Page 100 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 100
positive youth development in contexts
thereby making it important to ensure enough opportunities to boost their
self-perceptions and good feelings about their future. Another ambigu-
ous finding was that females scored higher for Commitment to learning
and Social competencies, but lower for Competence. The reason for this
might lie in athletic competence, which is included in Competence, indi-
cating that females should be encouraged to find a sport they enjoy. Males
reported lower Positive values and Character, which suggests they should
be included in several activities that allow them to boost their character
strengths (i.e. to identify their signature strengths, exercise their strengths).
Males should also be included in some form of social and emotional learn-
ing programme to increase their Social competencies and foster empathy.
Since there were only minor differences across DA and the 5Cs with
respect to school level, suggesting that lower secondary students are slight-
ly better off than upper secondary students, the latter should be involved in
a comprehensive intervention that includes the whole classroom. Especially
first-grade students in upper secondary schools should be properly wel-
comed in their new school and be allowed to spend some quality and bond-
ing time with their classmates and their teachers without focusing on learn-
ing. When positive bonds are established among them, they should become
more satisfied with themselves (i.e. a higher Positive identity) and connect-
ed to their peers, schoolmates and teachers.
Conclusions
The present study aimed to consider the psychometric properties of two
PYD-related questionnaires in the Slovenian context and examine gen-
der and school-level differences in developmental assets and the 5Cs. The
results show that both PYD-related questionnaires can be used in the
Slovenian context, although several recommendations are provided for
the Developmental Assets Profile due to the lower factor loadings for cer-
tain constructs. At least partial scalar invariance was established for gen-
der and school level, indicating that the differences between them were
not a consequence of the measures. Male and female students differed in
several developmental assets (i.e. Support, Empowerment, Positive iden-
tity, Commitment to learning, Positive values, Social competencies) and
all 5Cs. Fewer differences were examined between lower and upper sec-
ondary school students as they differed in some developmental assets (i.e.
Support, Constructive use of time, Commitment to learning, Social com-
petencies, and Positive identity) and only 2 of the 5Cs (i.e. Competence and
100
thereby making it important to ensure enough opportunities to boost their
self-perceptions and good feelings about their future. Another ambigu-
ous finding was that females scored higher for Commitment to learning
and Social competencies, but lower for Competence. The reason for this
might lie in athletic competence, which is included in Competence, indi-
cating that females should be encouraged to find a sport they enjoy. Males
reported lower Positive values and Character, which suggests they should
be included in several activities that allow them to boost their character
strengths (i.e. to identify their signature strengths, exercise their strengths).
Males should also be included in some form of social and emotional learn-
ing programme to increase their Social competencies and foster empathy.
Since there were only minor differences across DA and the 5Cs with
respect to school level, suggesting that lower secondary students are slight-
ly better off than upper secondary students, the latter should be involved in
a comprehensive intervention that includes the whole classroom. Especially
first-grade students in upper secondary schools should be properly wel-
comed in their new school and be allowed to spend some quality and bond-
ing time with their classmates and their teachers without focusing on learn-
ing. When positive bonds are established among them, they should become
more satisfied with themselves (i.e. a higher Positive identity) and connect-
ed to their peers, schoolmates and teachers.
Conclusions
The present study aimed to consider the psychometric properties of two
PYD-related questionnaires in the Slovenian context and examine gen-
der and school-level differences in developmental assets and the 5Cs. The
results show that both PYD-related questionnaires can be used in the
Slovenian context, although several recommendations are provided for
the Developmental Assets Profile due to the lower factor loadings for cer-
tain constructs. At least partial scalar invariance was established for gen-
der and school level, indicating that the differences between them were
not a consequence of the measures. Male and female students differed in
several developmental assets (i.e. Support, Empowerment, Positive iden-
tity, Commitment to learning, Positive values, Social competencies) and
all 5Cs. Fewer differences were examined between lower and upper sec-
ondary school students as they differed in some developmental assets (i.e.
Support, Constructive use of time, Commitment to learning, Social com-
petencies, and Positive identity) and only 2 of the 5Cs (i.e. Competence and
100
