Page 84 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 84
positive youth development in contexts
in girls compared to boys (Jeriček Klanšček et al., 2018) reported an increase
in anxiety disorders from 2008 to 2014. While the majority of adolescents
are satisfied with their lives (Jeriček Klanšček et al., 2018), these alarming
trends call for additional support and research in the area of youth devel-
opment. One possible systemic solution may be the PYD perspective and
its tailored interventions.
The present study
PYD is a well-researched paradigm, albeit mostly in the USA. Therefore,
the first aim of this study is to consider whether PYD can be extended for
use in the Slovenian context. Since studies examining the psychometric
properties of the Developmental Assets Profile and the short version of the
PYD questionnaire are lacking, we consider the reliability and structur-
al validity of both questionnaires in the Slovenian context. We hypothe-
sise that the data will indicate a good fit for the two questionnaires be-
cause both have been proven to be psychometrically sound measures in
the European context (Conway et al., 2015; Gomez-Baya et al., 2021). We
hypothesise that the bifactor model of the 5Cs will have a better fit than a
model containing 5 first-order factors. Further, we hypothesise that metric
invariance will be (at least partly) established for gender and school level.
The second aim of this paper is to examine differences in the assets and 5Cs
across gender and school level (lower secondary schools vs. upper second-
ary schools). It is particularly important to consider possible gender and
school-level differences to be able to efficiently tailor interventions accord-
ing to students’ needs as it is crucial that, before planning interventions, re-
searchers gain as much information as possible to fully contextualise the
interventions (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016). Thus, an in-depth examination
of gender and school-level differences may provide additional information
on how developmental assets and the 5Cs are distributed in each group
and contribute to effective interventions. In line with previous studies (e.g.
Årdal et al., 2018; Gomez-Baya et al., 2019; Gomez-Baya et al., 2021; Soares
et al., 2019), we hypothesise that some gender and school-type differences
will be detected in DA and the 5Cs. More precisely, females will score high-
er for support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, commitment
to learning, positive values, and social competencies. Students from low-
er secondary schools will have more DA than students from upper second-
ary schools. As for the 5Cs, females will report higher scores for connec-
tion, character and caring than males, who will report greater confidence
84
in girls compared to boys (Jeriček Klanšček et al., 2018) reported an increase
in anxiety disorders from 2008 to 2014. While the majority of adolescents
are satisfied with their lives (Jeriček Klanšček et al., 2018), these alarming
trends call for additional support and research in the area of youth devel-
opment. One possible systemic solution may be the PYD perspective and
its tailored interventions.
The present study
PYD is a well-researched paradigm, albeit mostly in the USA. Therefore,
the first aim of this study is to consider whether PYD can be extended for
use in the Slovenian context. Since studies examining the psychometric
properties of the Developmental Assets Profile and the short version of the
PYD questionnaire are lacking, we consider the reliability and structur-
al validity of both questionnaires in the Slovenian context. We hypothe-
sise that the data will indicate a good fit for the two questionnaires be-
cause both have been proven to be psychometrically sound measures in
the European context (Conway et al., 2015; Gomez-Baya et al., 2021). We
hypothesise that the bifactor model of the 5Cs will have a better fit than a
model containing 5 first-order factors. Further, we hypothesise that metric
invariance will be (at least partly) established for gender and school level.
The second aim of this paper is to examine differences in the assets and 5Cs
across gender and school level (lower secondary schools vs. upper second-
ary schools). It is particularly important to consider possible gender and
school-level differences to be able to efficiently tailor interventions accord-
ing to students’ needs as it is crucial that, before planning interventions, re-
searchers gain as much information as possible to fully contextualise the
interventions (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016). Thus, an in-depth examination
of gender and school-level differences may provide additional information
on how developmental assets and the 5Cs are distributed in each group
and contribute to effective interventions. In line with previous studies (e.g.
Årdal et al., 2018; Gomez-Baya et al., 2019; Gomez-Baya et al., 2021; Soares
et al., 2019), we hypothesise that some gender and school-type differences
will be detected in DA and the 5Cs. More precisely, females will score high-
er for support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, commitment
to learning, positive values, and social competencies. Students from low-
er secondary schools will have more DA than students from upper second-
ary schools. As for the 5Cs, females will report higher scores for connec-
tion, character and caring than males, who will report greater confidence
84
