Abstract

To assess the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S., a randomized group trial with eight waves of data collected was carried out. At the fifth year of data collection, 19 experimental schools (n = 2, 662 students) and 24 control schools (n = 3, 272 students) participated in the study. Analyses based on individual growth curve modeling showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools in terms of different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including moral competence and behavioral competence and cognitive behavioral competencies. Significant results were also found when examining the trajectories of psychological development among control and experimental participants who perceived the program to be beneficial. Findings based on longitudinal objective outcome evaluation strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is effective in promoting positive development in Hong Kong secondary school students.

Highlights

  • In a Chinese society such as Hong Kong, stress arising from academic excellence and subtle social competition is relevant for Chinese adolescents

  • As we focused on the entire model, maximum likelihood (ML) method was used [21]

  • Objective outcome evaluation via randomized trials is commonly regarded as the “gold standard” in establishing causal relationships

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Summary

Introduction

With physical and cognitive maturation taking place in puberty, intrapersonal, and interpersonal changes in adolescents intensify and there are growing social demands and expectations during adolescence. Because of these changes, adolescence is regarded as an age of stress. The stressors confronting an adolescent might include family stressors (e.g., parental conflict, parental marital problems), interpersonal stressors (e.g., no friends), academic stress (e.g., examination stress), living circumstances-related stressors (e.g., immigration), financial stressors (e.g., poverty), developmental stressors (e.g., early or late maturing), psychological stressors (e.g., lack of life meaning), and social stressors (e.g., high competition). In a Chinese society such as Hong Kong, stress arising from academic excellence and subtle social competition is relevant for Chinese adolescents. How to cope with stress in adolescence is an important developmental task for adolescents

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