Abstract
Adolescent developmental issues, such as mental health problems, substance abuse, and egocentric behavior, of university students are examined. This conceptual review generally shows that although there are related issues among university students deserving greater attention, there is a general lack of systematic prevention or positive youth development programs adopting the principle of universal prevention. In contrast to the abundance of universal adolescent prevention and positive youth development programs specifically designed for high school students, similar programs are grossly lacking in the university educational context. This paper highlights the factors contributing to such negligence in university education and the possible strategies that can be adopted to help university students develop in a holistic manner.
Highlights
Adolescence is a period of transition when intense changes in different domains take place
With reference to the growing adolescent developmental issues, such as substance abuse, gambling, and delinquency in high schools, there are adolescent prevention and positive youth development programs designed for high school students
With regard to adolescent substance abuse, a review of the programs at the Centre for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S Government showed that there are hundreds of programs developed for high school students and some of them have been shown to be effective in reducing adolescent substance abuse[1]
Summary
Adolescence is a period of transition when intense changes in different domains take place. Different advisory bodies of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are actively emphasizing the importance of nurturing qualities in young people Against such a background and adopting the argument that adolescent developmental issues do not disappear overnight, Shek et al.[43] argued that the development of credit-bearing courses on positive youth development would be helpful in order to nurture university students and proposed several principles in the development of such courses. These included holistic student development, responding to community concern about young people, preparing students for adulthood and general education with life-long benefits, uniqueness, universal coverage, theory-driven general education programs, and research-driven general education programs. The constructs are as follows: 1. Promotion of Bonding: Developing program participants‘ relationship with healthy adults and positive peers in the extrafamilial contexts (school, community, and cultural contexts), and caregivers and significant others in the intrafamilial context
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