Nature as an Ecological Asset for Positive Youth Development: Empirical Evidence From Rural Communities.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Bowers EP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8213347 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:This study examined the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of a Chinese version of the 5-C Model of positive youth development (PYD), originally developed in the U.S., with a sample of rural and urban young adolescents in China. The Cs represent five youth strengths: competence, confidence, character, caring, and connection. The results of the exploratory factor analyses showed a reasonable data fit with the 5-C Model. The total and subscale scores evinced good internal reliability (α = .7 to .9) and the confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the convergence of the five Cs on a second-order latent factor of PYD, showing adequate goodness of fit (CFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.04). Metric and scalar invariance were found across gender. Metric and partial scalar invariance were found for rural-urban groups. Supportive evidence on convergent and discriminatory validity was also found. We conclude that the Chinese version of the 5-C PYD Scale is a reliable and valid instrument, with good construct validity for Chinese young adolescents.
| S-EPMC9333252 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPhysical activity, a high-frequency health behavior, varies by where children live, learn, and play. Children accumulate physical activity in adult-led in-school and out-of-school settings. Youth sport is a potential setting for physical activity, but there are differences in youth sport participation based on age, sex, and socioeconomic status. There is a gap in understanding demographic influences on youth sport participation and how these factors interact to influence physical activity. This study examines influences of grade, sex, and family income on youth sport participation and these factors and youth sport participation on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of children in rural communities.MethodsChildren (n = 418 3rd-6th graders) living in two rural communities completed the online Youth Activity Profile as part of Wellscapes, a type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness community randomized trial. Mixed models with community as a random effect examined main effects and interactions of grade, sex, and family income on youth sport participation and these factors and youth sport participation on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.ResultsAbout 80% of children engaged in youth sport, and full-pay lunch students were almost four times more likely to have youth sport participation than students with free/reduced lunch (OR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.95, 7.8). Females and 6th graders (p < 0.05) had lower physical activity than comparison groups. Males with higher family income had greater physical activity; females with higher family income had less physical activity. For 6th graders, high family income had less effect on physical activity than similar 3rd-5th graders (p < 0.01).ConclusionsWhile a fairly high percentage of children participate in youth sports, there are disparities in rural communities on youth sport participation and physical activity outcomes based on age, sex, and family income.
| S-EPMC8028731 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Online communities, which have become an integral part of the day-to-day life of people and organizations, exhibit much diversity in both size and activity level; some communities grow to a massive scale and thrive, whereas others remain small, and even wither. In spite of the important role of these proliferating communities, there is limited empirical evidence that identifies the dominant factors underlying their dynamics. Using data collected from seven large online platforms, we observe a relationship between online community size and its activity which generally repeats itself across platforms: First, in most platforms, three distinct activity regimes exist-one of low-activity and two of high-activity. Further, we find a sharp activity phase transition at a critical community size that marks the shift between the first and the second regime in six out of the seven online platforms. Essentially, we argue that it is around this critical size that sustainable interactive communities emerge. The third activity regime occurs above a higher characteristic size in which community activity reaches and remains at a constant and higher level. We find that there is variance in the steepness of the slope of the second regime, that leads to the third regime of saturation, but that the third regime is exhibited in six of the seven online platforms. We propose that the sharp activity phase transition and the regime structure stem from the branching property of online interactions.
| S-EPMC6333374 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Suicide is a leading cause of death among 10- to 19-year-olds in the United States, with 5% to 8% attempting suicide each year. Suicide risk rises significantly during early adolescence and is higher in rural and underserved communities. School-based universal prevention programs offer a promising way of reducing suicide by providing strategies for emotion regulation and encouraging help-seeking behaviors and youth-adult connectedness. However, such programs frequently run into difficulties in trying to engage a broad range of students. Text messaging is a dominant medium of communication among youths, and studies show both efficacy and uptake in text messaging interventions aimed at adolescents. Text-based interventions may, thus, offer a means for school-based universal prevention programs to engage adolescents who would otherwise be difficult to reach.We field tested Text4Strength, an automated, interactive text messaging intervention that seeks to reach a broad range of early adolescents in rural communities. Text4Strength extends Sources of Strength, a peer-led school suicide prevention program, by encouraging emotion regulation, help-seeking behaviors, and youth-adult connectedness in adolescents. The study tested the appeal and feasibility of Text4Strength and its potential to extend universal school-based suicide prevention.We field tested Text4Strength with 42 ninth-grade students. Over 9 weeks, students received 28 interactive message sequences across 9 categories (Sources of Strength introduction, positive friend, mentors, family support, healthy activities, generosity, spirituality, medical access, and emotion regulation strategies). The message sequences included games, requests for advice, questions about students' own experiences, and peer testimonial videos. We measured baseline mental health characteristics, frequency of replies, completion of sequences and video viewing, appeal to students, and their perception of having benefited from the program.Of the 42 participating students, 38 (91%) responded to at least one sequence and 22 (52%) responded to more than a third of the sequences. The proportion of students who completed multistep sequences they had started ranged from 35% (6/17) to 100% (3/3 to 28/28), with responses dropping off when more than 4 replies were needed. With the exception of spirituality and generosity, each of the content areas generated at least a moderate number of student replies from both boys and girls. Students with higher and lower levels of risk and distress interacted with the sequences at similar rates. Contrary to expectations, few students watched videos. Students viewed the intervention as useful-even those who rarely responded to messages. More than 70% found the texts useful (3 items, n range 29-34) and 90% (36) agreed the program should be repeated.Text4Strength offers a potentially engaging way to extend school-based interventions that promote protective factors for suicide. Text4Strength is ready to be revised, based on findings and student feedback from this field test, and rigorously tested for efficacy.
| S-EPMC6002669 | biostudies-other
Project description:This study evaluated effects of Positive Action, a school-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) intervention, on indicators of positive youth development (PYD) among a sample of low-income, ethnic minority youth attending 14 urban schools. The study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled design at the school level. A multiple-measure self-report protocol assessed four key strengths and resources for PYD: self-concept, peer affiliations, ethics, and social skills. Students (n=1170) were assessed from grades 3 to 8, the duration of the intervention, with drop-outs and late entrants included in analyses. Growth curve analyses revealed evidence of favorable program effects on each of the four types of resources. The study contributes to PYD research by providing evidence for school-based interventions in low-income, urban contexts for ethnic minority youth.
| S-EPMC4771016 | biostudies-other
Project description:As China's urbanization accelerates, ecological environmental issues have become increasingly prominent, and how to achieve the synergistic development of urbanization and ecological environment is worth exploring. The paper uses the Super-SBM model and the improved entropy method to calculate the ecological efficiency and the new urbanization in 63 counties in Zhejiang Province from 2000 to 2019. Furthermore, the coupling coordination degree between new urbanization and ecological efficiency is discussed with the coupling degree model, Markov chain, and spatial correlation methods, and its influencing factors are explored by the geographic detector. The results show that: (1) The development trends of new urbanization and ecological efficiency in Zhejiang Province counties both present a "U" shape. Their inflection points appeared in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The gap between counties is gradually narrowing. (2) The coupling coordination degree between new urbanization and ecological efficiency in Zhejiang Province counties also develops in a "U" shape with the minimum value appearing in 2006. Its temporal evolution is dominated by advancement towards a higher level and maintenance of the original type, with most countries advancing from General Disorder to Preliminary Coordination. There is a good positive correlation in the spatial distribution, showing significant High-High and Low-Low agglomeration. (3) In detecting the driving factors, the explanatory power of economic development, natural conditions and social conditions diminishes sequentially. The interaction groups mostly are nonlinear enhancements, and the rest are all two-factor enhancements. Social factors are the main interaction objects. (4) The empirical analysis verified the efficacy of the "Two Mountains" theory and the importance of government investment in the regional coordinated development.
| S-EPMC10513260 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although rapid urbanization is often considered as one of the most important drivers for changing dietary patterns, little attention has been paid to rural areas despite the profound transformation they have undergone. Using longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) for the period from 2004 to 2011, this study seeks to better understand the relationship between the urbanization of rural areas and dietary transition, with the focus on nutrition intake and dietary quality. Our results suggest that with increasing urbanization, rural residents tend to have on average lower calorie intakes but higher dietary quality. Specifically, increasing urbanization consistently reduces carbohydrate consumption and reduces fat consumption after a turning point; protein consumption first decreases and then increases after the turning point with increasing urbanization. Urbanization shows a significant and positive effect on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). In addition to sociodemographic changes, we find that changing consumer preferences and knowledge serve as important determinants in explaining the dietary transition in rural China from 2004 to 2011. In our study, urbanization appears to positively affect rural residents' healthy food preferences and dietary knowledge. This study is a first attempt for better understanding the nutrition transition resulting from accelerating urbanization in rural China; several limitations and areas for future research have been highlighted.
| S-EPMC7999076 | biostudies-literature
Project description:These studies are framed within Social Identity Theory and the Positive Youth Development approach. The aim is: (1) to analyze the relationship between group identification at school and key positive development variables (such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, assertiveness, empathy, alexithymia, satisfaction with life, and academic performance); and (2) examine the moderator role of context (rural or urban areas of residence) and sex in these relationships. The samples were composed of 246 adolescents from a rural context (Study 1) and 156 students from rural and urban contexts (Study 2). As proposed in our hypotheses, the results show statistically significant relationships between group identification and all the variables considered, higher group identification with the class in the rural context, and a moderator role of the context in the relationships between group identification and satisfaction with life, assertiveness, and empathy. These results are relevant for designing and implementing psychoeducational programs to promote positive youth development in both rural and urban contexts.
| S-EPMC7427468 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundRural youth often begin developing polysubstance use and other risk behaviors during middle school. However, little polysubstance use research focuses on rural middle school youth. Our research uses Latent Class Analysis to understand existing patterns of rural middle school polysubstance use and risk and protective factors associated with polysubstance use.MethodsWe used survey data from a rural middle school pregnancy prevention program (N = 2,708). The survey included measures of demographics, lifetime substance use, trauma (adverse childhood experiences and bullying victimization) and aspects of youth development (parent communication on drugs and alcohol, parent connectedness and school connectedness). We used latent class analysis to produce participant polysubstance use profiles and multinomial regression to examine associations between polysubstance use, demographics, trauma and aspects of youth development.ResultsWe categorized our participants into four latent classes. Our analysis classified 2.2% of participants as Regular Polysubstance users, 6.9% as Polysubstance experimenters, 19% as Vape + Alcohol experimenters and 71.9% as Non-Users. More adverse childhood experiences were associated with greater risk of polysubstance use and experimentation. Bullying was positively associated with greater risk of vape and alcohol experimentation. Higher reported parental and school connectedness were associated with lower risk of high frequency polysubstance use. Higher reported school connection was also associated with lower risk of polysubstance experimentation.ConclusionRural substance use prevention programs should begin during middle school, as polysubstance use development is common among rural middle schoolers. These programs should be trauma informed and focus on connectedness as a modifiable factor to reduce risk of polysubstance use development.Trial registrationThis article does not report results of a health care intervention on human participants.
| S-EPMC9753425 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe role of online health communities (OHCs) in patient empowerment is growing and has been increasingly studied in recent years. Research has focused primarily on individualistic conception of patients' empowerment, with much less attention paid to the role of OHCs in the development of patients' collective empowerment. Although OHCs have immense potential for empowerment that goes beyond the individual, the concept and scale of collective empowerment in OHCs have not yet been developed or validated.ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop an instrument for measuring collective empowerment in online health communities (CE-OHC) and to test its quality by investigating its factorial structure, reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity.MethodsThe CE-OHC scale was developed according to a strict methodology for developing valid and reliable scales. An initial set of 20 items was first tested in the pilot study conducted in 2016 using a sample of 280 registered users of Slovenia's largest OHC. A refined version with 11 items was tested in the main study conducted in 2018 on a random sample of 30,000 registered users of the same OHC. The final sample comprised 784 users. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to investigate the factorial structure, discriminant validity, and convergent validity of the scale. Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to determine the CE-OHC scale's internal consistency. To establish the predictive validity, ordinary least squares regression was performed to test the role of CE-OHC in users' civic participation.ResultsThe EFA resulted in a two-factor solution, and the two factors-knowledge of resources and resource mobilization for collective action-together explain 63.8% of the variance. The second-order CFA demonstrated a good fit to the data (root mean square error of approximation=0.07) and the scale had a good internal consistency (alpha=.86). Although evidence of the scale's convergent validity was partially provided, discriminant validity of the scale remained unconfirmed. Overall, CE-OHC was confirmed to be a predictor of users' civic participation, but the influence was somewhat weak and inconsistent across two subscales.ConclusionsThe proposed CE-OHC scale is a reliable and relatively valid instrument and serves as a good baseline to advance the measurement of collective empowerment in OHC contexts. This is the first scale developed for this purpose, and future research should focus on the development of a clear nomological network of the collective empowerment construct in relation to the OHC settings.
| S-EPMC6893566 | biostudies-literature