, and restore motivation. We identified three types of reframing strategies. First, reframing youth’s understanding of their abilities entailed providing youth new perspectives for enhancing their conceptions of their competencies in the work. Second, reframing youth’s understanding of challenge involved suggesting new frameworks for youth to assess and control work challenges. Third, reframing emotion involved helping youth understand anxiety as normal and as a tool for problem-solving. The findings also suggest these strategies help youth learn skills for managing situations that create anxiety in future work.

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Positive Youth Development in Organized Programs: How Teens Learn to Manage Emotions

Cited by 15 publications

References 25 publications

Invited Commentary: Positive Youth Development and Human Complexity

Invited Commentary: Positive Youth Development and Human Complexity

Person‐Environment Fit and Positive Youth Development in the Context of High School Gay–Straight Alliances

Helping Teens Overcome Anxiety Episodes in Project Work: The Power of Reframing

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