Abstract
The Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach identifies adolescents as resources to be empowered rather than problems to be solved. All adolescents have strengths and will fully develop when these strengths are integrated with healthy resources in the diverse environments where they live and interact. The objective of this study was twofold: (1) to present the Positive Development Program for Adolescents living in rural areas (DPAR Program) and (2) to pilot test the intervention program. The DPAR program was evaluated using a repeated-measures design before and after the intervention, with an intervention group and a control group. The sample consisted of 176 adolescents between 11 and 15 years old (M = 12.89, SD = 0.90) who belonged to two high schools with similar characteristics located in rural settings. A mixed-design analysis of variance was performed for each dependent variable. Results showed a significant increase in most of the study variables (self-esteem, self-efficacy, group identity, empathy, relational skills, assertiveness, and conflict resolution) and a significant decrease in alexithymia, as well as better academic performance. All this evidence indicates that the DPAR program is effective in promoting positive adolescent development and addresses the lack of programs based on the PYD approach in rural areas.
Highlights
In recent decades, models that focus on promoting competencies in adolescence have proliferated [1,2,3,4] because a reduction in or absence of risk factors does not necessarily ensure healthy development in adolescents [5,6]
Analyses were performed to test for possible differences in pre-test means (Table 4) between the intervention and control groups on Positive Youth Development (PYD) variables
Through the participation of young adults who are knowledgeable about the school and the rural setting, adolescents are exposed to models that allow them to visualize different life projects and establish positive, close, and trusting relationships, which are considered essential for adolescent development [5,62,63]
Summary
Models that focus on promoting competencies in adolescence have proliferated [1,2,3,4] because a reduction in or absence of risk factors does not necessarily ensure healthy development in adolescents [5,6]. It is based on the idea that adolescents have strengths that can be developed, rather than being the bearers of problems to solve [6,7] From this point of view, interventions based on universal social and emotional learning (SEL) can be considered the best ones for predicting adolescents’ long-term wellbeing [10]. For Brooks-Gunn and Roth [11], one of the greatest challenges in studying PYD is how to conceptualize and measure contexts. These authors believe that, without a doubt, research prior to the PYD approach studied the diverse contexts in which
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