Open AccessLongitudinal Research About, and Program Evaluations of, Positive Youth Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Methodological Issues and Options
Author(s) -
Richard M. Lerner,
Jonathan M. Tirrell,
Patricia K. Gansert,
Jacqueline V. Lerner,
Pamela Ebstyne King,
G. John Geldhof,
Elizabeth M. Dowling,
Alistair T.R. Sim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of youth development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.191
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 2325-4017
pISSN - 2325-4009
DOI - 10.5195/jyd.2021.1040
Subject(s) - positive youth development , poverty , low and middle income countries , compassion , inequality , sample (material) , psychology , political science , economic growth , public relations , developing country , developmental psychology , economics , mathematical analysis , chemistry , mathematics , chromatography , law
The study of positive youth development (PYD) requires theory-based methodological considerations pertinent to measurement, research and program design, and data analysis. We outline the appropriate steps that researchers and program evaluators must enact to address these methodological foci in their respective attempts to describe, explain, and optimize the course of positive development among diverse youth around the world. We focus on longitudinal (developmental) research designed to evaluate programs promoting PYD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where life challenges are shaped by multiple adverse situations associated with racism, poverty, gender inequalities, political inequities, and the absence of adequate health and medical resources. Using the Compassion International Study of PYD as a sample case, we suggest how researchers and practitioners might collaborate to enact rigorous, theory-based research aimed at promoting PYD among youth living in LMICs and worldwide.