Growing up in poverty and civic engagement: The role of kindergarten executive function and play predicting participation in 8th grade extracurricular activities

In the United States a “civic engagement gap” persists between low-income youth and their higher-income counterparts. To examine the developmental origins of civic engagement in a sample of U.S. children growing up in poverty, a conceptual model was tested employing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K) national data set. Using generalized linear models, we examined the contributions of kindergarten children’s executive function and exposure to classroom based play to participation in different extracurricular activities in 8th grade. Results suggest that executive function is a significant predictor of participation in drama and music clubs, sports and number of hours spent in extracurricular activities. Play was also a significant predictor of participation in school clubs, while controlling for executive function. These findings provide initial evidence of a developmental trajectory toward civic engagement beginning in early childhood.     

Factors Affecting Unhappiness at School among Japanese Adolescents: An Epidemiological Study

Background

Unhappiness at school is one of the main reasons for truancy among adolescents. In order to assess this problem more thoroughly in the context of Japanese adolescents, the present study examined the associations between feelings of unhappiness at school and lifestyle habits, school life realities, and mental health status.

Method

This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. A self-administered questionnaire was provided to students enrolled in randomly selected junior and senior high schools throughout Japan. We calculated the percentages of both junior and senior high school students who felt unhappy at school based on factors related to school life, lifestyle habits, and mental health status. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed in order to examine the associations between those factors and students'' feelings of unhappiness at school.

Results

A total of 98,867 valid responses were analysed, 7.9% (Boys: 8.4%, Girls: 7.4%) of which came from students who responded that they felt unhappy at school. For both junior and senior high school students, the percentages of those who felt unhappy at school were significantly higher among those who had not yet decided on their future life course, who did not participate in extracurricular activities, did not eat breakfast every day, went to bed late, had used tobacco or alcohol in the previous 30 days, and had poor mental health compared with others. The results of multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that the adjusted odds ratios for feeling unhappy at school with regard to the above-mentioned factors were significantly high for both junior and senior high school students.

Conclusions

The present results suggest that school employees and administrators must provide health guidance to students, considering that irregular lifestyle habits, lower school engagement, smoking, drinking alcohol, and poor mental health status are all associated with maladaptation to school among adolescents.     

Extracurricular Involvement and Adolescent Adjustment: Impact of Duration,Number of Activities,and Breadth of Participation

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the associations between a variety of measures of extracurricular participation and indicators of youth development. We use data from the Childhood and Beyond Study, a larger longitudinal study of adolescent development. The sample is primarily White middle-class adolescents in Grades 7 through 12. First, we examined the relation between the duration of involvement in school clubs and in organized sports over a 3-year span and youth development. Second, the linear and nonlinear relations between the number of extracurricular activities and youth development 1 year later were examined. Finally, we tested the link between the breadth of participation and youth development 1 year later. In general, across all 3 sets of analyses, our findings indicate that greater involvement in extracurricular activities is associated with academic adjustment, psychological competencies, and a positive peer context. The results were strongest for the oldest group of youth.     

Why do extracurricular activities prevent dropout more effectively in some high schools than in others? A mixed-method examination of organizational dynamics

Abstract

This study describes policies and practices implemented in 12 high schools (Quebec, Canada) that more or less effectively leveraged extracurricular activities (ECA) to prevent dropout among vulnerable students. Following an explanatory sequential mixed design, three school profiles (Effective, Ineffective, and Mixed) were derived based on quantitative student-reported data. Qualitative interviews with frontline staff revealed that in Effective schools, ECA had a unique overarching goal: to support school engagement and perseverance among all students, including vulnerable ones. Moreover, in these schools staff had access to sufficient resources—human and material—and implemented inclusive practices. In Ineffective schools, ECA were used as a means to attract well-functioning students from middle-class families, and substantial resources were channeled toward these students, with few efforts to include vulnerable ones. Schools with a Mixed profile had both strengths and weakness. Recommendations for school-level policies that bolster ECA’s ability to support students’ perseverance are provided.     

Culture,Context, and Maternal Self-Efficacy in Latina Mothers

Youth civic engagement occupies a central space in applied developmental science. However, understanding of the processes and contexts in which early adolescents become civically engaged is still limited. This study draws on a sample of approximately 4,000 students from 11 urban middle schools in Tennessee to address several gaps in the civic engagement literature. First, we use latent class analysis to identify types of civic engagement in early adolescence. Second, we explore associations between types of engagement and youth behavioral and academic outcomes. Third, we focus on urban youth. A latent class analysis using survey items suggests a three-class structure for civic engagement in urban middle schools. One distinction is between students who are engaged and those who are not. Another distinction is that, among the engaged groups, one is engaged both behaviorally and attitudinally (social justice actors), whereas another has strong civic attitudes but infrequent civic behaviors (social justice sympathizers).     

“Sharks in Your Hands”—A Case Study on Effects of Teaching Strategies to Change Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Sharks

This study was designed to exemplify how hands-on based teaching strategies enhanced students’ knowledge and positive attitudes towards sharks. Hands-on activities for sharks’ biological and morphological features were carried out. Eleven elementary school students from a remote area in Taiwan were recruited and assigned to the hands-on condition. They were encouraged to draw pictures of sharks before and after the instruction as the main data for pre- and post-test comparison. Two years later, the retention test and attitude inventory towards sharks were implemented. The results revealed that large effect size emerged for both the post-test and retention test. In regards to attitude inventory, students involved in hands-on activities also significantly outperformed the baseline group. Many of them have taken notice of television programs and books about sharks or marine ecology since the hands-on activities, indicating the instruction had a beneficial impact on their extracurricular lives. Empirical findings of this study suggest hands-on instruction is a powerful strategy for learning, both for immediate and prolonged effects on improving students’ knowledge and attitudes toward sharks.     

High school students' body weight control: differences between athletes and non-athletes

Due to chronic dissatisfaction with body weight in youth, efforts to lose weight often lead to pathological dietary behaviours. Regular and heavy sports activity may contribute to the optimization of body weight, not only by elevating the energy utilization but also by increasing the health consciousness and the tendency to self-monitor. Research generally finds a beneficial role of extracurricular sports activity in body weight control. Therefore, we aim to analyze how regular, heavy sports activity (more precisely, competitive sports) may contribute to body weight control among two groups of youth: athletes and non-athletes. Our study was carried out using 347 adolescents; among them there were 91 athletes and 259 controls. The subjects completed self-administered questionnaires concerning their body weight control and dietary habits. We found that girls were less satisfied with their body weight and reported dieting more frequently with a greater emphasis on healthy dieting than boys. Sport influenced these strong gender differences only regarding healthy dieting, young male athletes laid a larger emphasis on healthy diets than their non-athlete counterparts, therefore their attitude became similar to that of female athletes and non-athletes. We conclude that despite the normal weight in high school students, episodes of dieting that might contribute to eating disorders were quite frequent. This was not influenced by the students' extracurricular sports activity. A greater monitoring of male athletes' and their friend's diet draw attention to the need for developing health education programs specific to boys.     

Bridging Multiple Worlds: How African American and Latino Youth in Academic Outreach Programs Navigate Math Pathways to College

Universities have launched outreach programs to enhance their ethnic diversity, yet little developmental research examines students' pathways to college. This study compares capital models (highlighting family background) with challenge models (highlighting students' challenges and resources) in predicting pathways to college. The Bridging Multiple Worlds Model frames this longitudinal study of 120 African American and Latino youth in outreach programs. We examined students' family backgrounds; challenges and resources across family, school, peer, and community worlds; and high school math pathways as predictors of college eligibility and enrollment. African American students more typically had U. S. born, college-educated parents, and Latino students, immigrant parents with high school education or less. Second, students saw parents as greater resources than teachers, siblings, and themselves; peers and teachers were their greatest challenges. Youth distinguished resources and challenges more by their source than form. Third, high school math and English grades rose and fell together, with early math grades predicting college eligibility. Five math pathways emerged: steady, slowly declining, rapidly declining, increasing, and "back on track" toward college, but pathways did not always predict college choices. Fourth, although family background predicted few outcomes, parents' and teachers' help and siblings' challenges predicted grades, eligibility, and admission to prestigious colleges. Findings highlight both capital and challenge models for science, policy, and programs involving diversity and equity.     

Examining the influence of sport program staff and parent/caregiver support on youth outcomes

Abstract

Youth participation in sport is associated with positive developmental outcomes. The development of life skills is especially important for urban youth of color who are often underserved and face poor long-term outcomes. To service the needs of underserved youth, community youth sport programs have begun to utilize sport-based positive youth development (PYD). Through this approach, key adult figures such as sport program staff and parents/caregivers have been identified as important mechanisms for life skill development and the transfer of learning. The aim of the current study sought to better understand how key adult figures influence life skill outcomes of urban youth of color involved in a community sport-based PYD program. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to examine the independent and interactive effects of staff support and parent/caregiver support on youth life skill and transfer of learning outcomes. Results indicated that staff support and parent/caregiver support predicted youth life skill and transfer of learning outcomes, both independently and, in some cases, interactively.     

Who gets more out of sport? The role of value and perceived ability in flow and identity-related experiences in adolescent sport

Sport is a context that provides positive developmental benefits to adolescents. However, these benefits are not distributed equally to all participants. This study examined whether the motivational constructs of attainment value and ability self-concept were related to positive developmental experiences in sport, and tested intensity of participation as a moderator of this relation. A sample of 1,628 students (954 grade 9, 674 grade 12) reported their developmental experiences in sport in two domains: identity formation and flow. Higher levels of attainment value and ability self-concept in sport were related to more identity and flow experiences. In addition, intensity of participation moderated the links between attainment value and identity and flow, and ability self-concept and identity, for older students. Placing higher value on sport was most strongly related to older students’ positive experiences at higher levels of involvement. This study contributes to understanding the role of individual differences in developmental experiences in sport.     

Sociocultural Factors and School Engagement Among African American Youth: The Roles of Racial Discrimination,Racial Socialization,and Ethnic Identity

This study investigated the links between racial discrimination and school engagement and the roles of racial socialization and ethnic identity as protective factors in those linkages in a sample of 148, sixth through twelfth grade African American adolescents from working and middle-class two-parent families. In home interviews, youth described their ethnic identity, discrimination experiences at school, and school engagement (school bonding, school grades, school self-esteem), and parents rated their racial socialization practices. Analyses revealed that discrimination was negatively related to school self-esteem and school bonding. Racial socialization had additive effects on school self-esteem and school bonding, but did not moderate the discrimination—school engagement association. For boys, ethnic identity had additive effects on school bonding, but for girls, ethnic identity moderated the relation between discrimination and school bonding: when girls experienced more discrimination and had a lower ethnic identity, they reported lower school bonding. Discrimination, racial socialization, and ethnic identity were not related to school grades.     

More than Half of High School Students Report Disordered Eating: A Cross Sectional Study among Norwegian Boys and Girls

Disordered eating and eating disorders are of great concern due to their associations with physical and mental health risks. Even if adolescence has been identified as the most vulnerable time for developing disordered eating, few studies have used a broad spectrum of criteria to investigate the prevalence of disordered eating among high school students of both genders, in different programs of study, nor assessed correlates of disordered eating among this important target group. The purposes of this study were therefore to investigate the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating among both male and female high school students in sport-, general and vocational programs. A comprehensive questionnaire was completed by 2,451 students (98.7%), aged 15–17 years. The total prevalence of disordered eating was 54.9%, with 64.3% among girls and 45.0% among boys (p<0.001). The highest prevalence of disordered eating was found among vocational students (60.7%), followed by students in general programs (49.8%) and sport students (38.3%) (p<0.001). Female gender, school program (vocational and general), overweight/obesity and weight regulation were positively associated with disordered eating. The high prevalence indicates the importance of tailored prevention efforts directed at high school students, particularly in vocational programs. Furthermore, a smaller girls–boys ratio than expected indicates that the efforts to identify and manage disordered eating among high school students should include both genders.     

Electronic Cigarette and Traditional Cigarette Use among Middle and High School Students in Florida, 2011–2014

Recent youth trends in the prevalence of e-cigarette and traditional cigarette use in Florida were examined in a cross-sectional, representative state sample from 2011 to 2014. Traditional cigarette use among youth declined during the study period. Experimentation with and past 30-day use of e-cigarettes among Florida youth tripled over 4 years. Past 30-day e-cigarette use exceeded traditional cigarette use in 2014; 10.8% of high school and 4.0% of middle school students reported recent e-cigarette use, compared with 8.7% of high school and 2.9% of middle school students for traditional cigarettes (P<0.001). By 2014, 20.5% of high school and 8.5% of middle school students reported ever use of e-cigarettes. Among ever e-cigarette users in 2014, 30.3% of high school and 42.2% of middle school students had never smoked traditional cigarettes. Given the concern that significant rates of e-cigarette use by U.S. adolescents may have a negative effect on public health, further review of e-cigarette advertising, marketing, sales, and use among U.S. youth is warranted.     

The Role of School Environment in Physical Activity among Brazilian Adolescents

Objective

To analyze the association of physical activity facilities and extracurricular sports activities in schools with physical activity among adolescents.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We used data collected for the National Survey of School Health in 2012. The national representative sample comprised 109,104 Brazilian students from 2,842 schools. We calculated the prevalence of participation in physical education classes, leisure-time physical activity, and total physical activity level. We also evaluated the following physical activity facilities: sports courts, running/athletics tracks, schoolyard with teacher-directed physical activities, swimming pools, locker rooms; and the offer of extracurricular sports activities. Schools with at least one physical activity facility had increased odds of participation in physical education (OR 1.59; 95% CI 1.20 to 2.10). However, in order to increase leisure-time physical activity (OR1.14; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.26) and total physical activity level (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.24) at least four and two facilities, respectively, were necessary. Extracurricular sports activities in schools were positively associated with leisure-time physical activity and physical activity level. The number of sports courts and swimming pool in a school were associated with participation in physical education classes. Availability of sports courts, running/athletics tracks, and swimming pool in schools were associated with leisure-time physical activity. Total physical activity was associated with schools with sports courts, schoolyard with teacher-directed physical activities, and swimming pool.

Conclusions

School-level characteristics have important potential to increase the possibility of engagement in physical activity in and out of school, and therefore have a fundamental role in promoting these practices.     

A Multi-Modal Approach to Assessing Recovery in Youth Athletes Following Concussion

Concussion is one of the most commonly reported injuries amongst children and youth involved in sport participation. Following a concussion, youth can experience a range of short and long term neurobehavioral symptoms (somatic, cognitive and emotional/behavioral) that can have a significant impact on one’s participation in daily activities and pursuits of interest (e.g., school, sports, work, family/social life, etc.). Despite this, there remains a paucity in clinically driven research aimed specifically at exploring concussion within the youth sport population, and more specifically, multi-modal approaches to measuring recovery. This article provides an overview of a novel and multi-modal approach to measuring recovery amongst youth athletes following concussion. The presented approach involves the use of both pre-injury/baseline testing and post-injury/follow-up testing to assess performance across a wide variety of domains (post-concussion symptoms, cognition, balance, strength, agility/motor skills and resting state heart rate variability). The goal of this research is to gain a more objective and accurate understanding of recovery following concussion in youth athletes (ages 10-18 years). Findings from this research can help to inform the development and use of improved approaches to concussion management and rehabilitation specific to the youth sport community.     

Metaorganismusforschung trifft Schule

The Darwin Day: modern science meets school During the Darwin Day at the University of Kiel high school students are introduced to recent research fields in modern biology. In 2018 the holistic view of a metaorganism offered the students new scientific ways of thinking and working, which are important for a profound understanding of biological interrelations as well as current clinical disorders. In order to bring new insights from biological research and modern science to school, different formats of science communication can be used. One possibility is the visit of extracurricular learning opportunities such as the Darwin Day at the University of Kiel. By linking current biological research with an out-of-school learning place, the importance of science communication can be illustrated. For this purpose, the Darwin Day and an accompanying teaching unit are presented in this article. Furthermore, insights into the evaluation of this outreach format are given.     

Global health: a successful context for precollege training and advocacy

Despite a flourishing biomedical and global health industry too few of Washington state's precollege students are aware of this growing sector and emerging ideas on bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Against the backdrop of numerous reports regarding declining precollege student interest in science, a precollege program was envisioned at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (as of 2010, Seattle BioMed) to increase youth engagement in biomedical research and global health, increase community interest in infectious diseases and mobilize a future biomedical workforce. Since 2005, 169 rising high school juniors have participated in the BioQuest Academy precollege immersion program at Seattle BioMed. Assembling in groups of 12, students conduct laboratory experiments (e.g., anopheline mosquito dissection, gene expression informed tuberculosis drug design and optimizing HIV immunization strategies) related to global health alongside practicing scientific mentors, all within the footprint the institute. Laudable short-term impacts of the program include positive influences on student interest in global health (as seen in the students' subsequent school projects and their participation in Seattle BioMed community events), biomedical careers and graduate school (e.g., 16.9% of teens departing 2008-2009 Academy report revised goals of attaining a doctorate rather than a baccalaureate diploma). Long-term, 97% of alumni (2005-2008) are attending postsecondary schools throughout North America; eight graduates have already published scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and/or presented their scientific data at national and international meetings, and 26 have been retained by Seattle BioMed researchers as compensated technicians and interns. Providing precollege students with structured access to practicing scientists and authentic research environments within the context of advancing global health has been a robust means of both building a future pool of talented leaders and engaged citizenry and increasing the visibility of health disparities within the community.     

Queer in America: Citizenship for Sexual Minority Youth

Sexual minority youth face many challenges in their daily lives. This article considers the barriers that hinder their opportunities for citizenship development in 3 key developmental domains: family, faith, and education. Theoretical perspectives on sexuality and citizenship provide a lens through which to view examples of settings in which sexual minority youth have created new spaces within which to explore their identities, develop community, and create social change. These settings include online communities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth, and high school Gay-Straight Alliances.     

Cultural values and other perceived benefits of organized activities: A qualitative analysis of Mexican-origin parents’ perspectives in Arizona

The limited understanding on why Latino parents endorse organized activities is problematic given that these beliefs can help elucidate why they overcome barriers to support their children’s participation. In this study, we analyzed interviews from a diverse group of 34 Mexican-origin parents who resided in Arizona. Results of the study indicate that although organized activities were perceived as contexts that can help youth gain skills reflecting mainstream American values (e.g., school engagement, interpersonal skills), parents also thought that activities promoted positive behaviors associated with their ethnic culture based on traditional values related to respeto, familism, and religiosity. The implications of this study suggest that understanding Mexican-origin parents’ perspectives can help organized activity leaders design programs that fully address the benefits that families seek from organized activities.     

Assessing Psychopathology in American Indian and Alaska Native Children and Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to investigate a) the relations between different types of civic behaviors and middle school students' perceptions of school climate, and b) the compositional effects of student civic engagement on setting-level school climate perceptions. Using a sample of 4,073 students in 11 public schools from a southeastern state, multilevel regression analyses found that, in general, civic behaviors were positively associated with school climate outcomes at the individual and setting level. However, certain types of civic behavior were negatively associated with desired school climate outcomes at both levels. These findings suggest a complicated relationship between student civic engagement and school climate, and imply that schools and adult leaders may need to carefully consider the types of opportunities for civic engagement provided to students.