The Five Cs of Positive Youth Development: Configurations of Thriving in Four U.S. Adolescent Samples

Positive youth development (PYD) models are widespread, but the empirical evidence for them is primarily nomothetic (i.e., investigations of universal patterns). Contemporary developmental theory suggests that concepts and processes within PYD models should also be explored with respect to specificity. This study demonstrates how the Five Cs Model, a predominant PYD model, can be advanced using group-differential methods. Secondary data from four studies of adolescents were used to test: (1) Whether there were subgroups who varied in their patterns of scores across the Five Cs, and (2) Whether subgroups also varied in Contribution behaviors. Unexpectedly, the four data sets used could not be combined, yielding an opportunity to discuss consistencies and inconsistencies in findings across the four data sets through contextual and sample differences. Findings demonstrate how understanding specificity in theorized concepts and processes in PYD models can complement studies of universal patterns, which are both necessary to advance PYD research and practice.     

Culture and Assessment: Nomothetic and Idiographic Considerations

This article summarizes presentations on career assessment delivered at the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association. Notable among the many themes that emerged from this discussion group were the concepts of culture and assessment and the mutually beneficial outcomes of idiographic and nomothetic approaches to career assessment. Brief reviews of each presentation highlight these recurring themes.     

THE PROBLEM WITH PREDICTION: CONTINGENCY, EMERGENCE, AND THE REIFICATION OF PROJECTIONS

Here we assess the limitations of "social physics" methods for making predictions of future social conditions in order to contribute to the development of an alternative model of scientific sociology. First, we discuss the complexities inherent in causal analyses of social phenomena, where social organizing principles change historically and causal forces interact to generate outcomes. Second, we analyze the assumptions that underlie prediction in the social sciences by using the population projections of demographers as an illustrative example. Demographers typically make projections assuming the future will be the same as the (recent) past. This approach neglects the possibility of abrupt historical change, contingent events, and emergent social structures. Third, we argue that historical contingency is an essential and necessary consideration in any analysis of the world. A historical materialist approach provides the basis for better formulating nomothetic and idiographic modes of explanation and appreciates the important connections between the two. Sociological inquiry should be an attempt to distinguish between truly nomothetic processes and emergent historical background conditions that only appear nomothetic in a specific historical era. We close with an argument for the importance of developing a sociological science that runs parallel to nonmechanistic approaches in the biological sciences.     

Exploring in Silence: Hearing and Deaf Infants Explore Objects Differently Before Cochlear Implantation

Infant development has rarely been informed by the behavior of infants with sensory differences despite increasing recognition that infant behavior itself creates sensory learning opportunities. The purpose of this study of object exploration was to compare the behavior of hearing and deaf infants, with and without cochlear implants, in order to identify the effects of profound sensorineural hearing loss on infant exploration before cochlear implantation, the behavioral effects of access to auditory feedback after cochlear implantation, and the sensory motivation for exploration behaviors performed by hearing infants as well. The results showed that 9‐month‐old deaf infants explored objects as often as hearing infants but they used systematically different approaches and less variation before compared to after cochlear implantation. Potential associations between these early experiences and later learning are discussed in the context of embodied developmental theory, comparative studies, and research with adults. The data call for increased recognition of the active sensorimotor nature of infant learning and future research that investigates differences in sensorimotor experience as potential mechanisms in later learning and sequential memory development.     

Staples,links, and poles in the construction of regional development theories

The developmental trajectories of extractive economies differ systematically from those of industrial economies. Analysis of these differences is difficult, because the specific characteristics and location in space of particular extracted resources distinguish extractive economies from each other far more than commodities produced and location distinguish industrial economies. The peculiar distoritions of Harold Innis's studies of particular staples as these were incorporated into general statements about regional economic development illustrate some of the tensions between ideographic and nomothetic goals in the analysis of regional economies and the dangers of resolving these tensions by collapsing the particular into the general. Subsequent use of these regional economic development models to obscure problems of particular resource extractive projects illuminates some of the unintended practical consequences of theoretical errors.     

Individual indicators of self-reported victimization among elementary school-age students: A latent class analysis

Peer victimization, in physical, verbal, or relational forms, can lead to significant developmental challenges with up to 60% of children being exposed to victimization during elementary school. Few studies to date have used person-centered approaches to understand this problem among elementary school samples. The present study aimed to investigate peer victimization exposure using Latent Class Analysis among a sample of 3^rd–5^th grade students and to examine differences in individual level characteristics among classes. From the analysis, three classes emerged including a non-victimized, a generally victimized, and a relationally victimized class. Students in the generally victimized class evidenced the worst individual outcomes. These results suggest that early intervention with peer victimization may help to mitigate negative developmental impacts for those victimized by multiple forms and universal and targeted interventions may be particularly useful for this age group.     

Odious Comparisons: Incommensurability, the Case Study, and "Small N's" in Sociology

Case studies and "small‐N comparisons" have been attacked from two directions, positivist and incommensurabilist. At the same time, some authors have defended small‐N comparisons as allowing qualitative researchers to attain a degree of scientificity, yet they also have rejected the case study as merely "idiographic." Practitioners of the case study sometimes agree with these critics, disavowing all claims to scientificity. A related set of disagreements concerns the role and nature of social theory in sociology, which sometimes is described as useless and parasitic and other times as evolving in splendid isolation from empirical research. These three forms of sociological activity—comparative analysis, studies of individual cases, and social theory—are defended here from the standpoint of critical realism. In this article I first reconstruct, in very broad strokes, the dominant epistemological and ontological framework of postwar U.S. sociology. The next two sections discuss several positivist and incommensurabilist criticisms of comparison and case studies. The last two sections propose an understanding of comparison as operating along two dimensions, events and structures, and offer an illustration of the difference and relationship between the two .     

Couple and family interventions in health problems

Intervention research for couples and families managing chronic health problems is in an early developmental stage. We reviewed randomized clinical trials of family interventions for common neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, which is similar to the content of previous reviews discussed later. One overriding theme of these studies is that patients with chronic illnesses and their families face a variety of challenges to which researchers have responded with an array of treatment modalities. Very few of the interventions reviewed, with the exception of treatment for adolescents with diabetes, tested family psychotherapy models. Most interventions were time-limited therapeutic interventions that trained families to improve their communication and problem-solving skills, individual and family coping skills, and medical management. Researchers more clearly described mechanisms of change in intervention studies with cancer and diabetes than with other diseases, and not surprisingly, they found greater empirical support for their interventions. Family interventions show promise to help patients and family members manage chronic illnesses. To develop an empirical base for family approaches to managing chronic illnesses, interventions must be based on theories that delineate mechanisms of change in family processes and skills in medical management necessary to maintain patients' and family members' health.     

In the Mix,Yet on the Margins: The Place of Families in Urban Neighborhood and Child Development Research

In the 1990s, the most popular theoretical and empirical research issue concerning the local ecologies of families focused on the impact of family structures (e.g., household composition) and processes (e.g., child management strategies) on the relationship between urban neighborhoods and child and adolescent development. In this article, we synthesize and critically examine the decade's prevailing literature on the topic, organizing this review into three areas: (a) the research designs of quantitative and ethnographic studies of urban neighborhoods, families, and child outcomes; (b) the conceptual approaches used in these studies; and (c) the role of structural and behavioral features of family and parenting as factors that influence the relationship between urban neighborhoods and child development in ethnically and racially diverse populations. Results suggest that although family has been center stage in the neighborhood effects research question of the decade, it has remained on the margins in terms of theoretical and methodological specificity. Recommendations for future research are also offered.     

Bindung(en) in der Arbeitswelt

Vanishing or decreasing attachment is an indicator for changes within a work-oriented society. This particularly affects employment and our organizational commitment as well as bonds that are established in the context of professional relationships. This text provides a comparative analysis of two attachment-theoretical approaches that have developed simultaneously but independently from one another: commitment research into organizational psychology on the one hand and attachment theory based on developmental psychology on the other. Both are to be examined for their potential, their theoretical and empirical response to current dynamics in the world of work.     

Mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency: a critical review

Parents’ and children’s occupations are often similar on a variety of dimensions, including income, gender typicality, and Holland’s job types [Whiston, S. C., & Keller, B. K. (2004). The influences of the family of origin on career development: A review and analysis. The Counseling Psychologist, 32, 493–568]. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not well understood, limiting both research and application to real-world contexts such as career counseling settings. The present article has three main goals: (1) To critically examine individual mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency; (2) To propose a multiple mechanisms model that accounts for the limitations and assumptions of individual mechanisms; and (3) To propose future research directions while critically examining implicit assumptions of past research and research methodology. By addressing these goals, this paper has the potential to inform future research on parent–child occupational consistency and vocational intervention efforts.     

Rapid Social Change and the Turmoil of Adolescence: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

This article is a selective literature review, viewing adolescence in a cross-cultural perspective. Starting with the Mead/Freeman controversy, it centers on the following question: Which are the cultural contexts that best ensure a smooth transition from childhood to adulthood? The review covers some of the ethnographic research, both case studies and work using the hologeistic method (those using the Human Relations Area Files), and some of the research in cross-cultural and developmental psychology, but neither cross-national comparisons nor studies with migrants in multicultural societies. It is found that social adolescence is a universal life stage, but that it takes very different forms in different societies. Its extension into a youthperiod occurred in societies with an age-grade system, and is nowadays linked to urbanization, industrialization, and formal education. Adolescence does not need to be a period of storm and stress, and the generation gap and problem behaviors considered a “normal” part of adolescence are in fact culturally produced. In many situations, these problematic aspects of adolescence are linked to rapid social change or acculturation, most often in the form of westernization. Societies that manage to keep some continuity, cultural identity, and basic values such as family solidarity, often also manage to avoid importing the problems of adolescence despite social change. Of importance are the tolerance and flexibility of adults, close contact between generations, appropriate role-learning and acceptance into the adult community, including in the economic sphere.     

Gender Differences in the Developmental Links Between Conduct Problems and Depression Across Early Adolescence

Various developmental models have attempted to explain the relationship between antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms in youth, often proposing intermediary processes such as social and academic functioning. However, few studies have tested these developmental models fully, particularly in mixed‐gender samples. The current study strives to fill this gap in the literature, examining these processes in an early adolescent sample. Results indicated both direct and indirect paths between antisocial behavior and depression. In addition, potentially important gender differences were found. These results underscore the importance of examining direct and indirect links between symptoms of depression and antisocial behavior and suggest that there may be important developmental differences between girls and boys in the relationship between these symptoms.     

Broadening the etiological discourse on Alzheimer's disease to include trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder as psychosocial risk factors

Biomedical perspectives have long dominated research on the etiology and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD); yet these approaches do not solely explain observed variations in individual AD trajectories. More robust biopsychosocial models regard the course of AD as a dialectical interplay of neuropathological and psychosocial influences. Drawing on this broader conceptualization, we conducted an extensive review of empirical and theoretical literature on the associations of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and AD to develop a working model that conceptualizes the role of psychosocial stressors and physiological mechanisms in the onset and course of AD. The proposed model suggests two pathways. In the first, previous life trauma acts as a risk factor for later-life onset of AD, either directly or mediated by PTSD or PTSD correlates. In the second, de novo AD experiential trauma is associated with accelerated cognitive decline, either directly or mediated through PTSD or PTSD correlates. Evidence synthesized in this paper indicates that previous life trauma and PTSD are strong candidates as psychosocial risk factors for AD and warrant further empirical scrutiny. Psychosocial and neurological-based intervention implications are discussed. A biopsychosocial approach has the capacity to enhance understanding of individual AD trajectories, moving the field toward ‘person-centered’ models of care.     

Mixing Apples and Oranges and Other Methodological Problems with a Meta-Analysis of Long Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Current trends in mental health practice indicate that mental health practitioners, including clinical social workers, are tending to move away from psychodynamic approaches and are favoring short-term empirically supported approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Recently, the presumption that long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) approaches lack empirical support has been challenged, however, with the publication in major peer reviewed journals of meta-analyses that are claimed to demonstrate its equality to or superiority over empirically supported short-term therapies for some conditions. The present article examines the methodology employed in one particular meta-analysis which compared LTPP to short term therapies and the studies upon which the analysis was based. We found that major methodological and statistical flaws with the meta-analysis and with the individual studies preclude drawing any conclusions regarding the efficacy of LTPP.     

Individual differences and electronic monitoring at work

Individual differences such as personality and demographic factors have effects on how people react to Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM), yet the literature on this aspect of electronic monitoring has been scattered. The present paper summarizes this body of empirical research and presents a framework for organizing current research findings based on two dimensions: the probability of successful work under the monitoring and the probability of accepting that the monitoring is of value. The framework also allows researchers to make predictions regarding additional individual difference variables. Managers may use this information to select employees who are likely to respond well to monitoring conditions and to structure monitoring procedures so that they are likely to be accepted by their employees with particular individual difference characteristics.     

“Let's Call Ourselves the Super Elite”: Using the Collective Behavior Tradition to Analyze Trump's America

The mid‐twentieth century “collective behavior” school asserted that (1) collective behavior—the actions of crowds, movements, and other gatherings—had distinct dynamics; (2) such action was often “nonrational,” or not governed by cost‐benefit calculation; and (3) collective behavior could pose a threat to liberal democracy because of these features. While this tradition fell out of scholarly favor, the 2016 election has given us empirical reasons to revisit some elements of collective behavior approaches. We argue for three key orienting concerns, drawn from this tradition, to understand the current political era. First is a focus on authoritarianism and populism, particularly among those who feel disaffected and isolated from political institutions, pared of psychologistic determinism and geared more sensitively to their manifestations as a political style. Second is a focus on racialized resentment, strain, and perceptions of status decline, especially in how such feelings are activated when people are confronted with disruptions to their lives. Third is an analysis of “emergent norms” and the extent to which political actors produce normative understandings of contextually appropriate action that are distinct from traditional political behavior. We elaborate on these themes, apply them to examples from current politics, and suggest ways to incorporate them into contemporary sociological research.     

The Nomothetic-Idiographic Issue: Some Roots and Recent Trends

A review of the history of the nomothetic-idiographic issue suggests that the problem of the uniqueness of the individual is secondary in this context to that of the right approach to the study of the human person. Idiographic approaches emphasize the need for an unmutilated conceptualization of psychological processes. The requirements of this unmutilated kind of research need to be integrated with those of nomothetic science asking for the controlled gaining and analyzing of information regarding psychological processes. One form of such a kind of integration is represented by biographical studies based on semistructured interviews and a systematic qualitative and quantitative analysis of their contents. Findings from such research as especially related to developmental and personality psychology are reported here by summarizing a series of studies conducted at the University of Bonn.