YOUTH THAT THRIVE: A REVIEW OF CRITICAL FACTORS AND EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS FOR 12-25 YEAR OLDS Nishad Khanna Final Report Jeffrey MacCormack Benjamin Kutsyuruba April, 2014 Stoney McCart John Freeman Prepared by: Prepared for: Social Program Evaluation Group (SPEG), Queen’s University YMCA of Greater Toronto, and United Way Toronto and The Students Commission of Canada, Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement Youth that Thrive: A review of critical factors and effective programs for 12-25 year olds NISHAD KHANNA JEFFREY MACCORMACK BENJAMIN KUTSYURUBA STONEY MCCART JOHN FREEMAN Social Program Evaluation Group Queen's University 511 Union Street, Room B164 Kingston, ON K7M 5R7 Tel: (613) 533-6255 Fax: (613) 533-2556 Email: [email protected] URL: http://orgs.educ.queensu.ca/speg The Students Commission Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement 23 Isabella Street Toronto, ON M4Y 1M7 Tel: (416) 597-8297 Fax: (416) 597-0661 Email: [email protected] URL: www.studentscommission.ca Critical Factors for Youth Thriving is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. ISBN 978-0-9694789-2-8 1 ABSTRACT The purpose of this report is to analyze the critical factors that support youth, ages 12 to 25, through critical life stage transitions and thriving throughout life. We adapted the most salient theoretical premises of Developmental Assets™, the Five Cs Model, and Self-Determination Theory to create a youth thriving model. We used an 8-stage process: identifying key search words, collecting academic and non-academic articles, establishing inter-rater reliability (Kappa score (κ =.77)), selecting 257 academic and 223 non-academic articles to be reviewed, extracting initial data into tables, writing a scoping report for client review, creating appropriate standards of evidence criteria, analyzing critical factors and outcomes with a secondary review of literature, and identifying promising practices. Through a review of the major relevant theory and frameworks, we identified three critical factors as consistent and recurring: autonomy, relatedness, and competence. These critical factors are congruent in terminology with the three basic psychological needs posited by Self-Determination Theory but are supported by additional evidence from Developmental Assets™ and the Five Cs Model and are furthermore not conceptualized as needs (i.e., innate and required for survival). These critical factors change in prominence through critical transitions to promote long-term thriving. Eighteen direct interventions (evidence-based and promising) and relevant studies and reviews of interventions are detailed, six for each critical factor, in terms of key aspects of program design, key program components critical to success, impact measures, and applications for informing future program design. The report concludes with a synthesis and possibilities for next steps. Keywords: Assets, Outcomes, Critical Factors, Thriving, Youth Development, Youth Engagement, Program Evaluation, Competence, Autonomy, Relatedness Acknowledgement: The research team would like to express sincere appreciation and gratitude to the following members of the Advisory Committee for invaluable support and feedback at key stages of the project and development of this report: Uzo Anucha, ACT for Youth/York University Joanna Henderson, CAMH Sarah Butson, YATI, Ontario Lung Association Malik Musleh, UNITY Charity O'Neil Edwards, Pathways to Education/Ryerson University Mike Brooks, Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 6 Methodological Overview ...................................................................................................................... 6 Background and Significance of the Review ....................................................................................... 7 Theoretical Overview .............................................................................................................................. 9 Outcomes ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Moving Forward to Our Goals ........................................................................................................... 10 Contextual Influences ......................................................................................................................... 11 Transitions ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Evidence-based and Promising Interventions ................................................................................ 11 Synthesis ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1 References........................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 14 Eight-Stage Approach .......................................................................................................................... 14 Stage 1: Creation of keyword list................................................................................................... 14 Stage 2: Collection of literature ...................................................................................................... 15 Stage 3: Measurement of inter-rater reliability ........................................................................... 16 Stage 4: Extraction of initial data .................................................................................................. 16 Stage 5: Creation of Scoping Report ............................................................................................. 17 Stage 6: Development of standards of evidence criteria .......................................................... 17 Stage 7: Analysis of critical factors and outcomes ...................................................................... 19 Stage 8: Identification of proven and promising interventions.................................................. 19 Summary of Methodology ................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 2 References........................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................... 24 The Changing Paradigm of Youth Development ............................................................................. 24 Resiliency .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Positive Youth Development (PYD) .................................................................................................. 25 Developmental AssetsTM ....................................................................................................................... 27 Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 27 Evidence for Developmental Assets™ ............................................................................................ 29 Critique of Developmental Assets™ ............................................................................................... 29 The Five Cs Model ................................................................................................................................. 30 Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 30 Evidence for the Five Cs Model ....................................................................................................... 30 3 Critique of the Five Cs Model .......................................................................................................... 31 Self-Determination Theory ................................................................................................................... 32 Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 32 Evidence Base for Self-Determination Theory (SDT).................................................................... 32 Critique of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) ................................................................................ 33 Theoretical Frameworks’ Alignment with ARC Critical Factors Model......................................... 34 Chapter 3 References........................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 4: AUTONOMY .................................................................................................