Challenge: To Be+. A group intervention program to promote the positive development of adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.02.035Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The Challenge: To be+ program increased self-esteem and life satisfaction.

  • Girls benefited more with the intervention program than boys.

  • The participants evaluated positively the intervention program.

  • Participating in Challenge: To be+ promotes positive youth development.

Abstract

In the last decades, research has focused on the promotion of positive youth development by creating, implementing and assessing positive youth interventions programs. This study analyzes the effectiveness of a group intervention program, titled “Challenge: To Be+”, aimed to promote positive development of adolescents, focusing on positive emotions, character strengths, and optimal experiences. We assessed its impact on positive developmental dimensions (self-esteem, self-concept, psychological well-being and satisfaction with life) and tested gender as a predictor of program impact in the experimental group. Furthermore, we explored the perceptions and the evaluation of adolescents regarding the program and its contents, using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Participated 99 adolescents (55 girls and 44 boys) from the ninth grade, divided into experimental (n = 74) and comparison (n = 25) groups. Results showed higher levels of self-esteem and satisfaction with life at posttest in the experimental group when compared to the comparison group, after controlling for the pretest. Taking in consideration the experimental group, gender was a predictor of program improvement on positive developmental dimensions, indicating a stronger effect on girls. Qualitative and quantitative results showed a positive appraisal of the program, with no gender differences in this appreciation. Findings support the importance of this program for the promotion of positive youth development.

Introduction

In recent decades, a vested interest in research and practice to promote optimal functioning in adolescents has emerged (Larson, 2000; Linley & Proctor, 2013), framed from the perspective of positive youth development (Damon, 2004; Zarrett & Lerner, 2008). Although significant progress has been made, a substantial amount of effort is still needed to improve well-validated psychological intervention programs aiming to achieve positive youth functioning throughout daily life.

The purpose of this article is to present a group intervention program (Challenge: to Be+) designed to increase adolescent positive development and to evaluate its effectiveness. The evaluation of the program's outcomes provides an innovative contribution to the field of positive group intervention programs, as it includes two different approaches: an evaluation of the participants' positive developmental dimensions, using a pretest-posttest quantitative assessment, and an evaluation of the participants' perceptions about the program features, using a qualitative assessment.

Youth group intervention programs are usually delivered in mixed gender groups (males and females), but how gender is associated with intervention outcomes remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, gender will be studied as a predictor of program effects on positive developmental dimensions, with an attempt to provide new contributions for academics and practitioners interested in positive youth development and intervention methods for its promotion.

Adolescence has traditionally been described as a period of stress, characterized by several changes at multiple levels: the biological, psychological and social (Graber, Brooks-Gunn, & Petersen, 1996; Lerner et al., 2005). From this perspective, this period leads to a change in the adolescents' balance and psychological well-being, which may result in psycho-social disturbances and the development of maladaptive life trajectories (Bizarro, 1999). However, in recent decades, research on development in adolescence has received increasing scientific attention in better understanding and promoting positive development (Larson, 2000, Larson, 2002; Rich, 2003). This focus has led to the emergence of a new perspective on adolescence, defined as Positive Youth Development - PYD (Lerner & Galambos, 1998; Zarrett & Lerner, 2008). In this approach, adolescents do have strengths, which can be used to help them develop to their full potential, mainly when exposed to diverse resources and experiences and when synergies between their ecological settings are established (Lerner, 2005; Zarrett & Lerner, 2008).

Thus, the primary goal of youth psychological interventions is more than mitigating weaknesses and repairing deficits; they require understanding, educating and involving the adolescents in productive activities (Damon, 2004), providing the resources that allow them to grow and flourish (Park, 2004). Adolescents are viewed as resources to be developed, not as problems to be managed (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2003). In this perspective, the potential associated with developmental changes in adolescence is highlighted, in support of an evolutionary process that is itself positive (Lerner, Brentano, Dowling, & Anderson, 2002). This process is characterized by the progressive development of skills and competencies that offer multiple opportunities for growth. Adolescents are “able to be constructive agents of their own development” (Larson, 2006, p.677), creating healthy and positive developmental opportunities for themselves and others throughout exchanges with their main life contexts (Lerner, 2005). These interactions between individuals and contexts represent a key component of the PYD process (Lerner et al., 2011).

The concept of PYD emerged through various theoretical and empirical contributions, such as the concept of the plasticity of human development, studies on resilience and interests in the strengths of youth (Lerner, Phelps, Forman, & Bowers, 2009). Developmental scientists have suggested that it is possible to group these contributions into five categories that illustrate the key features related to positive development in adolescence, organized in the “Five Cs model” (Bowers et al., 2010; Lerner et al., 2005): Competence (a positive view of one's actions in specific areas such as social, academic, cognitive, health and vocational fields); confidence (a global sense of positive self-worth and self-efficacy); connection (a positive bond with people and institutions; exchanges between individual and family, peers, school, and community); character (respect for social, cultural, behavioral, and moral rules and integrity); and caring/compassion (a sense of empathy for others). When adolescents manifest these “Five Cs” over time, it is more likely that they develop a sixth “C”: Contribution (to self, family, community and the institutions of civil society) (Zarrett & Lerner, 2008). In PYD literature, the need to find ways to optimize youth potential for positive development has been strongly highlighted (Forrest-Bank, Nicotera, Anthony, & Jenson, 2015; Geldhof et al., 2014). Although PYD studies constitute a relatively small portion of the vast research on youth and adolescence (Barcelona & Quinn, 2011), the PYD approach appears to be a promising research line that can generate new theoretical and applied knowledge to support effective psychological interventions that enhance healthy and positive development in adolescence.

The importance of developing youth interventions that are focused on the promotion of positive development has been widely recognized (Freire, 2006a; Howell, Keyes, & Passmore, 2013; Linley & Proctor, 2013). In general, these intervention programs emphasize youth skills and embrace factors that enable adolescents to build a positive development (Lerner & Galambos, 1998). These programs usually integrate strategies and activities intentionally directed toward the development of positive feelings, positive behaviors or positive cognitions and are commonly called Positive Psychological Interventions – PPIs (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).

Traditionally, schools have been considered a favorable context for the implementation of PPIs. Many adolescents' daily activities are related to school life (Freire, 2004; Freire, Fonte, & Lima, 2007), making schools a significant part of their lifetime and thus a relevant developmental context in adolescence. The school has an important role to play not only in fostering cognitive development but also in promoting emotional and social development and in supporting the construction of a positive life trajectory (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Hester, Gable, & Manning, 2003; Noble & McGrath, 2014; Rutter, 2000; Visani, Albieri, & Ruini, 2014). In school contexts, positive youth development may be intentionally improved. However, as schools have limited resources to address all these developmental areas, evidence-based interventions that produce multiple benefits must be prioritized (Durlak et al., 2011).

The group context and the effectiveness of peer relationships within an intervention program also play a significant role in this type of intervention. Peer interactions are central to adolescent life, being an essential component of psychosocial experiences for youth (Rhee, Ciurzynski, & Yoos, 2008). The use of a group approach can address adolescents' psychosocial needs, such as obtaining peer approval and fostering a sense of belonging, can contribute to a better understanding of other individuals and can also promote self-esteem (Drumm, 2006). When one's peer group is perceived as a secure context, in which adolescents can express their experiences and ideas, identify with others and feel supported, it becomes a favorable context for change and growth (Rhee et al., 2008).

Research has demonstrated that positive intervention programs have a significant impact on youth life (Freire, 2006a; Kurtines, Montgomery, Arango, & Kortsch, 2004; Proctor, 2013). In a literature review on this topic (Proctor et al., 2011), the results showed beneficial effects on emotional, behavioral, social and academic dimensions among youth who participated in PYD programs. Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, and Hawkins (2004) also presented research findings related to positive youth development programs that illustrated positive changes in youth behavior: higher self-control, better cognitive and problem-solving skills, better academic performance, and lowers levels of aggressiveness and violence. Other studies have reported positive changes in behaviors related to the reduction of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and abuse and a decrease in sexual risk behaviors (Schwartz et al., 2010). Furthermore, the literature suggests that these programs contribute to the promotion of personal and social skills and the improvement of self-esteem and self-efficacy levels (Durlak et al., 2007). In two meta-analysis of school-based programs for positive development focused on social and emotional learning programs (Durlak et al., 2011; Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017), the findings demonstrated that the positive gains achieved by these programs remained statistically significant for a minimum of six months after the intervention. These program outcomes are promising and justify the need for further research in developing effective positive youth interventions programs that are scientifically validated, as they may contribute to positively changing adolescents' life. Still much remains to be known about the mechanisms and conditions under which these programs are most likely to be effective in increasing positive youth development (Layous & Lyubomirsky, 2014).

Research findings suggest that both individual and contextual characteristics can influence the effectiveness of interventions (Bierman et al., 2010; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). Gender appears as one of these characteristics, mainly when considering its role in adolescent development. As stated by Galambos (2004), “Biological, cognitive, and social changes that transform girls and boys into women and men bring to the fore the issue of gender differences and highlight gender as an issue critical to understanding adolescent development” (pp. 233). Gender affects timing for these changes to occur (Lenroot & Giedd, 2010) and the way youths deal and manage them (Perry & Pauletti, 2011). Gender differences have been reported in adolescents' perceptions, expressions of emotions, and behavior (Agam, Tamir, & Golan, 2015), and research has demonstrated that many risk and protective factors operate differently in boys and girls (Kavanagh et al., 2009; Kim, Oesterle, Catalano, & Hawkins, 2015; Wahl, Adelson, Patak, Pössel, & Hautzinger, 2014). A large research has also documented gender differences in mental health among children and adolescents showing significant implications of this variable to the development of mental health programming (Friedrich, Méndez, & Mihalas, 2010), with results on the efficacy of these programs being gender-based (Foret et al., 2012).

Although gender differences have been broadly recognized in adolescent development research, most studies do not examine or explain the influence of gender on the outcomes of positive intervention youth programs. Of the studies that did, gender differences exist with conflicting results. Main findings tend to identify stronger effects for girls than for boys (e.g., Caines & Center, 2010; Lerner et al., 2013; Wallace, Holloway, Woods, Malloy, & Rose, 2011), though others reported more gains for boys (e.g., Agam et al., 2015; Bierman et al., 2010; Flay, Graumlich, Segawa, Burns, & Holliday, 2004). Additionally, Taylor, Liang, Tracy, Williams, and Seigle (2002) found positive gender-specific outcomes related to areas of relative vulnerability for each gender. In a review article about the efficacy of positive psychological interventions in schools, Dawood (2013) found discrepancies in results associated to gender differences along a diversity of topics under study (e.g., well-being, or mental health). Again, some studies highlighted better outcomes for girls than for boys, in terms of self-esteem and self-efficacy (e.g., Wong, Lau, & Lee, 2012) and stress management (e.g., Foret et al., 2012,). Other studies found mixed results, with boys showing a greater increase in self-efficacy and a lesser increase in general distress and interpersonal sensitivity, self-esteem and optimism than girls (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014). On the other hand, some studies showed no gender differences concerning program effectiveness, specifically in terms of enhancing positive emotional experiences, optimism, and self-efficacy in peer interactions (Dimitropouloua & Leontopoulou, 2017). Explanatory hypotheses for these discrepant results as a function of gender were not given by most of the authors, so it is not clear if these results were due to the characteristics of the program or other factors. Dawood (2013) reported that some authors explained these disparities, namely in self-esteem and self-efficacy outcomes, as the result of lower levels of self-esteem in girls and given the discrepant cultural messages directed to boys related to the need to be strong and simultaneously emotionally expressive. Additionally, some methodological limitations were identified concerning the constitution of the control group that included a greater number of boys than girls.

All these findings underline the effect of gender in positive interventions outcomes and its contribution to a better understanding on how to achieve and maximize males and females changes into positive development. A focus on gender is even more relevant considering that gender differences in adolescents' development have been well established and that intervention programs are usually delivered in mixed-gender groups, mainly in school settings. Research needs moving beyond only focusing on whether intervention can increase positive youth development, but also trying to understand the mechanisms underlying eventual discrepancies in outcomes (Layous & Lyubomirsky, 2014). Following this perspective, and according to revised studies, we assumed the study of gender as a predictor of intervention effects on positive development.

This study presents a psychological group intervention program for adolescents titled Challenge: To Be+ (Challenge: To Be Plus), which is based on positive youth development and positive intervention assumptions. This program is designed to be a universal intervention (for all adolescents) and not focused on specific populations (e.g., for adolescents demonstrating adjustment problems). First and foremost, it aims to be a developmental program that intends to improve adolescents' skills and competencies to enable them to produce their own development. Through this program, they acquire a set of resources and learn how to apply these resources to manage daily life healthily. Three main topics were considered relevant, according to evidence from previous studies, for the construction of this positive psychological group intervention program: Positive emotions, character strengths, and optimal experiences.

Positive emotions have an important role in the well-being and adaptive functioning (Fredrickson, 2009; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005; Noble & McGrath, 2014). They have been associated with a healthier immune system (Salovey, Rothman, Detweiey, & Stewart, 2000), to a reduction in the negative impact of adverse situations (Fredrickson, 2009; Myers, 2000) and lower levels of anxiety and depression (Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006). They have also been related to higher sociability (Argyle, 2001) and an optimistic perspective about the future (Cha, 2003). Additionally, experiencing positive emotions has been shown to increase the likelihood of feeling good in the future (Fredrickson, 2003). Research findings have shown that positive emotions constitute an important factor in promoting creativity and flexibility in problem-solving (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005) and facilitating information processing, even when the information is negative and may potentially damage self-esteem (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000). Some psychological interventions for adolescents aimed at improving positive emotions have already been scientifically validated. These include intervention programs for optimism training (Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, & Gillham, 1995) and the promotion of hope (Marques, Lopez, & Pais-Ribeiro, 2011). Other authors, such as Terjesen, Jacofsky, Froh, and DiGiuseppe (2004), have also illustrated that promoting adolescents' involvement in social, academic, and sports activities may improve positive emotions and increase optimal functioning. In general, the more adolescents are exposed to positive resources and experiences that promote positive emotions and optimize the construction of synergies among their multiple life contexts, the greater the likelihood they have of reaching full development (Zarrett & Lerner, 2008). Research has shown that individuals need to experience three times more positive emotions than negative ones to increase thriving and positive development (Fredrickson, 2009; Fredrickson & Losada, 2005). Therefore, contributing to this ratio between positive and negative emotions and thus enhance this positivity (Fredrickson, 2009) in adolescents was one of the main aims of our intervention program. Research indicated that the implementation of exercises focused on things or experiences of daily lives that are perceived as being positive improves positive emotions. An example is the activity “Three good things” (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005), being one of the activities incorporated in our program.

Character strengths have been defined as a set of positive traits with an important moral value that is reflected in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Park, 2004). In the positive psychological literature, these strengths represent a key component of optimal development (Park & Peterson, 2009). Research findings suggest that character strengths are not only important in their own right (Proctor, 2013), but they may additionally contribute to a variety of positive outcomes and function as a buffer against a variety of negative outcomes, including psychological disorders (Park & Peterson, 2006; Rashid et al., 2013, Rashid et al., 2014). For example, previous results have shown a positive relation between character strengths and adolescent life satisfaction and academic performance (Park & Peterson, 2008). In addition, character strengths are associated with a decrease in problem behaviors, such as violence, drug and alcohol abuse, depression and suicidal ideation (Benson, Leffert, Scales, & Blyth, 2012).

Considering the positive outcomes associated with character strengths, in recent years, a growing interest to promote strengths among youth through intervention programs has emerged. This approach has been implemented in prevention-oriented interventions, in areas such as eating disorders (Steck, Abrams, & Phelps, 2004), problem behaviors (Jenson, Olympia, Farley, & Clark, 2004), bullying (Richards, Rivers, & Akhurst, 2008), and learning disabilities (Park & Peterson, 2008). This approach has also been developed among youth to increase positive development through character strengths-based exercises integrated into school curricula, showing a significant positive impact on life satisfaction (Proctor et al., 2011).

An important tool frequently used in strengths-based positive psychological intervention programs is the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth Survey, Peterson & Park, 2009), which identifies the character strengths of adolescents aged 10–17 years. One of the VIA assumptions is the belief that every adolescent has a strengths profile, in which some strengths – the signature strengths – are more salient than others (Park & Peterson, 2009) and that all these strengths may be developed and optimized through regular activities in daily life settings (Park & Peterson, 2009; Seligman et al., 2005). Therefore, helping adolescents recognize their strengths profile using the VIA Youth Survey and supporting them in identifying and mobilizing resources, strategies, and activities that could contribute to optimizing their full potential for flourishing represent a key component of our intervention program.

Optimal experience (flow) is defined as a multifaceted experiential state that is intrinsically motivating and related to positive emotions and improved cognitive processing (Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1989). This subjective experience is characterized by deep concentration, unselfconsciousness, control of one's actions and environment, distortion of time, involvement, enjoyment, and well-being (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, Csikszentmihalyi, 1993). Because this experience is globally positive and intrinsically rewarding, individuals seek to replicate information and opportunities for actions associated with this experiential state, and it becomes a source of meaning, supporting identity building (Delle Fave, 2009). This experience introduces a selective mechanism into psychological functioning that fosters the growth of skills over time (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). In fact, the emergence of the optimal experience depends on establishing a balance between high environment opportunities for action (challenges) and adequate personal skills in coping with them (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). It is this inner dynamic of the optimal experience that leads the self to higher levels of complexity and promotes positive development (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Delle Fave & Massimini, 2005).

The quality of subjective experience of flow has been associated with social and intellectual adolescent development (Bassi & Delle Fave, 2004), as well with the promotion of self-regulation skills (Hetkner, Asakawa, Knauth, & Henshaw, 2000). Additionally, when optimal experiences occur in the school context, they tend to be associated with higher school motivation (Bassi, Coppa, & Delle Fave, 2007) and better academic performance (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). Research findings have also highlighted the importance of optimal experiences for psychological well-being (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998; Hunter & Csikszentmihalyi, 2003) and positive development (Freire, Tavares, Silva, & Teixeira, 2016). Adolescents who experience flow more frequently feel happier, are more sociable (Hetkner et al., 2000), and experience higher levels of life satisfaction as well more involvement and creativity (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988).

Therefore, to understand and to promote flow experience, identifying daily activities that can support these experiences and create conditions to enable them to occur in everyday life of adolescents is assumed to be critical for PYD (Freire, 2006b; Miller & Nickerson, 2007). Accordingly, the promotion of optimal experiences became an important component of our intervention program, being an effective tool for adolescents to identify and select highly motivated activities. “By identifying activities that are intrinsically motivating and learning how to invest their attention in these activities, it pinpoints areas where optimal experience can be increased” (p. 255, Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).

The Challenge: To Be+ program involves a multidimensional conceptualization, differing from other intervention proposals focused on specific behaviors, emotions or particular domains of positive development. Based on the three topics presented previously, this program presents a three-module structure, related with positive emotions, character strengths, and optimal experiences. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first short-term program that incorporates these three topics in a school-based group psychological positive intervention, directly applied to middle adolescents. An overview of the program's structure and the respective sessions and main activities are presented in Table 1.

The total program is organized in eight-week sessions of 90 min each, to be delivered in school setting. Each session includes several structured activities (oral or written), involving individual reflections and/or interactive group work/discussions. These activities are complemented by an intersession activity, related with the contents addressed in the session. This activity is then shared and discussed in the next session. A technical manual was created to ensure that the whole program is implemented in the same way along different groups.

In this study, we examined the intervention's effectiveness of the Challenge: To Be+ program in a group of adolescents (males and females). Specifically, we were interested in evaluating how the participation in this intervention program, would benefit adolescents in terms of positive developmental dimensions (such as self-concept, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being). Thus, our first aim consisted of verifying whether these dimensions would be significantly improved in adolescents who participated in the program when compared to adolescents who did not participate in the program (research question 1).

According to gender issues and related findings on positive psychological intervention programs, our second aim was to analyze if gender (independent variable) predicts program effects regarding those positive developmental dimensions (research question 2). For this, we focused specifically on the group that was submitted to the program (intervention group).

Thirdly, we aimed to understand the perceptions of the adolescents who participated in the intervention regarding the program as a whole, and each session, assessing their perspectives about the characteristics of the program, as well as about their own participation and the perceived impact in their lives (research question 3). At this point, we also aimed to examine gender differences concerning adolescents' own quantitative evaluation about how much they appreciated participating in the intervention sessions and program as a whole.

Section snippets

Participants

In total, 99 adolescents in ninth grade at a Portuguese urban school participated in this study. The majority of the adolescents were Portuguese (94%), and 6% had another nationality. The sample was composed of 55 girls (56%) and 44 boys (44%), aged between 13 and 17 years (M = 14.34; SD = 0.69).

Sociodemographic characteristics

We used a sociodemographic questionnaire to obtain participant information regarding gender, age, and nationality.

Quantitative measures for program evaluation

Four instruments were used to evaluate the effects of the program on adolescents'

Descriptive statistics and reliability

Table 2 presents the mean and standard deviation for all variables, taking into consideration both groups (intervention and comparison), gender (girls and boys), total sample and assessment moments (pretest and posttest). All variables presented good to excellent internal consistency (Gliem & Gliem, 2003).

The groups before the intervention

Regarding demographic variables, the intervention and comparison groups were similar in terms of age and gender. The intervention group included 44 girls (59.5%) and 30 boys (40.5%) and had a

Discussion

This study has important implications for the research and practice of positive youth development. The primary purpose was to test the effectiveness of a psychological group intervention program, called Challenge: to Be+ (Challenge: to Be plus), in promoting the positive development of adolescents. In this study positive development is expressed in terms of self-concept, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being. In general, the results showed that the program was

Funding

This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653).

Conflict of interest

None.

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