Resilience and Youth Development

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences, devoted to the theme of “Resilience and Youth Development,” seeks to showcase research on processes that promote thriving among youth who are exposed to significant adversity or risk in their lives. The youth development perspective has evolved as a strengths-based approach that seeks to understand the dynamic processes between the skills and attitudes of young people and the contexts (e.g., family, peer group, neighborhood, school) in which they are developing. Although there are important differences between the youth development and resilience perspectives (See Lerner et al., 2023; Masten, 2014), resilience research shares a focus on the positive adaptation of individuals, particularly when faced with challenging conditions that threaten their well-being. The resilience perspective is increasingly being used in youth development research as a framework for understanding how some young people overcome risk exposure and for guiding the development of interventions that raise the likelihood of positive outcomes (Zimmerman et al., 2013).

For this Special Issue, we seek innovative investigations on internal assets, such as self-efficacy or emotion regulation, and external resources, such as supportive adult relationships, that serve as promotive factors leading to positive academic, behavioral, and socio-emotional outcomes among risk-exposed youth. Risks may include a range of adverse childhood experiences, including but not limited to chronic conditions of poverty, discrimination, and violence. We are open to a range of research methodologies, and are particularly interested in person- and variable-centered studies that employ longitudinal designs to identify critical promotive factors and elucidate mediating and/or moderating mechanisms. We welcome observational studies (e.g., examinations of the role of informal mentors in promoting mental health) and experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations of programs or setting-level interventions. We invite papers that investigate cultural variations and/or offer international perspectives on resilience and youth development processes.

References

Lerner, R. M., Chase, P. A., Dowling, E. M., Tirrell, J. M., Buckingham, M. H., Yu, D., Park, Y., Gonçalves, C., Gansert, P., & Lerner, J. V. (2023). Resilience and Positive Youth Development: A Dynamic, Relational Developmental Systems-Based Perspective. In S. Goldstein & R. B. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of Resilience in Children (pp. 337–349). New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14728-9_18

Masten, A. S. (2014). Invited Commentary: Resilience and Positive Youth Development Frameworks in Developmental Science. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(6), 1018–1024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0118-7

Zimmerman, M. A., Stoddard, S. A., Eisman, A. B., Caldwell, C. H., Aiyer, S. M., & Miller, A. (2013). Adolescent resilience: Promotive factors that inform prevention. Child Development Perspectives, 7, 215–220. http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2013-40236-004&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Abstract Deadline: 15 January 2026
Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 31 January 2026

Prof. Dr. Gabriel Kuperminc
Prof. Dr. Christopher C. Henrich
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• resilience
• youth development
• social and emotional learning
• mental health
• academic performance
• social skills
• prevention
• longitudinal designs