Tag Archives: PYD

Youth-Nex and CASTL Researchers Compete in Annual Sloboda Bukoski Cup

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By Angela Henneberger, recent Curry graduate and YN researcher (PhD, Applied Developmental Science, ’12)

Valerie Futch, Angela Henneberger, Peter Lovegrove, and Michelle Maier

Valerie Futch, Angela Henneberger, Peter Lovegrove, Michelle Maier (not pictured: Ross Larsen, Chris Hafen)

The 2012 annual Society for Prevention Research (SPR) convention was held on May 29–June 1, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, DC.  It is very exciting to me that the theme of this year’s conference was “Promoting Healthy Living Through Prevention Science.”  This Spring, I had the opportunity to attend the Youth-Nex summit, a gathering of prominent researchers in the field of prevention and positive youth development. Continue reading →

Youth-Nex JPC Team travels to NYC Research Institute

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Sibley presents the work to the group.

Sibley presents the work to the group.

Related posts available under Research, and Community.

I had the privilege of spending the last week with a great group of undergraduate researchers and my colleagues at the Public Science Project for their annual Critical Participatory Action Research (PAR) Institute. Thanks to a grant from UVA’s Jefferson Public Citizens program, we were able to bring our community partner, Sibley Johns, director of Charlottesville’s Music Resource Center with us to brainstorm our youth PAR evaluation project that begins this summer.

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Improving PYD Interventions – YN Panel Video

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Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

We’re lucky enough to have captured on video the Youth-Nex Working Conference —where six panels and 23 scholars congregated to further scientific understanding of how to promote effective youth development through the Positive Youth Development (PYD) lens.

Be a part of the discussion chaired by Jeanne Brooks-Gunn: “Learning from Prevention Science and Developmental-Intervention Approaches to Improve PYD Interventions and Evaluations.”  We welcome your comments.  Video.

In the light of the need to provide research and action that integrates PYD into what we already know, Dr. Tolan recently posited: Continue reading →

YN Gathers Experts to Tackle Bullying at Two Conferences This June

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By Dewey Cornell, Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Education, and Youth-Nex Associate Director, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia.

High School Students walk toward a bus

Related posts will be found under Bullying.

In the past decade, bullying has become recognized as a pervasive problem in schools. Our research at the University of Virginia has highlighted the importance of creating a positive school climate that is conducive to healthy peer interactions and supportive teacher-student relationships. A positive youth development perspective offers new strategies and perspectives on the prevention of bullying and the facilitation of emotional and academic development.

The conferences are designed to bring together some of the nation’s leading experts to give us an understanding of effective principles and practices and to advance the best scientific work in the field. New findings from these experts will be presented at the conference. Continue reading →

What Really Causes Teen Driving Accidents?

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Ann LambertCars driving on a road

By Ann Lambert, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Medicine Center, Dept of Psychiatry & NB Sciences

Related posts will be found under Driving

Vehicular collisions are the leading cause of death in adolescence, a statistic often attributed to lack of experience and “poor judgment.” Nonetheless, a significant subgroup of drivers pass through adolescence with no vehicular collisions or citations despite minimal driving experience. What, then, are these young drivers doing right? Continue reading →

Rick Little – ‘serial social entrepreneur’ speaks to YN Conference

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Rick Little
Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

I was fortunate enough to be able to hear Rick Little deliver the keynote address at the Youth-Nex working conference dinner on April 2. My impression of Mr. Little, when my colleague and I assisted him with some logistics earlier in the day, was that he was a very kind and unassuming man. The arrangements were the type that would have exasperated even the most restrained among us. Through it all, however, Little remained unfazed and affable. This was only a glimpse into his profound humanity, as I learned about the scope of his accomplishments and significance of his work during his talk later that evening. (The talk is posted at end of this entry.)

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Optimal Targets for PYD Intervention – Panel Video

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Patrick Tolan

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

We’ve been posting a lot about the Youth-Nex Working Conference held in April. Now you can view the discussion. Here’s the first of the panel videos with an introduction by Patrick Tolan: “Identifying the Fundamental PYD Processes Affecting Development: Optimal Targets for Intervention.” Distinguished panelists are: Stephen Hamilton (chair), Richard Catalano, Richard Lerner, Anne Petersen, and Margaret Spencer. More panel video to come. View Video

YN Working Conference – A Success By All Measures

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By Patrick Tolan, Director of Youth-Nex; and Professor at the Curry School of Education and Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

attendees discuss topics at the conference
It was an exciting couple of days. On April 2-3 we were able to bring together 23 invited scholars —many world-renowned leaders in their fields—to U.Va.’s beautiful Morven Farm.

As you read more about the conference, now and over the coming weeks, we hope you will utilize this blog as a point of exchange for thoughts about the conference and for your work relating to PYD. Continue reading →

PYD Constructs – What Are Your Thoughts?

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By Nancy Guerra, Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Delaware

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

Youth-Nex Brochure
The presentations at the Youth-Nex conference were truly amazing! There is so much exciting work being done in the field. I hope we can begin to build a science of positive youth development, and the Youth-Nex conference set a high bar for us.

One thing that really struck me, and which is important for my own work and I think for the field, is the need to build consensus around constructs (and measures) that help us conceptualize important outcomes. Many of us work with programs to design and conduct evaluation research, yet we all focus on a separate set of constructs and use different measures. Continue reading →

A Salute to SALUD

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Nutritionist discusses proper portions with kids

The three researchers had never met before their work creating an intervention for one of Charlottesville’s Latino communities. Diane Whaley, Mark DeBoer and Amy Boitnott, all from different parts of the University, got the idea when one of Whaley’s students who had also worked in the Children’s Fitness Center suggested a collaboration. They joined forces in 2010 through an annual Youth-Nex grant which seeds multidisciplinary U.Va. research efforts to enhance effective youth development.

The following post from Dr. Whaley describes, SALUD, a family-based intervention, designed to teach Latino families skills to facilitate healthy eating and physical activity involvement. Continue reading →