NDLI: Developmental Trajectories of Youth Character: A Five-Wave Longitudinal Study of Cub Scouts and Non-Scout Boys

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Wang, Jun Ferris, Kaitlyn A. Hershberg, Rachel M. Lerner, Richard M.
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	Youth development programs, such as the Boy Scouts of America, aim to develop positive attributes in youth (e.g., character virtues, prosocial behaviors, and positive civic actions), which are necessary for individuals and societies to flourish. However, few developmental studies have focused on how specific positive attributes develop through participation in programs such as the Boy Scouts of America. As part of the Character and Merit Project, this article examined the developmental trajectories of character and other positive attributes, which are of focal concern of the Boy Scouts of America and the developmental literature. Data were collected from 1398 Scouts (M = 8.59 years, SD = 1.29 years, Range 6.17–11.92 years) and 325 non-Scout boys (M = 9.06 years, SD = 1.43 years, Range 6.20–11.81 years) over five waves of testing across a two-and-half-year period. Latent growth-curve analyses of self-report survey data examined the developmental trajectories of the attributes. Older youth rated themselves lower than younger participants on helpfulness, reverence, thriftiness, and school performance. However, all youth had moderately high self-ratings on all the attributes. Across waves, Scouts’ self-ratings increased significantly for cheerfulness, helpfulness, kindness, obedience, trustworthiness, and hopeful future expectations. Non-Scout boys’ self-ratings showed no significant change for any attributes except for a significant decrease in religious reverence among non-Scout boys from religious institutions. We discuss implications for positive youth development and for the role of the Boy Scouts of America programming in character development.
Starting Page	2359
Ending Page	2373
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00472891
Journal	Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume Number	44
Issue Number	12
e-ISSN	15736601
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2015-08-18
Publisher Place	New York
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Positive youth development Character development Developmental trajectories Youth programs Program evaluation Child and School Psychology Clinical Psychology Health Psychology Law and Psychology History of Psychology Psychology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Education Developmental and Educational Psychology Social Psychology

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
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