Kaitlyn A. Ferris

The Study of the Development of Civic Engagement Within Contemporary Developmental Science: Theory, Method, and Application

Within contemporary developmental science, models derived from relational developmental systems metatheory emphasize that the basic process involved in the ontogeny of civic engagement involves mutually-influential and beneficial relations between the developing individual and his or her complex and changing social, cultural, and physical contexts (represented as individual ← → context relations). The authors suggest that research on the development of civic engagement should be theoretically predicated, use change-sensitive, longitudinal methods, and be comparative across time and place. Using these facets of scholarship as a lens, we discuss the contributions to this special issue. We conclude that the present set of studies provides a useful basis for future research and applications aimed at understanding and promoting individuals’ civic contributions, and their support of social organizations promoting individual thriving and freedom, liberty, and social justice.

Adolescent Athletes’ Perceptions of the Peer-Motivational Climate in Sport: Do They Matter for Empathic Concern?

Sports may be contexts supporting character virtues development, including empathic concern. However, the competitiveness of sport may also hinder adolescents’ ability for empathic concern. This study investigated how perceptions of the peer motivational climate were associated with athletes’ empathic concern. Data were drawn from a larger study of high school adolescents’ character development through sport (N = 665; 49.1% female). Task-oriented (i.e., skill-focused), but not ego-oriented (i.e., competition-focused), aspects of the peer motivational climate were associated with empathic concern. Task-oriented environments may afford youth opportunities to demonstrate empathic concern as features of task orientation include supporting and caring for teammates.

Exploring the Out-of-School Time Program Ecology of Boy Scouts

Youth development programs, such as Boy Scouts of America, and other out-of-school time programs (e.g., sport), may represent important ecological assets in the lives of youth. Participation in such programs has been linked to indicators of positive youth development, including character virtues. Nuanced relationships exist, however, between involvement in specific sets of out-of-school time programs and indicators of positive youth development. The present study examined character virtues of youth (N = 667) who participated in Boy Scouts of America and in other out-of-school time programs (e.g., sport, band/music, or faith-based activities). Scouts participated in an average of two other out-of-school time programs. There was relatively limited variability, however, in the intensity of out-of-school time program participation. Sport was the other out-of-school time program most frequently engaged in by Scouts. In general, character virtues did not vary in relation to participation breadth or intensity. Limitations of the present study and implications for future research are discussed.

Character Development Within the Relational Developmental Systems Metatheory: A View of the Issues

At this writing, the study of character development is burgeoning, and this special issue provides an overview of why and how the relational developmental systems metatheory frames such growth, particularly growth in theory-predicated research and applications aimed at describing, explaining, and optimizing the development of positive attributes of character (i.e., character virtues). The empirical reports related to character development that are presented in this special issue are all framed by relational developmental systems–based ideas and, together, provide information about the mutually beneficial individual  context relations that are involved in character virtue development across the first three decades of life. A commentary discusses the implications of these studies for the enhancement of relational developmental systems–based character development research, for programs aimed at promoting different facets of character, and for the future growth of a developmental science of character virtues development.

Associations Between Food-Related Parenting Behaviors and Adolescents’ Engagement in Unhealthy Eating Behaviors: The Role of Nutrition Knowledge

Food-related parenting behaviors have the potential to impact youth eating behaviors and nutrition knowledge. The present study examined associations between parental behaviors specific to eating (i.e., rules, solicitation, and the creation of a health-focused home environment) and specific unhealthy eating behaviors prevalent during adolescence. Additional analyses examined whether such associations were explained by adolescent nutrition knowledge. A total of 145 adolescents (M = 14.48, SD = 1.75 years) and their mothers (M = 43.52, SD = 6.76 years) completed questionnaires as part of a larger study investigating parent–adolescent communication. Mothers’ food-related parenting behaviors were not directly associated with adolescents’ engagement in unhealthy eating behaviors. However, more parental rules were associated with greater adolescent nutrition knowledge. In addition, mothers’ creation of a health-focused home environment was indirectly associated with less fast food consumption through greater adolescent nutrition knowledge. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Social competence in pediatric burn survivors: A systematic review.

Objective: Youth sustaining burn injuries during childhood have dramatically increased survival rates due to improvements in medical treatment and multidisciplinary approaches to burn critical care and recovery. Despite positive advancements in burn treatment, youth sustaining such injuries may experience social deficits. Thus, this systematic review without meta-analysis investigation contributes to the growing literature on this topic by comparing social competence of pediatric burn survivors to youth without burns, and examining potential correlates of social competence among children and adolescents who have sustained burn injuries. Method: Fifteen empirical studies assessing social competence among youth with burns and published in the last 4 decades (i.e., 1980–2015) were identified. Data from youth, parent, and teacher perspectives related to social competence in pediatric burn survivors were extracted from studies meeting inclusion criteria. Results: Results comparing social competence levels between pediatric burn survivors and youth without burns were mixed; some studies indicate that the social competence levels of pediatric burn survivors fell within the normal range, whereas other work found these youth to display social deficits. Conclusions: Implications for clinical practitioners, methodological strengths and limitations of the included research studies, and directions for future research are discussed.

Is the Scoutreach Initiative of Boy Scouts of America Linked to Character Development among Socioeconomically, Racially, and Ethnically Diverse Youth?: Initial Explorations

Youth development programs represent key tools in the work of youth-serving practitioners and researchers who strive to promote character development and other attributes of youth thriving, particularly among youth who may confront structural and social challenges related to their racial, ethnic, and/or economic backgrounds. This article conducts secondary analyses of two previously reported studies of a relatively recent innovation in Boy Scouts of America (BSA) developed for youth from low-income communities, Scoutreach. Our goal is to provide descriptive and admittedly preliminary exploratory information about whether these data sets—one involving a sample of 266 youth of color from socioeconomically impoverished communities in Philadelphia (Mage = 10.54 years, SD = 1.58 years) and the other involving a pilot investigation of 32 youth of color from similar socioeconomic backgrounds in Boston (Mage = 9.97 years, SD = 2.46 years)—provide evidence for a link between program participation and a key indicator of positive development; that is, character development. Across the two data sets, quantitative and qualitative evidence suggested the presence of character development among Scoutreach participants. Limitations of both studies are discussed and implications for future longitudinal research are presented. We suggest that future longitudinal research should test the hypothesis that emotional engagement is key to creating the conditions wherein Scoutreach participation is linked to character development.