Definition

The Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale is an indigenously developed scale which attempts to assess different dimensions of positive youth development in Chinese adolescents.

Description

Positive Youth Development

One unique feature of adolescent psychology in the past few decades has been its focus on adolescent problems. As such, there are criticisms that this “pathological” approach has limited our understanding of the potentials of adolescents (Benson, 1997). Alternatively, under the positive youth development approach, there is an emphasis on the importance of strengths, competencies, and thriving of young people which can be strengthened by developmental nutrients, assets or support, and opportunities. Given the positive youth development perspective and asset promotion paradigm, the scope of adolescent development is viewed from a broader perspective and in a more holistic manner than the traditional approach (Benson, Mannes, Pittman, & Ferber, 2004; Damon, 2004; Scales, Benson, Leffert, & Blyth, 2004).

In the past few decades, programs have been developed in North America to promote positive youth development. Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, and Hawkins (2002) reviewed 77 programs on positive youth development and found that only 25 programs were successful. Based on the successful programs, the following 15 positive youth development constructs were identified:

  • Promotion of bonding: relationship with healthy adults and positive peers

  • Cultivation of resilience: enhanced capacity for adapting to change and stressful events in healthy and adaptive ways

  • Promotion of social competence: strengthening of interpersonal skills and providing opportunities to practice such skills

  • Promotion of emotional competence: emotional maturity and management

  • Promotion of cognitive competence: development of cognitive skills and thinking

  • Promotion of behavioral competence: cultivation of verbal and nonverbal communication and taking action skills

  • Promotion of moral competence: development of a sense of right and wrong

  • Cultivation of self-determination: promotion of a sense of autonomy

  • Development of self-efficacy: promoting coping and mastery skills

  • Promotion of spirituality: development of purpose and meaning in life, hope, or beliefs in a higher power

  • Promotion of beliefs in the future: developing of future potential goals, choices, or options

  • Development of clear and positive identity: promotion of healthy identity

  • Recognition for positive behavior: developing systems for rewarding

  • Provision of opportunities for prosocial involvement: designing activities and events for program participants to make positive contribution to groups

  • Fostering prosocial norms: encouraging program participants to develop clear and explicit standards for prosocial engagement

The Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS)

Shek, Siu, and Lee (2007) pointed out that there are several problems related to the assessment of the construct of positive youth development. The first problem is that there are wide variations in the related definitions (Roth, Brooks-Gunn, Murray, & Foster, 1998). The second problem is that although there are many available indicators of adolescent developmental outcomes, effort to develop positive youth development indicators is not widespread. The third problem is that there is a lack of a single instrument in which different dimensions of positive youth development are included. Finally, most of the discrete measures of positive youth development were developed in the West, and related comprehensive Chinese measures are almost nonexistent (Shek, 2010). Even though there are some measures of positive youth development in the Chinese culture, few measures have been derived from validation studies.

Against the above background, Shek et al. (2007) developed and validated a comprehensive scale, entitled the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS), to assess positive youth development. Based on the model of Catalano et al. (2002), there are 15 subscales in the CPYDS, including bonding (6 items), resilience (6 items), social competence (7 items), emotional competence (6 items), cognitive competence (6 items), behavioral competence (6 items), moral competence (6 items), self-determination (5 items), self-efficacy (7 items), spirituality (7 items), beliefs in the future (7 items), clear and positive identity (7 items), prosocial involvement (5 items), prosocial norm (5 items), and recognition for positive behavior (4 items). A contrasted group design was used to validate the CPYDS, including adolescents with well adjustment (N = 162) and adolescents with poor adjustment (N = 160). Besides the CPYDS, measures of thriving, life satisfaction, and perceived academic performance were included as positive measures, and scales assessing substance abuse, delinquency, and behavioral intention to engage in problem behavior were used as measures of problem behavior.

Several findings on the psychometric properties of the CPYDS were reported by Shek et al. (2007). First, the related findings provide support for the internal consistency of the CPYDS and its subscales. Second, the two groups differed in term of CPYDS subscales and total scores in the predicted direction, providing support for the criterion-related validity of the CPYDS and its related subscales. Third, significant correlation coefficients of the interrelationships among the subscales of the CPYDS are consistent with the prediction which gives support for the construct validity of the measures. Finally, the CPYDS and its subscales were positively related to indices of thriving, life satisfaction, and perceived academic results. Furthermore, the CPYDS and its subscales were negatively related to substance abuse, delinquency, and behavioral intention to engage in adolescent high-risk behavior.

The dimensionality and factorial invariance of the CPYDS using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MCFA) were examined in 5,649 Secondary One students in the context of a positive youth development program (Shek & Ma, 2010). Results showed that there are 15 basic dimensions of the CPYDS which are subsumed under four higher-order factors (i.e., cognitive-behavioral competencies, prosocial attributes, positive identity, and general positive youth development qualities). Evidence of factorial invariance in terms of configuration, first-order factor loadings, second-order factor loadings, intercepts of measured variables, and intercepts of first-order latent factors was found. The findings suggest that the CPYDS has stable dimensions that can be used to assess positive youth development in Chinese adolescents.

There is further evidence supporting the construct validity of the CPYDS. Sun and Shek (2010) reported findings on the relationships among life satisfaction, positive youth development, and problem behavior in 7,975 Secondary One students recruited from 48 schools in Hong Kong. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, while different measures of positive youth development were positively related to life satisfaction, they were negatively related to adolescent problem behavior. Similar findings were found in the recent study by Sun and Shek (2012). Again, positive youth development measures were positively correlated with life satisfaction but negatively related to adolescent problem behavior.

In another longitudinal study, findings based on the first year revealed two observations regarding the psychometric properties of the abridged version of the CPYDS (Shek & Ma, 2011). First, the scale was found to be internally consistent in different samples. Second, consistent with the predictions based on different theories, while the CPYDS scale scores were positively related to parenting measures (including parental control, responsiveness, and demandingness) and perceived family functioning, they were negatively related to parental psychological control. Besides, CPYDS scores were negatively related to adolescent-risk behavior. These findings provide support for the construct validity of the CPYDS. Similar findings providing support for the internal consistency and construct validity of the CPYDS were found based on the data collected from the second year of the study.

In view of the paucity of research findings regarding instruments assessing psychosocial functioning in Chinese people (Shek, 2010), the development of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale enables Chinese family practitioners to assess positive youth development in Chinese adolescents in an objective manner. With the substantial increase in Chinese adolescents in North America, the scale is also valuable for family practitioners and allied professionals working with American and Canadian Chinese adolescents. In their review of the development of evidence-based practice in Hong Kong, Shek, Lam, and Tsoi (2004) pointed out that there was an urgent need to develop more objective outcome measures in different Chinese communities. Obviously, the present attempt is a constructive response to such suggestion. Furthermore, with the increasing demand for accountability and service effectiveness in human services, the development of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale can enable social workers and allied professionals to assess positive youth development in Chinese adolescents in a more systematic way, and the assessment results can assist them to further design relevant intervention plans and strategies.

Another implication of developing such a scale is that besides looking at the “problems” and “deficits” of young people, it would be equally important to examine the “strengths” and “potentials” of adolescents. Obviously, the development of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale can assist social workers to do the job in a more efficient and competent manner. Nevertheless, the fundamental issue that should be addressed is whether we can have a more holistic view about adolescents by looking at their strengths and positive development. In other disciplines such as psychology and psychiatry, there is a growing emphasis on looking at the strengths of the clients and examining how such strengths may contribute to the wellness of the clients.

Cross-References

Chinese Culture

Positive Youth Development

Project P.A.T.H.S. (Promotion of Quality of Life in Chinese Adolescents)

Quality of Life