David M. Hansen

What Adolescents Learn in Organized Youth Activities: A Survey of Self-Reported Developmental Experiences

This research inventoried adolescents reports on different developmental and negative experiences in organized youth activities, including extracurricular and community-based activities. High school students experiences were assessed using a newly developed instrument, the Youth Experiences Survey (YES). These youth reported higher rates of learning experiences in youth activities than in 2 other major contexts of their lives. Youth activities were associated with experiences related to initiative, identity exploration and reflection, emotional learning, developing teamwork skills, and forming ties with community members. The findings also suggest that different youth activities offer distinct patterns of learning experiences. Service, faith-based, community, and vocational activities were reported to be frequent contexts for experiences related to identity, prosocial norms, and links to adults. Sports were a frequent context for those related to identity work and emotional development.

Differing profiles of developmental experiences across types of organized youth activities.

This study inventoried the types of developmental and negative experiences that youth encounter in different categories of extracurricular and community-based organized activities. A representative sample of 2,280 11th graders from 19 diverse high schools responded to a computer-administered protocol. Youth in faith-based activities reported higher rates of experiences related to identity, emotional regulation, and interpersonal development in comparison with other activities. Sports and arts programs stood out as providing more experiences related to development of initiative, although sports were also related to high stress. Service activities were associated with experiences related to development of teamwork, positive relationships, and social capital. Youth reported all of these positive developmental experiences to occur significantly more often in youth programs than during school classes.

Adolescents' Accounts of Growth Experiences in Youth Activities

Little theory and research exists on the developmental processes that occur during adolescents participation in extracurricular and community based-activities. As a step in that direction, we conducted 10 focus groups aimed at getting high school students descriptions of their “growth experiences” in these activities. The youth reported both personal and interpersonal processes of development. The personal experiences included experimentation and identity work, development of initiative skills such as learning to set goals and manage time, and learning strategies for emotional regulation. The interpersonal experiences included acquiring new peer relationships and knowledge, developing group social skills such as taking responsibility and how to work together as a team, and developing valuable connections to adults. Across domains, adolescents described themselves as the agents of their own development and change. Youth activities appear to be a context in which adolescents are active producers of development.

The Development of Strategic Thinking: Learning to Impact Human Systems in a Youth Activism Program

Human systems, including institutional systems and informal social networks, are a major arena of modern life. We argue that distinct forms of pragmatic reasoning or ’strategic thinking‘ are required to exercise agency withinsuch systems. This article explores the development of strategic thinking in a youth activism program in which young people worked for social change. These youth came to understand different human systems, the school board, teachers, and students, and they learned to employ three strategic modes of reasoning: seeking strategic information, framing communications to the audience, and sequential contingency thinking. Although youth described themselves as agents of their development, adults played important roles in supporting their experience of a cycle of experiential learning. These findings suggest how the new cognitive potentials of adolescence allow youth to develop modes of reasoning that expand their capacity to exercise agency over a longer arc of time and across a wider interpersonal space.

Peripheral insulin and brain structure in early Alzheimer disease

Objective: Accumulating evidence suggests insulin and insulin signaling may be involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease (AD). The relationship between insulin-mediated glucoregulation and brain structure has not been assessed in individuals with AD. Methods: Nondemented (Clinical Dementia Rating [CDR] 0, n = 31) and early stage AD (CDR 0.5 and 1, n = 31) participants aged 65 years and older had brain MRI to determine whole brain and hippocampal volume and 3-hour IV glucose tolerance tests to determine glucose and insulin area under the curve (AUC). Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship of insulin and glucose with brain volume, cognition, and dementia severity. Results: In early AD, insulin and glucose AUCs were related to whole brain (insulin β = 0.66, p < 0.001; glucose β = 0.45, p < 0.01) and hippocampal volume (insulin β = 0.42, p < 0.05; glucose β = 0.46, p < 0.05). These relationships were independent of age, sex, body mass index, body fat, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Insulin AUC, but not glucose, was associated with cognitive performance in early AD (β = 0.40, p = 0.04). Insulin AUC was associated with dementia severity (Pearson r = −0.40, p = 0.03). Glucose and insulin were not related to brain volume or cognitive performance in nondemented individuals. Conclusions: Increased peripheral insulin is associated with reduced Alzheimer disease (AD)–related brain atrophy, cognitive dysfunction, and dementia severity, suggesting that insulin signaling may play a role in the pathophysiology of AD.

Everybody's gotta give: Development of initiative and teamwork within a youth program

R.M. Lerner, Foreword: Promoting Positive Youth Development Through Community and After-School Programs. Part 1. Social and Cultural Perspectives. J.L. Mahoney, R.W. Larson, J.S. Eccles, H. Lord, Organized Activities as Development Contexts for Children and Adolescents. D.A. Kleiber, G.M. Powell, Historical Change in Leisure Activities During After-School Hours. D.W. Osgood, A.L. Anderson, J.N. Shaffer, Unstructured Leisure in the After-School Hours. D.M. Casey, M.N. Ripke, A.C. Huston, Activity Participation and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents in the Context of Welfare Reform. S. Pedersen, E. Seidman, Contexts and Correlates of Out-of-School Activity Participation Among Low-Income Urban Adolescents. F.A. Villarruel, M. Montero-Sieburth, C. Dunbar, C.W. Outley, Dorothy, There Is No Yellow Brick Road: The Paradox of Community Youth Development Approaches for Latino and African American Urban Youth. B. Kirshner, J. ODonoghue, M. McLaughlin, Youth-Adult Research Collaboration: Bringing Youth Voice to the Research Process. Part 2. Developmental Processes and Outcomes. R. Larson, D. Hansen, K. Walker, Everybodys Gotta Give: Development of Initiative and Teamwork Within a Youth Program. B.L. Barber, M.R. Stone, J.E. Hunt, J.S. Eccles, Benefits of Activity Participation: The Roles of Identity Affirmation and Peer Group Norm Sharing. H. Stattin, M. Kerr, J. Mahoney, A. Persson, D. Magnusson, Explaining Why a Leisure Context Is Bad for Some Girls and Not for Others. J.E. Jacobs, M.K. Vernon, J.S. Eccles, Activity Choices in Middle Childhood: The Roles of Gender, Self-Beliefs, and Parents Influence. S.A. ONeill, Youth Music Engagement in Diverse Contexts. T.K. Scanlan, M.L. Babkes, L.A. Scanlan, Participation in Sport: A Developmental Glimpse at Emotion. J.L. Duda, N. Ntoumanis, After-School Sport for Children: Implications of a Task-Involving Motivational Climate. H. McIntosh, E. Metz, J. Youniss, Community Service and Identity Formation in Adolescents. J.S. Eccles, The Present and Future of Research on Activity Settings as Developmental Contexts. Part 3. Integrating Research, Practice, and Policy. K. Pittman, J. Tolman, N. Yohalem, Developing a Comprehensive Agenda for the Out-of-School Hours: Lessons and Challenges Across Cities. J. Walker, M. Marczak, D. Blyth, L. Borden, Designing Youth Development Programs: Toward a Theory of Developmental Intentionality. J. Rhodes, R. Spencer, Someone to Watch Over Me: Mentoring Programs in the After-School Lives of Children and Adolescents. D.L. Vandell, L. Shumow, J. Posner, After-School Programs for Low-Income Children: Differences in Program Quality. S.A. Gerstenblith, D.A. Soule, D.C. Gottfredson, S. Lu, M.A. Kellstrom, S.C. Womer, S.L. Bryner, After-School Programs, Antisocial Behavior, and Positive Youth Development: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Program Implementation and Changes in Youth Behavior. J. Quinn, Building Effective Practices and Policies for Out-of-School Time.

Adolescent Employment and Psychosocial Outcomes: A Comparison of Two Employment Contexts.

This study was designed to test the theory that adolescents working in a family owned business versus working in a private enterprise would report differences on variables commonly associated with part-time employment. Results indicated that working in a family business was associated with males and females reporting greater perceived parental support and males reporting less drug and alcohol use. Findings were consistent with other research on the associations of hours worked with outcome variables.

Physical activity and academic achievement across the curriculum (A + PAAC): rationale and design of a 3-year, cluster-randomized trial

BackgroundImproving academic achievement and reducing the rates of obesity in elementary school students are both of considerable interest. Increased physical activity during academic instruction time during school offers a potential intervention to address both issues. A program titled “Physical Activity Across the Curriculum” (PAAC) was developed in which classroom teachers in 22 elementary schools were trained to deliver academic instruction using physical activity with a primary aim of preventing increased BMI. A secondary analysis of data assessed the impact of PAAC on academic achievement using the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-II and significant improvements were shown for reading, math and spelling in students who participated in PAAC. Based on the results from PAAC, an adequately powered trial will be conducted to assess differences in academic achievement between intervention and control schools called, “Academic Achievement and Physical Activity Across the Curriculum (Au2009+u2009PAAC).”Methods/designSeventeen elementary schools were cluster randomized to Au2009+u2009PAAC or control for a 3-year trial. Classroom teachers were trained to deliver academic instruction through moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with a target of 100+ minutes of Au2009+u2009PAAC activities per week. The primary outcome measure is academic achievement measured by the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-III, which was administered at baseline (Fall 2011) and will be repeated in the spring of each year by assessors blinded to condition. Potential mediators of any association between Au2009+u2009PAAC and academic achievement will be examined on the same schedule and include changes in cognitive function, cardiovascular fitness, daily physical activity, BMI, and attention-to-task. An extensive process analysis will be conducted to document the fidelity of the intervention. School and student recruitment/randomization, teacher training, and baseline testing for Au2009+u2009PAAC have been completed. Nine schools were randomized to the intervention and 8 to control. A random sample of students in each school, stratified by gender and grade (Au2009+u2009PAACu2009=u2009370, Controlu2009=u2009317), was selected for outcome assessments from those who provided parental consent/child assent. Baseline data by intervention group are presented.DiscussionIf successful, the Au2009+u2009PAAC approach could be easily and inexpensively scaled and disseminated across elementary schools to improve both educational quality and health. Funding source: R01- DK85317. Trial registration: US NIH Clinical Trials, http://NCT01699295.

Linear/nonlinear relations of activity and fitness with children's academic achievement.

UNLABELLEDnA growing research base suggests that the benefits of physical activity (PA) and aerobic fitness for children extend beyond overall health/well-being to include academic achievement (AA). The majority of research studies on relations of PA and fitness with AA have used linear-only analytic approaches, thereby precluding the possibility that PA and fitness could have a differing effect on AA for those more/less active or fit.nnnOBJECTIVEnThis study aimed to evaluate both linear and nonlinear associations of PA and aerobic fitness with childrens AA among a sample of 687 second and third grade students from 17 Midwest schools.nnnSTUDY DESIGNnUsing baseline data (fall 2011) from a larger 3-yr intervention trial, multilevel regression analyses examined the linear and nonlinear associations of AA with PA and with progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run (PACER) laps (i.e., aerobic fitness), controlling for relevant covariates.nnnRESULTSnFitness, but not PA, had a significant quadratic association with both spelling and mathematics achievement. Results indicate that 22-28 laps on the PACER was the point at which the associated increase in achievement per lap plateaued for spelling and mathematics.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIncreasing fitness could potentially have the greatest effect on childrens AA for those below the 50th fitness percentile on the PACER.

Physical activity and academic achievement across the curriculum: Results from a 3-year cluster-randomized trial

We compared changes in academic achievement across 3years between children in elementary schools receiving the Academic Achievement and Physical Activity Across the Curriculum intervention (A+PAAC), in which classroom teachers were trained to deliver academic lessons using moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to a non-intervention control. Elementary schools in eastern Kansas (n=17) were cluster randomized to A+PAAC (N=9, target ≥100min/week) or control (N=8). Academic achievement (math, reading, spelling) was assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition (WIAT-III) in a sample of children (A+PAAC=316, Control=268) in grades 2 and 3 at baseline (Fall 2011) and repeated each spring across 3years. On average 55min/week of A+PACC lessons were delivered each week across the intervention. Baseline WIAT-III scores (math, reading, spelling) were significantly higher in students in A+PAAC compared with control schools and improved in both groups across 3years. However, linear mixed modeling, accounting for baseline between group differences in WIAT-III scores, ethnicity, family income, and cardiovascular fitness, found no significant impact of A+PAAC on any of the academic achievement outcomes as determined by non-significant group by time interactions. A+PAAC neither diminished or improved academic achievement across 3-years in elementary school children compared with controls. Our target of 100min/week of active lessons was not achieved; however, students attending A+PAAC schools received an additional 55min/week of MVPA which may be associated with both physical and mental health benefits, without a reduction in time devoted to academic instruction.