Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030118

Authors: Rosa Ana Alonso Ruiz Eva Sanz Arazuri Natalia Ollora Triana Magdalena Sáenz de Jubera Ocón Cristina Medrano Pascual María Ángeles Valdemoros San Emeterio

Social leisure in preadolescence is a key space for socialization, identity, and wellbeing. In this context, intergenerational leisure stands out for its contribution to socio-emotional development and social cohesion. However, gaps persist in the analysis of its modalities, conditioning factors, and effects. The aim of this study was to analyze the kind of social leisure that young preadolescents share with their grandparents, as well as the satisfaction it generates. An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to 246 students aged 11 and 12 years from northern Spain, and subsequently, a descriptive study and an inferential analysis were conducted. Most grandchildren share leisure time with their grandparents, with face-to-face rather than virtual leisure predominating. The mother’s work situation emerges as the most influential factor, with higher rates of shared leisure observed when she is employed; the father’s work situation is also strongly associated. Face-to-face leisure is linked to greater overall satisfaction. The results underscore the importance of preserving these intergenerational spaces amid current societal changes.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030117

Authors: Sandra Sedano Colom Lluís Ballester Brage Maria Francesca Criach Singla Paula Benedico-Peydró Berta Aznar-Martínez

Problematic pornography consumption (PPC) during adolescence has been associated with negative perceptions of one’s own body image, pressure to conform to beauty standards, self-objectification, and dissatisfaction with one’s own image, whereas sexuality education may promote critical thinking, self-knowledge, and healthy relationships. This cross-sectional study analyzed the relationship between received sexuality education, body self-esteem, and problematic pornography use among 1177 adolescents and young people aged 12 to 21 years, including 541 women and 636 men. The Body Self-Esteem Scale, the short version of the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale, and an ad hoc questionnaire on received sexuality education were administered. Overall, 50.30% of adolescents reported having received sexuality education training, although it was mostly brief and had limited capacity to address their questions. In total, 19.63% of adolescents were at risk of negative body-image evaluation, and 10.62% were at high risk of body self-esteem problems. Moreover, 31.08% showed indicators of problematic pornography use, with higher levels among male adolescents and an increase associated with age. No significant associations were observed between the perceived quality of sexuality education and body self-esteem or PPC. However, PPC was negatively associated with body self-esteem among women. The results suggest the need to strengthen systematic, early, and comprehensive sexuality education programs.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030116

Authors: Idurre Lazcano Joseba Doistua

Self-managed leisure is a key determinant of volitional development and the transition to adulthood in young people. This article examines the relationship between perceived family and social support environments and levels of self-management and motivation among young people aged 18 to 29. A quantitative descriptive-correlational design was used to administer the Self-managed Leisure Scale (SLS) [Escala de Autogestión del Ocio (SLS)] and the Environment Scale (ES) [Escala de Entornos (EE)] to a sample of 468 young people living in Spain. The results reveal medium-to-high levels of self-management, highlighting that women have greater perceived competencies and relational connections than men, although they also perceive greater social barriers. It was confirmed that greater family and social support correlates significantly with higher levels of autonomy, competence and social relationships in leisure time. In the area of motivation, multiple orientations are observed to coexist, with slightly higher average scores for the identified regulation. It was concluded that self-management is an essential psychosocial mechanism for integral human development, which enables young people to be the authors of their own experience. Fostering environments that nurture basic psychosocial needs is critical for promoting active, healthy and engaged citizens and transforming leisure into a space of participation and well-being.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030115

Authors: Louise Michelle Vital

This conceptual paper examines how dominant frameworks of college access and equity in U.S. higher education marginalize undocumented and international students by anchoring inclusion to citizenship, legal eligibility, and institutional risk management. In the context of intensified anti-DEI and anti-immigrant politics, legally precarious students face overlapping yet distinct legal, financial, emotional, and symbolic forms of exclusion that conventional access and equity models do not fully capture. Institutional retreat, anticipatory obedience, and the re-coding of equity work can further make supports for these students harder to locate, defend, and sustain. Synthesizing scholarship on college access, undocumented and international student experiences, critical citizenship studies, legal status stratification, border theory, anticipatory obedience, and coalitional politics, the paper argues for moving “beyond legality” as the organizing framework of access. It advances a conceptual model of College Access Beyond Legality centered on four interlocking structures: emotional safety and trust, informal resource networks, campus and community organizing, and identity-based and status-conscious advocacy. The model conceptualizes cross-status coalition-building among students, institutional stakeholders, faculty, and community partners as both a survival strategy and a practice of institutional accountability. It also emphasizes that access beyond legality must begin before matriculation and extend through persistence, belonging, and post-graduation transitions. The model aims to reduce harm, strengthen belonging, expand access to material supports, support persistence, and deepen institutional accountability. The paper concludes with implications for institutional policy, equity practice, basic-needs and community-connection infrastructures, and future research aimed at expanding access for marginalized students in legally and politically hostile contexts.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030114

Authors: Jesse R. Ford Tyler J. Bacote Imani N. Callan Lauren M. White Gabrielle A. Haggins Tristan T. Reid Trevis T. Belle

As anti-DEI legislation reshapes belonging in American higher education, today’s Black doctoral students may one day become the educators and administrators who shape the experiences of young adults, which creates an indirect but significant connection between doctoral education and young adults. However, research on belonging in graduate education rarely connects doctoral student experiences to other sectors of education, including K-12 and undergraduate student relationships. Through a single focus group, this qualitative study explores the experiences of five Black higher education doctoral students cultivating and sustaining belonging in the current anti-DEI climate. Grounded in Hurtado and Carter’s framework, findings from the study reveal that Black doctoral students are architects of their own belonging by forming spaces to facilitate belonging through unacknowledged labor in the absence of formal institutional supports.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030113

Authors: Marta Prado-Botana Miriam Carretero-García Lara Varela-Garrote Raúl Fraguela-Vale

This study examines the extent to which participation in extracurricular sport activities (ESA) satisfies basic psychological needs (BPN) and the type of motivation generated in pre-adolescents (aged 9–12). A quantitative, cross-sectional and correlational study was conducted with 158 participants in sport activities (62 girls [39.2%] and 96 boys [60.8%]) from A Coruña, Spain, using three validated scales (Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale, Perceived Locus Of Causality and Self-concept Form 5). The results indicated high scores for physical self-concept (PSC), as well as in the needs for competence and relatedness, while the need for autonomy was moderate. Autonomous motivations (intrinsic and identified) predominated over controlled ones and amotivation. Positive correlations were found between BPN satisfaction, PSC, and autonomous motivation, while the need for autonomy correlated negatively with amotivation. No gender differences were found in BPN or PSC; however, boys exhibited significantly higher levels of identified, introjected, and external regulations. Multiple regression analyses confirmed that these motivational differences were due to gender and not the type of sport practised. In conclusion, although ESA foster high PSC and autonomous motivation, there is a need to improve methodology and design programs that satisfy the need for autonomy to curb female dropout rates.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030112

Authors: Cristina Vaz de Almeida Ana Veiga Célia Belim

Digital ecosystems, misinformation exposure, mental-health vulnerability and unequal access to care create distinctive challenges for young people. Although youth participation in health governance is increasingly advocated internationally, structured evidence from youth deliberative processes remains limited in Portugal. This study synthesises priorities expressed in two Portuguese deliberative initiatives coordinated by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Literacia em Saúde: the Mini-Assemblies of Health 2022–2023, with particular attention to the 3rd Mini-Assembly on Fighting Health Misinformation, and the Youth Health Choices Forum 2024. Both processes used a structured nominal-group logic to support idea generation, clarification, recording and prioritisation. The analysis used low-inference cross-session thematic aggregation to preserve propositional integrity and remain close to participants’ formulations. Five priority domains were identified: digital health communication and information credibility; curriculum-integrated and peer-mediated health literacy; low-friction mental-health access and stigma reduction; equity and functional service accessibility and governance, accountability and youth participation. Participant quotations are retained, in translated form, to preserve youth voice and to show how recommendations emerged from concrete deliberative formulations. The findings suggest that nominal group technique (NGT)-based youth deliberation can generate operational recommendations for policy and practice, including credibility mechanisms for digital health information, school-based health-literacy integration, autonomy-preserving access routes for mental-health support, and permanent youth participation structures. The findings support recognising young people not only as vulnerable recipients of health information but also as interpreters of digital health ecosystems and contributors to the design of more responsive health governance.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030111

Authors: Rabson Hove

The digital age marks the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which has changed every aspect of our lives, including youth ministry globally and Southern Africa in particular. However, it is worth noting that the digital revolution has significantly transformed the lives of young people, bringing opportunities and challenges for youth ministry. This shift raises important questions about the nature of youth ministry as the church seeks to embrace digitalization and social media in conjunction with face-to-face pastoral care ministry among the youth. This article explores the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital era for youth ministry in Southern Africa. It argues that the digital era poses significant challenges that cause the risk of losing contact and the erosion of meaningful relationships in pastoral ministry, but at the same time provides opportunities for digital convenience in communication and collaboration to advance learning, sharing, and the participation of young people in the church. This article employs textual analysis for data collection and qualitative inductive critical data and content analysis. The church’s understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the digital era helps in designing and adapting new methods and strategies for nurturing young people for ministry in the church and society. The article contributes to the discourse on the integration of social media in youth pastoral ministry.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030110

Authors: Jerry Quinton Staples

The transition into higher education is one of the most consequential junctures in a young person’s trajectory. Institutional retention is an institutional responsibility. When students leave before completing their degree, the default response has been to look at the student, their preparation, their motivation, their fit. This paper starts from a different premise: the cracks students fall through are structural. They form where offices operate in isolation, where handoffs go unowned, and where no unit is responsible for the space between them. Those cracks are most costly for students who were never given the social or political capital to navigate institutional complexity on their own: first-generation, Pell-eligible, and racially minoritized students, students with disabilities, LGBTQI-identified students, and others for whom the institution was not designed. This article introduces Embedded Institutional Process Mapping (EIPM), a framework adapted from business process mapping traditions and applied to higher education to help institutions map what their offices do and synchronize those efforts toward a shared institutional purpose. Drawing on loose coupling theory, administrative burden scholarship, and QuantCrit, EIPM surfaces where coordination fails and identifies which students bear the cost of that failure. A proof-of-concept application at a regional open-access institution, where 67% of students are first-generation, 58% are Pell-eligible, and 83% work while enrolled, demonstrates how EIPM makes structural misalignments visible that conventional program assessment routinely overlooks. In its widest application, EIPM operationalizes what equity work requires: disaggregated institutional data examined through a critical lens, to name who is being underserved and trace that outcome back to the institutional processes that produced it.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030109

Authors: Emilio Martínez-Redecillas Alba Rusillo-Magdaleno Jairo Casado-Montilla José Enrique Moral-García

The objective of this systematic review was to analyze the scientific evidence published between 2015 and 2025 on the impact of active tourism in reducing sedentary behavior among children and adolescents, and its implications for health promotion and the economic development of the sector. The PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed, with searches conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, including 13 studies with approximately 3100 participants across school, extracurricular, and residential camp contexts. The results show a consistent decrease in sedentary time during participation in active tourism programs, with moderate reductions in short-term interventions (≈5–15% or 20–30 min/day) and substantial decreases of up to 1.5–2 h per day in immersive programs. This displacement is mainly accompanied by increases in light physical activity, more limited improvements in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and reductions in screen time when the use of electronic devices is restricted. Overall, active tourism emerges as an effective and safe intervention with biopsychosocial benefits to counteract sedentary lifestyles in the young population. Furthermore, it demonstrates considerable applied potential as a driver of economic development by generating demand for educational, recreational, and tourism services, fostering destination diversification, and promoting sustainable territorial growth models.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030108

Authors: Esra Akın Canan Özkaya

This study explores the educational transitions of university students with special educational needs in Türkiye, focusing on their experiences of moving from secondary to higher education and their expectations for the transition from university to employment. The study draws on semi-structured interviews with 15 university students with special educational needs, including two participants with immigrant backgrounds. Findings primarily reflect the experiences of the overall sample, while the accounts of the two participants with immigrant backgrounds are interpreted as exploratory observations. The interview questions focused on resources, transition-related experiences, and expectations. Guided by the Capabilities Approach, the analysis explores the barriers to a smooth transition process and their implications for career choices through the lens of central capabilities. The findings reveal that participants face a range of challenges during transition processes, including limited and inconsistent institutional support, barriers in accessing educational and vocational opportunities, and difficulties in navigating key transition stages. The two students with immigrant backgrounds additionally described challenges related to language barriers, unfamiliarity with the education system, and limited access to support networks, which appeared to further complicate their individual transition experiences.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030107

Authors: Thulani Andrew Chauke Tomi Kiilakoski

This study explored the lived experiences of youth workers within formal education settings in South Africa. Utilising a qualitative approach, the study sampled 22 youth workers participating in presidential youth employment initiatives in partnership with the Department of Basic Education. The findings indicate that youth workers play a vital role in promoting social development among young people within formal education settings, a result that aligns with the empowerment theory guiding this research. Specifically, youth workers provide essential psychosocial and mental health support, contributing to holistic youth development. However, their effectiveness is frequently constrained by operational issues, including limited institutional recognition and ambiguous role definitions. Furthermore, a lack of sustainable funding and restricted time allocations for youth work activities remain significant challenges. The study recommends the formal institutionalisation of professional youth work within South African education policy, supported by clear operational frameworks, structured collaboration, and enhanced training to ensure sustainable learner support.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030106

Authors: Anthony Gikuri Nchagwa Marco B. Sanka Aneth Michael Verah Urassa Mdai Julie Volders Paulin Paul Adolf Kaindoa George Justine Banyenza

Child marriage remains a persistent barrier to girls and young women’s education, health, and socioeconomic advancement in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the perceived economic empowerment initiatives contributed to expanding life choices, including the prevention of child marriage and the delay of early marriage, within the Girls Get Equal (GGE) project implemented between 2020 and 2024 across three districts (Nkasi, Kalambo and Sumbawanga DC) in the Rukwa Region of Tanzania between 2020 and 2024. The paper adopted an explanatory mixed-methods case study design to explain aggregated project outcome indicators with participants’ lived experiences captured through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Endline evaluation interviews and focus group discussions were re-analyzed using a six-stage thematic analysis approach. The paper demonstrates that imparting skills in technical and business fields leads to robust job creation outcomes. A large majority of trained youth transitioned into employment or self-employment and a substantial proportion maintained stable income-generating activities. On top of that, community-based infrastructures, particularly savings and loan groups, emerged as important financial mechanisms as they enabled structures supporting enterprise development and household resilience. The integration of quantitative trends and qualitative narratives suggests that economic empowerment interventions can expand girls’ economic agency and influence their informed decision-making processes related to marriage. Finally, the findings suggest that combining vocational skills development with access to financial capital represents a promising pathway for addressing structural drivers of early and child marriage in economically vulnerable contexts.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030105

Authors: Georgios Kyroglou

Political consumerism is frequently celebrated as an expansion of youth political participation or critiqued for its structural ineffectiveness to advance young people’s political contestations. Moving beyond this evaluative binary, this article investigates its underexplored cultural and affective implications. It defines the paradox of political consumerism as a condition in which young people’s political intent is channelled through consumer choice, only to be pre-emptively neutralised by the very neoliberal ‘business ontology’ it seeks to resist. This article interrogates this paradox through a series of focus groups in the United Kingdom and Greece among ‘neoliberal natives’; a unique generational unit whose entire civic socialisation has occurred within a totalised market logic, anchored by the historic, unfulfilled promises of the Brexit and Grexit moments. Informed by Critical and Cultural theory, the analysis explores how political consumption functions simultaneously as a meaningful political gesture and an ideological constraint. Rather than dismissing youth commitments as superficial, the article situates them within a broader political economy that individualises responsibility, commodifies dissent, and constrains their political imagination. What emerges is an ambivalent subjectivity: a generation that knows very well the limits of their market-based engagement—yet continues to participate in it.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030104

Authors: Laura Silva Ângela Maia Ricardo J. Pinto

Background/Objectives: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with child socio-emotional difficulties, but when using parents’ reports, it remains unclear which scoring approaches are most informative about younger children. This study evaluated a Portuguese caregiver-report ACE assessment derived from the Finkelhor/Turner framework in a community sample of children aged 2–10 years. Methods: Caregivers provided reports on ACE exposure and socio-emotional adjustment for 341 children. Three ACE scores were compared: an approximate original ACE score, a full ACE pool score, and an adapted reduced caregiver-report score. Associations with socio-emotional adjustment were examined using correlations, adjusted regressions, ROC analyses, domain models, and latent class analysis. Results: Higher ACE exposure was associated with greater difficulties and lower prosocial behavior. The nine-item approximate original ACE score, which did not include emotional neglect, showed the strongest overall predictive and discriminative performance for caregiver-reported SDQ outcomes in this Portuguese sample. This finding should therefore be interpreted as evidence regarding the available approximation of conventional ACE indicators rather than the complete original ACE inventory. Among the two expanded ACE scoring approaches, however, the adapted reduced score consistently outperformed the full ACE pool, supporting a more parsimonious approach. ROC analyses indicated acceptable discrimination for elevated total difficulties, with the approximate original score showing the highest area under the curve (AUC); however, positive predictive values were low across all three scores, indicating limited stand-alone screening utility at the individual level. Domain analyses highlighted economic stressors, maltreatment, and family disorder as salient predictors. Latent class analysis identified low adversity, moderate family/economic adversity, and high polyadversity profiles. Both adversity-exposed classes showed poorer socio-emotional adjustment than the low-adversity class. Conclusions: Findings support the relevance of caregiver-report ACE assessment for understanding socio-emotional adjustment in young children, while also highlighting the need for developmentally sensitive, culturally adapted, and outcome-validated scoring approaches. More extensive ACE pools were not necessarily more informative than shorter empirically or theoretically grounded scores.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030103

Authors: Gibson Makamure

This study employs a qualitative narrative inquiry to explore how support systems and industry engagement influence youth employability and entrepreneurial aspirations within South Africa’s TVET sector. The central research question examines how young people’s personal stories reveal the impact of systemic barriers and support mechanisms on their identity construction, resilience, and agency. Using in-depth interviews and focus groups with 24 purposively sampled youth across Gauteng’s TVET colleges, the analysis combines thematic and narrative approaches to uncover recurring patterns and narrative structures. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 30, with a balanced gender distribution, representing various socio-economic backgrounds and career interests, selected through purposive sampling to ensure data richness and saturation. The analysis integrated thematic and narrative approaches, with a detailed coding process, theme development, and measures to mitigate bias through member checking and peer debriefing. Findings indicate that experiential learning, mentorship, family encouragement, and industry connections serve as critical support mechanisms that shape youth perceptions of opportunity and self-efficacy. Conversely, systemic barriers such as resource limitations and skills mismatches are frequently narrated as obstacles constraining pathways to employment and entrepreneurship. The study concludes that integrating youth narratives into policy development can foster more inclusive and effective strategies for youth empowerment. These insights contribute to the literature on youth employment by highlighting the active role of storytelling in identity negotiation and social critique within socio-economic contexts.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030102

Authors: Chuka N. Emezue Armaan Grewal Alina Zhao Kaavya Sumit Rehan Mathew Koshy Reyna Rufino Tvisha Heda Robert Ephraim Aaron Dunlap Kendra C. Julion Tara Wilkes

Background/Objectives: Youth are increasingly engaged in mental health research, but many models remain consultative rather than participatory. We examined the Technology and Adolescent Mental Health Internship (TAMI) as an implementation-focused instrumental case study of a structured youth participatory action research internship for high school students recruited through schools serving Chicago’s West and South Sides. Methods: The case study included an embedded multimethod formative evaluation with participatory interpretation by a post-program youth advisory board (n = 8). In Year 3, 18 participants completed baseline surveys, and 16 provided matched pre–post surveys (matched survey completion = 89%). Measures included a study-developed five-item research-task self-efficacy indicator, post-program attitudes and intentions, and four open-ended items. We conducted one exploratory paired-samples t-test and an inductive descriptive content analysis. Results: In exploratory analyses, mean research-task self-efficacy scores increased from 21.8 (SD = 2.1) at baseline to 23.8 (SD = 1.4) post-program, t(15) = 4.09, p = 0.001, dz = 1.02. Among the 15 respondents who responded to each of these post-program items, all reported being confident or very confident explaining youth mental health research, and all reported being at least somewhat likely to participate in future research, advocacy, or mental health activities. Participants described learning related to literature review, research design, ethics, data interpretation, and science communication. They recommended a longer program, additional applied practice, and more guest speakers. Conclusions: The TAMI was delivered within one program cycle and was viewed favorably by respondents. This case illustrates how youth-generated questions, adult scaffolding, collaborative interpretation, and youth co-authorship can be incorporated into a structured research internship. Larger, independent evaluations are needed to assess outcomes, sustainability, and transferability.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030101

Authors: Olivier Ferlatte Tara Chanady David Ortiz-Paredes Kinda Wassef Hannah Kia Rebecca Haines-Saah Adam Bourne Rod Knight

Cannabis use is prevalent among LGBTQ+ youth and is often framed within deficit-oriented models emphasizing risk and mental health vulnerability. This study moves beyond these perspectives by examining how LGBTQ+ youth understand and mobilize cannabis use in relation to mental health, gender, and sexuality. Guided by queer theory and an ethics of care, and grounded in a community-based participatory approach, this photovoice study was conducted in collaboration with three LGBTQ+ youth peer researchers who contributed to data collection, analysis, and interpretation. A total of 46 LGBTQ+ youth (aged 15–24) in Quebec, Canada, generated photographs and narratives exploring their motivations and experiences of cannabis use, which were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings highlight cannabis use as a situated and relational practice embedded in three intersecting processes: reconfiguring thought, enacting identity, and practicing care. Cannabis was mobilized to facilitate introspection, support identity exploration, and affirmation, and foster relational and collective forms of healing, while also producing ambivalent effects, including disorientation and emotional numbing. By centering youth perspectives, these findings challenge harm-focused framings and underscore the need for more nuanced, youth-informed and strengths-based approaches to LGBTQ+ youth well-being.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030100

Authors: Jorge Luis García-Sarmiento Verónica López-Teros Rolando Giovanni Diaz-Zavala Karla Denisse Murillo-Castillo Dena María Jesús Camarena-Gómez Alejandro Monserrat García-Alegría Trinidad Quizán-Plata

Food insecurity is a major public health concern among university students. This cross-sectional study examined factors associated with food insecurity during and after the COVID-19 pandemic among 1864 students (mean age: 20.6 ± 2.9 years) from selected public universities in Northwest Mexico. Data were collected in two cross-sectional survey waves: during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 1188) and after the pandemic (n = 676). Data were collected through online surveys during the pandemic and face-to-face interviews in the post-pandemic period. Food insecurity was assessed using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). Multiple linear regression models were used to identify factors associated with food insecurity and to examine its association with body mass index, perceived stress, sleep quality, and academic performance. Overall, 62.2% of students experienced food insecurity. Food insecurity was higher among students surveyed after the COVID-19 pandemic than among those surveyed during the pandemic (73.7% vs. 55.7%, p < 0.001). During the pandemic, higher food insecurity scores were associated with older age, female sex, indigenous self-identification, living alone, academic discipline, study hours, educational financing, and poorer nutritional behaviors. In the post-pandemic period, indigenous self-identification, living arrangements, academic discipline, and poor nutritional behaviors remained associated with food insecurity. In both periods, food insecurity was associated with higher perceived stress, poorer sleep quality, and lower academic performance (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that food insecurity remains a major concern among university students and indicate the importance of developing culturally appropriate strategies to support vulnerable student populations.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030099

Authors: Daniel D. Liou Leticia Rojas

Contemporary education policy requires state and local schools to align their curricula and establish school expectations based on college-readiness standards. However, these practices have generated more concerns than solutions. Test scores and grade point averages, which individually measure students’ college readiness, are often conflated with educators’ stereotypical beliefs about students’ prospects for postsecondary success. These stratifying dynamics of college readiness are particularly affecting communities that are historically excluded from higher education. To respond to these systems of exclusion, this qualitative study explores a community-based, collaborative model of college worthiness through coalition building in a predominantly working-class Latiné high school. Through a comprehensive analysis of interviews, observations, and artifacts, the study describes school leaders’ strategic utilization of multi-organizational coalitions to prepare students for college. The findings extend the literature by illuminating anti-deficit, communal approaches to advancing the Latiné educational pipeline. These coalitional practices include a focus on students’ wellness, developing trust and caring interpersonal relationships, and enacting positive expectations to foster college-going agency and self-determination. The implications of these findings are significant for school leaders who work to establish college access points as an integral component of social justice education.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030098

Authors: Saima Hirani Neelam Punjani Sehrish Karim Rishika Selvakumar Nandini Basuray Umair Datoo Bukola Salami Sarah Dow-Fleisner Kristopher Wells

Background: The widespread use of digital technologies is beneficial to society but has also contributed to the growing prevalence of Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV) among youth. This study aimed to co-design youth-informed recommendations for preventing and responding to TFSV and its mental health consequences among racialized youth in Canada. Methods: Guided by the participatory research approach, 33 participants from Alberta and British Columbia, who were 15–24 years old and self-identified as racialized, participated in two virtual interactive workshops. Participants engaged in facilitated breakout group discussions using case studies and semi-structured prompts. Data were collected via Padlet and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Participants identified several gaps in existing support systems and recommended culturally responsive, multi-sectoral strategies to address and prevent TFSV. The key recommendations included awareness of families and educators about TFSV, training of healthcare and community service providers for trauma-informed care, integrated mental health support, and increasing youth awareness about legal support. Conclusions: Participants collectively designed recommendations to address TFSV and its related mental health outcomes. This study highlights perspectives of racialized youth for collaborative efforts across family, education, health, community, and legal systems to foster safer digital environments and equitable mental health support for youth affected by TFSV.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030097

Authors: Bianca Puntareli Vicencio Gustavo Herrera-Urizar Raúl Gutiérrez Pineda

This qualitative study, grounded in a phenomenological-interpretive design, aimed to explore university students’ experiences regarding digital hyperconnectivity, emotional well-being, and the balance between academic and personal life at a private university in Viña del Mar, Chile. The sample consisted of 18 Occupational Therapy students (mean age: 22.4 years; 61.1% female, 27.8% male, 5.6% non-binary; representing a diverse range of undergraduate academic years from second to fifth). Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding following grounded theory guidelines, with the assistance of Atlas.ti v25 software, to identify emerging categories and establish conceptual relationships. Findings were organized into two analytical categories. The first, Experiences and perceptions of digital hyperconnectivity, portrays hyperconnectivity as a taken-for-granted everyday condition shaped by intensive device use and the predominance of social media, streaming platforms, and artificial intelligence tools; within this category, a tension emerges between recognized practical/pedagogical usefulness and distracting or compulsive patterns of use. The second, Emotional well-being and balance in academic life, highlights the impact on emotions, time management, sleep, and relationships, as well as disconnection strategies to restore balance (time limits, mental breaks, and offline activities). In conclusion, digital hyperconnectivity is significantly associated with emotional well-being and the academic-personal life balance. Students’ narratives suggest that technology can enrich learning when accompanied by regulation, media literacy, and deliberate disconnection practices. Therefore, context-sensitive institutional interventions are needed to promote conscious disconnection, digital identity education, and a pedagogical design that integrates digital tools through a critical and ethical approach.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030096

Authors: Jomella Watson-Thompson Valerie M. Thompson Jerry A. Schultz Jeanne Hayes Kandace Fleming Lauratu Bah

Youth violence, particularly gun-related, is a pressing public health concern influenced by key risk factors and broader structural inequities that shape community conditions. The ThrYve (“Together Helping Reduce Youth Violence”) initiative, a multisector, multilevel community strategy in Kansas City, targeted social and structural determinants of youth violence. Guided by the Institute of Medicine’s Model for Collaborative Action in Communities, the ThrYve approach supported five evidence-informed components including: (1) coalition development with over 40 partners; (2) youth violence prevention programs in hospitals, schools, and the community; (3) out-of-school time supports for youths; (4) education, college, and career readiness initiatives; and (5) youth/family navigation supports. A mixed-method, quasi-experimental design examined pre/post changes in youth risk and behavior, longitudinal youth homicide trends, and documented coalition-facilitated community and systems changes. Between 2018 and 2024, the ThrYve coalition implemented 243 new or modified programs, policies, and practices promoting safer, supportive community environments. During the intervention phase, youth homicide rates in the intervention catchment area declined by 42.3% from baseline, and significant within-group improvements were observed in selected risk factors among ThrYve participants. Findings suggest the value of coalition-based, systems-level, community- and youth-engaged strategies for youth violence prevention.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030095

Authors: Ashlyn Elsworth Molly Nicodemus Marcus McGee Trent Smith Cassidy McCullough Emma Farnlacher Emma Morgan

As student mental health concerns intensify, campuses are exploring wellness initiatives including equine-assisted intervention (EAI). Because maintaining equines on campus is not always feasible, virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an alternative method for delivering equine experiences. Although equine environments alone may reduce stress, limited research has examined how environmental setting influences outcomes during VR EAI. Therefore, the objective of this exploratory study was to compare stress levels, as observed through heart rate and cortisol concentrations, for students participating in VR EAI within equine and classroom settings. Students participated in one of the following on-campus VR EAI programs: (1) classroom (n = 10) or (2) equine (n = 14) environment. Although both environmental types demonstrated a significant difference between minimum-maximum heart rate during the session (p < 0.05), only the classroom led to a significant reduction in heart rate post-session (p = 0.02). Neither environmental type observed a significant difference between pre-post cortisol concentrations (p > 0.05). Environmental type was an influencing factor for cortisol concentrations (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that environmental context may influence physiological responses during VR EAI; however, further research is warranted that includes larger samples, more controlled designs, and integrated subjective and physiological measures.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030094

Authors: Hannah Smith Elizabeth Paddock

Diversion is defined as the practice of providing an alternative outcome for children who have engaged in offending behaviour, which keeps them away from the formal criminal justice system. Diversion is a significant element of the Child First approach, and is widely implemented across England and Wales. The increase in use of diversion in recent years has contributed to reductions in First Time Entrant rates; however, evidence regarding whether these measures reduce reoffending is limited. Diversion practices vary significantly both nationally and internationally. Hence, much could be learnt from reviewing the international literature to establish what could be implemented in England and Wales. Therefore, this systematic review aims to explore the effect of different types of diversion measures on reoffending in First Time Entrants. To do this, a comprehensive search of 10 electronic databases was undertaken to systematically identify literature relating to youth justice diversion. A systematic screening procedure was followed to identify studies that met inclusion criteria, data on key information was extracted and studies were assessed using a quality assessment tool. Results were synthesised using the EMMIE framework, to increase applicability to practice. A total of 12 distinct studies were included in the review, with both experimental and quasi-experimental design. One study was conducted in Norway, one in the Netherlands and the rest in the United States of America. Findings were varied but generally suggested diversion leads to lower rates of recorded reoffending than formal processing. When comparing between types of diversion, often there was no difference in reoffending but generally, the least intensive intervention showed the best results. However, findings from one study that considered self-reported offending prompts consideration of whether diversion genuinely affects behaviour or simply influences the detection of offences. This review indicates promising results for diversion interventions but highlights the need for further research to provide conclusive evidence regarding which measures are most effective.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030093

Authors: Lauriane Lalande Sarah Bouhouita-Guermech Hazar Haidar

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems increasingly shape youth’s educational, social, and informational environments. Although numerous ethical frameworks and guidelines have been developed to guide AI governance, including the OECD AI Principles and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, they rarely address young people’s perspectives when interacting with AI in their everyday lives. At the same time, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in General Comment No. 25 published in 2021 on children’s rights in the digital environment, affirms that children should be actively involved in decisions concerning digital technologies that affect them. Objective: This study examines how the scientific literature conceptualizes youth’s right to participate in AI. Methods: An interpretive scoping review was conducted. Database searches and reference list screening were performed between 2010 and 2024 using combinations of keywords related to artificial intelligence, youth, participation, and ethics. Following a systematic selection process, 15 sources were included and analyzed thematically. The corpus comprises peer-reviewed articles, a position paper, legal analyses, policy review reports, and narrative reviews, selected to capture both empirical and normative perspectives on the topic. Results: The literature highlights youth participation in AI as both a children’s rights requirement and a condition for legitimate digital governance. However, a significant gap persists between young people’s widespread exposure to AI systems and their limited influence in decision-making processes. Discussion: Integrating youth participation into AI governance and education may contribute to more inclusive and developmentally informed technological ecosystems.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030092

Authors: John Marion Tim Corney Brett Woods Ciara Bradley Hilary Tierney Saoirse Reynolds Conlon Kristi Jüristo Ilona-Evelyn Rannala Marko Kovačić Mario Žuliček Katrin Karu Sofija Arnaudova Dragan Atanasov Bojana Ćulum Ilić

Defining professional youth work and its activities presents a challenge for developing international consensus in the university level training and education of professional youth workers. This research is concerned with the question of ‘how youth work students in universities are educated and prepared for professional youth work practice, and, in particular, with diverse young people’. The article presents research examining the experiences of those undertaking the education and training of professional youth workers in universities located in five countries: Estonia, Croatia, Macedonia, Ireland and Australia. Educators from a university in each of the five participating countries completed a survey on the content and underpinning values of their course, and educators from each university participated in a focus group interview discussing their motivations to teach youth work, theoretical underpinnings, and pedagogical practices. The article finds that across the five national contexts there is broad agreement among the university youth work educators that youth work is a ‘social and critical pedagogic’ practice with a commitment to broad values of ‘social justice’ and ‘social inclusion’ for young people. However, the specific expression of these concepts differs depending on the national context, often influenced by historical and political events. The personal values, worldviews, and biographies of youth work educators play a role, both in the conception of themselves as educators, as well as their motivations and teaching practice. Educators also stressed the importance of youth work as a profession and distinct academic discipline, especially in the context of neoliberal pressures in universities that seek to conflate youth work with similar disciplines and areas of study.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030091

Authors: Annalise Ajmani Ashley Slaughter Colleen S. Walsh Nicholas Thomson Michel Aboutanos Kelly E. O’Connor

During adolescence, exposure to community violence (ECV) can negatively impact multiple facets of health and future achievement. Existing research mainly focuses on the risk factors that increase ECV, although multiple promotive factors are associated with lower levels of ECV. However, research has not examined the unique and combined effects of these promotive factors on ECV. The current study investigates promotive factors at the individual, peer, and supportive adult relationship levels for their unique and combined associations with ECV to determine which factors are associated with the lowest levels of ECV. 2725 adolescents from three urban middle schools (Mage = 13.22; 48% male; 90% Black, 18% Hispanic or Latino) reported measures of ECV, positive outlook, self-efficacy for nonviolence, peers’ prosocial behavior, friends’ support for nonviolence, presence of a caring adult, and parental support for nonviolence. Regression analyses showed that a combination of multiple promotive factors better explained the variance in ECV than any single promotive factor alone, indicating that promotive factors have compounding effects. Positive outlook, self-efficacy for nonviolence, friends’ support for nonviolence, and the presence of a caring adult were all uniquely associated with lower levels of exposure to community violence across all steps of the hierarchical regression. In alignment with positive youth development theory, these results demonstrate that an adolescent’s ECV risk is lower if they have more promotive factors. These findings emphasize the importance of relational promotive factors as future targets for strengths-based interventions.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030090

Authors: Eliomar Rosa-Ramón Sheralys Rodriguez-Correa Ramón Díaz-Rodríguez Linda Perez-Laras Yamixa Delgado

Weapon carrying and violent behaviors during adolescence are associated with increased risk of injuries and have been linked to suicidal ideation. However, little is known about these associations among Puerto Rican high school students. This cross-sectional study analyzed 2019 Puerto Rico Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data from students in grades 9–12. Survey-weighted descriptive statistics summarized prevalence, and multivariable logistic regression examined associations between suicidal ideation and sociodemographic, violent behavior, and psychosocial variables. Among Puerto Rican high school students, 52% were female, and 12% reported suicidal ideation. Bivariate analyses showed significant associations between suicidal ideation and sex, age, weapon carrying, bullying victimization, persistent sadness/hopelessness, and cigarette use (p < 0.05). In the fully adjusted model, persistent sadness/hopelessness was the strongest factor associated with suicidal ideation (AOR = 8.88, 95% CI: 4.91–16.03). Bullying victimization and cigarette use also remained independently associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation. Weapon carrying was not independently associated with suicidal ideation after adjustment for psychosocial factors. Persistent sadness/hopelessness, bullying victimization, and cigarette use were independently associated with suicidal ideation, highlighting the multifactorial nature of adolescent suicide risk. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive mental health screening and interventions that address emotional distress, social stressors, and behavioral risk factors among Puerto Rican adolescents.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030089

Authors: Hend Alqawasma

A phenomenological approach was used to understand the experience of resettlement, integration and university education of refugee youth sponsored under the Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) and the Privately Sponsored Refugee (PSR) programs in Canada. Central to the phenomenon is addressing the meaning of the students’ lived experience arriving in Canada under the GAR and PSR, and how their journey to education shaped their integration. How do their life challenges affect their educational pathways? Eight in-depth interviews with four resettled refugee university students were conducted, in addition to individual interviews with four key informants. The study was conducted through the lens of critical theory to explore the power relations and the common sense of the system. Results showcase systematic barriers in refugee youth’s access to higher education, with their likelihood of enrollment and educational success further burdened by discrimination, isolation, language proficiency, and a lack of understanding of their needs by service providers. Integration was marked by moments of educational accomplishments, highlighting the importance attributed to education by refugee youth. Nevertheless, the participants also expressed obstacles to integration centered around financial burden, being labeled as others by their surroundings, language proficiency, housing, and overall delays in their academic pathways.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030088

Authors: Kristian V. Jones Theresa N. Melton Amy J. Anderson Thomas E. Keller David L. DuBois

Mentoring programs enjoy considerable empirical support as a strategy for supporting the positive development of youth, particularly those with marginalized identities (e.g., minoritized racial identities) and/or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. There tends to be considerable variability, however, in both the quality of the mentor–mentee relationships established through programs and whether these relationships are sustained for intended periods of time. Research indicates these features of relationships can be significant influences on the outcomes of participating youth, thus making it imperative to better understand the factors that may contribute to mentoring relationship quality and duration. To expand inquiry in this area, the current study draws on an intersectionality framework and the statistical technique of classification and regression tree (CART) analysis to explore the potentially interacting role of multiple sociodemographic aspects of both the mentee and mentor—specifically age, gender, race/ethnicity, and economic status—in shaping the quality and duration of mentoring relationships (n = 806) established through the Big Brothers Big Sisters community-based mentoring program. Findings suggest that mentor age, mentor income, mentee family income, and mentee race have complex associations with indicators of mentoring relationship quality.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030087

Authors: Teresa Rushe Katrina McLaughlin Catriona Ross Tara O’Neill

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of mother’s and father’s joint parenting on young adult mental health outcomes, and to explore the impact of sex, personality and family structure in observed relationships. Two hundred and forty-five Northern Irish university students (mean age 21.11 years, SD 2.70, 66% female, 94% white) completed the Measure of Parental Style (MOPS) to measure perception of maternal and paternal indifference, overcontrol and abuse. Mental health was assessed using measures of alcohol misuse, depression and anxiety. Moderators included personality, sex and family structure. Cluster analysis revealed three parenting clusters indicative of positive parenting, negative fathering, and negative mothering. Negative parenting by either parent was associated with higher depression, regardless of sex or family structure. We found some evidence of a buffering effect of negative fathering in the context of good enough parenting from the mother, in that negative parenting from the mother, and not the father, was associated with anxiety symptoms and with earlier drinking in females. The impact of negative parenting by either parent was particularly pronounced in young people who displayed high levels of punishment sensitivity. These results highlight the importance of both parents in the preservation of mental health through to adulthood, regardless of whether they remain together. They also argue for family-focused care in the management of youth mental health.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030086

Authors: Samuel Hubočan Lukáš Valla Katarína Kampová Eva Sventeková

Youth substance abuse represents a complex social and security problem which cannot be adequately captured solely through crime statistics. In the context of the Slovak Republic, there is a lack of systematic research linking healthcare data on intoxications with criminological indicators, which limits the effective design of preventive measures. The research analyses substance abuse (according to ICD 10 F10–F19) among youth in the NUTS 3 regions of the Slovak Republic during 2019–2024 and their descriptive association with drug-related crime. Analysis is based on data provided by public administration entities—the National Health Information Centre of the Slovak Republic (data on youth hospitalisation), the Operational Centre of the Emergency Medical Service of the Slovak Republic (data on EMS call-outs) and the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic (data on crime). The provided data represent the whole population of the Slovak Republic. To enable comparison between datasets, two standardised indices are constructed: an EMS index representing a number of EMS call-outs and urgent hospitalisations per 100,000 inhabitants of the respective youth age group and a crime index representing a number of drug-related criminal offences per 100,000 total regional inhabitants. A total of 4486 emergency interventions with F10–F19 diagnoses were identified, with the highest proportion being disorders caused by alcohol (F10), more common among juveniles (14–17) than in minors (6–13). The analysis identifies a moderate positive association between the regional EMS index for F10 and F11–F19 diagnoses (correl youth = 0.66; correl juveniles = 0.55) and a weak negative association between the F11–F19 EMS index and the drug-related crime index (correl youth = −0.28; correl minors = −0.52). The Pearson correlation coefficients are reported as descriptive indicators. Formal statistical inference was not the aim of this study. The findings suggest that crime statistics alone inadequately reflect the health risks of youth substance abuse, underscoring the need to link healthcare, criminological, and demographic data and to develop regionally targeted prevention.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030085

Authors: Ashiya Osman Charmaine du Plessis

Youth leadership plays an important role in addressing social challenges within environments with limited resources and institutional constraints. However, there is still a paucity of research that has examined how leadership develops in practice while facing such circumstances. In response, this study explores how participation in the Youth Citizens Action Programme (YCAP) in South African schools contributes to the development of leadership for social justice among young people, adopting a micro-macro lens. A qualitative, exploratory, and contextual design was adopted, using semi-structured interviews with nine purposively selected YCAP alumni. The results show that youth leadership for social justice emerges through young people’s responses to macro-level institutional inequalities as they must identify and address local social justice challenges. As a result, they develop a leadership identity at the micro level and the application of leadership skills as a micro-bridge. Furthermore, enabling and restricting macro-level conditions determine the extent to which youth leadership can be sustained. The results advance the idea that organised programmes such as YCAP may support meaningful youth participation and provide insight into how such initiatives can enable young people to address social justice challenges as leaders within their communities.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030084

Authors: Bruno Matijašević

Serious leisure theory proposes that deep engagement in leisure activities yields personal and social benefits, yet its application to adolescent risk behavior remains unexplored. This cross-sectional study examined whether specific qualities of serious leisure (effort/perseverance, talents/skills, self-expression, activity outcomes, financial benefit, and ethos) predicted four risk behavior domains (delinquency, cyberbullying, eating disorders, sexual risk) among 1141 Croatian adolescents (64.8% female; 60.0% younger cohort aged 14–17, 40.0% older cohort aged 18–20). Serious leisure qualities were assessed with subscales adapted from the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure (SLIM) and risk behaviors with validated self-report instruments, both administered through an anonymous online questionnaire. Hierarchical regression models revealed that serious leisure qualities explained 5–11% of variance in risk behaviors beyond demographics, with significant age-moderation effects. For younger adolescents, effort and perseverance in leisure activities served as the primary protective factor (r = −0.14 to −0.17), whereas for older adolescents, perceived activity outcomes (satisfaction and personal growth) emerged as the dominant protector (r = −0.12 to −0.21). Conversely, financial benefit derived from leisure consistently predicted higher risk across all domains, particularly cyberbullying (r = 0.35 among younger participants). A significant developmental shift in leisure preferences was observed, with structured activities declining from 27.6% to 18.6% as participants aged (χ2 = 36.91, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that the subjective quality of leisure engagement, rather than the type of activity alone, shapes risk trajectories, with distinct protective mechanisms operating at different developmental stages. Implications for age-tailored leisure-based prevention programs are discussed.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030083

Authors: Nicolette Schipper-van Veldhoven Annemart Tielens-van den Bos Amber Werkman Lara Engelsman Marleen Haandrikman Matthijs Tuijt

Organized youth sport has considerable potential to promote young people’s physical health, well-being, and personal and social development. However, these positive outcomes are not guaranteed. When sport environments are poorly structured, excessively performance-oriented, or inadequately supervised, participation may also lead to exclusion, excessive pressure, and other harmful experiences. Creating genuinely youth-centered sport environments is therefore essential, both to foster positive developmental outcomes and to prevent transgressive behavior. Despite growing attention to these issues, the field of youth sport lacks an overarching framework for the development of pedagogically sound, development-oriented, and socially safe sport environments. This study aimed to develop an overarching framework that integrates the developmental, motivational, and safeguarding dimensions of youth sport into one coherent model for creating optimal learning environments. Through an iterative process, a practice-based framework was developed, theoretically grounded, and initially operationalized. Early versions of the framework were subsequently examined for conceptual alignment through expert opinions, focus groups, and group discussions with existing European youth sport initiatives. This process resulted in the development of the Youth Sport Compass (YSC), a coherent conceptual and practical framework designed to support youth-centered and socially safe sport environments. Experts from different countries and disciplines considered the framework highly relevant, conceptually robust, and broadly applicable in practice. The YSC provides a strong conceptual and practical foundation for coaches, sport organizations, and policymakers seeking to create pedagogically sound, youth-centered, and socially safe sport environments. Although the YSC is firmly grounded in theory and practice, it has yet to be empirically validated. Further research is needed to assess its validity and practical effectiveness.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6030082

Authors: Luis Moral-Moreno Albert Marquès-Donoso

Insufficient physical activity (IPA) among university students remains an important public health concern associated with adverse health outcomes. Although barriers to physical activity (PA) are widely documented, less is known about how these barriers cluster within different university contexts and student subgroups. This study examined hierarchical configurations of perceived barriers associated with IPA in a multicountry university sample. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 686 undergraduate students (60.8% women; mean age = 22.4 ± 5.1 years) from Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Italy. Perceived barriers were assessed using the BBAQ-21 and self-reported PA using the IPAQ–Short Form. CART and Exhaustive CHAID decision-tree models were applied to identify subgroup configurations based on cumulative barrier burden. Country-based subsamples and self-reported post-pandemic PA emerged as the principal segmentation variables. The Mexican subsample showed the highest barrier burden. Students reporting increased PA generally clustered within lower-barrier configurations, whereas stable or reduced PA tended to coincide with greater perceived barrier burden. Perceived barriers formed differentiated and context-dependent configurations associated with PA patterns. These findings provide exploratory insight into how barriers cluster within university populations and support more context-aware interpretation of PA-related constraints within higher education settings.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020081

Authors: Faouzia Kalali

Engaging students in sustainability challenges is often easier in theory than in practice. This study examines first-year French undergraduates’ patterns of engagement with the TEDS module (Transition Ecologique pour un Développement Soutenable), a nationwide programme developed in France to promote ecological transition and sustainable development. Data were collected through an online questionnaire comprising 24 closed- and open-ended questions exploring students’ self-reported familiarity with, understanding of, concern about, and self-reported intentions to engage in sustainability-related actions, as well as perceived learning needs and background characteristics. Only 18 questions (143 items) were included in the present analysis, covering all dimensions except those related to the evaluation of the training programme. Results indicate that environmental concern is the factor most strongly associated with self-reported engagement intention, despite persistent gaps in conceptual understanding, particularly regarding the Anthropocene and alternative socio-economic models. Knowledge score and concern are structured hierarchically according to issue visibility, with climate change ranking highest. Engagement depends not only on concern but also on perceived opportunities for action, yet students struggle to identify concrete pathways. The absence of significant differences across gender and disciplines points to a strong generational convergence that reshapes the determinants of environmental engagement. Overall, the key challenge for sustainability education is linking systemic knowledge to concrete contexts of learning and everyday life.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020080

Authors: Eric Pothen Chandima Herath Mudiyanselage Briana Joseph Ċante Nakanishi Lindsey M. Weiler

Contemporary youth mental health challenges necessitate collaborative approaches to prevention and support. The Mental Health Ambassador (MHA) program was developed to equip youth and adults in mentoring programs with the skills and confidence to discuss and support youth mental health, with the broader goal of creating meaningful impact within their local communities. The 8-session MHA program involves group-based learning and a local youth-led advocacy project. This mixed-method pre-post pilot evaluation examined program acceptability, implementation experiences, and potential for effectiveness. Participants included youth aged 14–18 years (n = 9) and adult mentors (n = 11) from mentoring organizations across five counties in Minnesota. Quantitative surveys assessed mental health resource awareness, preparedness to address youth mental health concerns, confidence in engaging in mental health conversations, and confidence in providing resources and referrals. Post-program focus groups explored participants’ experiences, perceived benefits, and implementation challenges. Findings indicated that both youth and adult participants reported positive experiences with the program and demonstrated increases in resource awareness, preparedness to address youth mental health concerns, confidence in discussing mental health, and confidence in providing resources and referrals. Qualitative findings further highlighted the value of youth-led advocacy activities and identified key considerations for implementation within mentoring settings. Mentoring programs may represent an ideal context for equipping youth and adults to provide early, community-based support for youth mental health concerns.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020079

Authors: Fernanda Tusa Ignacio Aguaded Santiago Tejedor

This article examines how Ecuadorian national digital newspapers represented adolescents and youth-coded young adults associated with crime during 2025, with particular attention to lexical labeling, moral attribution, visual framing, editorial prominence, news values and the near-presence or absence of educational discourse. The study is based on qualitative content analysis of Spanish-language digital press coverage published in El Universo, El Comercio, Extra, La Hora, GK, Primicias, Vistazo, El Mercurio and Expreso across seven journalistic genres: news, note, feature article, report, editorial, interview and chronicle. The article argues that media discourse does not merely describe youth violence; it actively constructs public intelligibility about who young people are, how danger is recognized and whether social responses are imagined in punitive, preventive or restorative terms. Grounded in media framing theory, news values, moral panic studies, child-friendly justice, critical sociology, school push-out scholarship and philosophies of education and human development, the article shows the inferential route from media representation to educational reintegration: when coverage individualizes adolescent violence, minimizes school interruption and masks structural conditions, it narrows the policy imagination through which young people are understood as educable, rights-bearing and recoverable subjects. The paper ultimately argues that the long-term reduction of violence in Ecuador requires not only security responses but also an integral reintegration agenda centered on education, dignified work, child-sensitive justice and restorative social policy.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020078

Authors: Deborah J. Moon Ruijie Ma Brian Spitzer Amanda Cruce Jeesoo Jeon Hyunjin Lee Sophia Luckenbaugh Xixi Kang Abigail Williams-Butler Ramesh Raghavan

Increased attention has been paid in recent years to the study of human flourishing, yet few established tools exist to measure flourishing in marginalized youth populations. The validity of the adolescent version of the Flourishing Index (AFI) was recently substantiated in a sample of youth aging out of foster care. AFI scores are interpreted here as a brief, multidimensional indicator of flourishing among U.S. youth ages 18 to 24 with foster care experience. Building on prior evidence based on internal structure and measurement invariance, this study examines additional validity evidence based on relations with other variables. Convergent and discriminant patterns of association with the PERMA-Profiler, a widely used multidimensional well-being framework, are examined. Incremental prediction of general self-efficacy beyond PERMA was examined using hierarchical regression. These findings provide additional validity evidence for the use of AFI scores in this population. Further evidence is needed before AFI scores are used for individual-level decisions or for program accountability.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020077

Authors: Laura Seewald Heather A. Hartman Christopher M. Millman Matthew Myers Marc A. Zimmerman Maureen Walton Patrick Carter

For U.S. teens, firearm access is a significant risk factor for fatal/non-fatal injury. To inform prevention efforts, we estimate prevalence of caregiver storage practices within a nationally representative sample and characterize factors associated with storing firearms unlocked and loaded (unsecure). A web-based survey (24 June 2020–22 July 2020) of caregivers (N = 2924) of teens (age: 14–18) was completed, with weighting used to generate nationally representative estimates; multivariable logistic regression was then used to identify factors associated with storing firearms unlocked and loaded. We identified that 44.1% of caregivers of teens personally own a firearm, with 31.1% regularly storing ≥ 1 firearm(s) unlocked and loaded. The primary motivation for firearm ownership was protection and a traditional firearm safe was the most commonly used storage device. Caregivers were more likely to store firearm(s) unlocked and loaded (vs. more secure storage methods) if they reported prior military service (AOR = 1.9) or conducted regular audits verifying location/storage (AOR = 1.6), and if their teen had received prior safety training (AOR = 2.4). While caregivers of teens may institute supplementary safety measures (e.g., audits; safety training), future research should examine the efficacy of such safety measures and their impact on teen firearm injury-related outcomes.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020076

Authors: Diego Gomez-Baya Esther Lopez-Bermudez

The Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework provides a strengths-based perspective, paying greater attention to positive indicators of youth health. This article aimed to examine the relationship between the 5Cs of PYD (i.e., Character, Competence, Confidence, Connection and Caring) and three indicators of alcohol consumption in youth (use, drunkenness and drunken driving). A cross-sectional design was employed with a convenience sample of 1779 undergraduates aged 18 to 29 years (Mean = 20.32, SD = 1.84), recruited from ten universities across Andalusia (Spain). Data was collected during Spring 2023 through an online self-report questionnaire composed of PYD-SF, three questions to assess alcohol consumption, and demographics. Results underlined the protective association of Character and the paradoxical associations of Competence and Connection with alcohol consumption. The higher alcohol consumption scores in men (especially in the indicator of drunken driving) were associated with their lower scores in Character and their higher perceived Competence. These results underlined the importance of promoting positive contexts for developing both Competence and Connection, and the need to foster Character to increase awareness about the risk of alcohol consumption.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020075

Authors: Fátima Zahra Rakdani-Arif-Billah Eva María Olmedo-Moreno Carla Roverselli Jorge Expósito-López

The aim of this study is to analyse the active role of volunteers in the Italian reception system and to assess how their actions and strategies contribute to the construction of an environment that promotes the autonomy and protagonism of unaccompanied minors in the development of their migration project. Based on a theoretical framework that combines socio-educational and psychosocial approaches and theories of community participation, the study addresses the importance of volunteering as a key tool in processes of inclusion and the development of personal migration projects. A qualitative approach is adopted under the interpretative paradigm, using a collective case study carried out at the Scuola Penny Wirton in Rome. The sample was selected through purposive and convenience sampling, integrating 25 volunteer agents (68% women and 32% men), aged between 60 and 84. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results show that volunteers deploy flexible and personalised strategies, prioritising the creation of a climate of trust and contextualised language learning as a vehicle for integration. Likewise, the importance of emotional support, identification and attention to psychosocial needs, and the promotion of a sense of belonging is evident. However, a lack of formal mechanisms for interdisciplinary collaboration is detected.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020074

Authors: Lexie M. Contreras Joseph Constans Sharven Taghavi Katherine P. Theall Taylor Kaser Julia M. Fleckman

Individuals who have experienced a violent injury are at an increased risk of subsequent reinjury. The traumatic event may increase one’s motivation to change the modifiable factors that are associated with violence risk. The current paper describes the assessment of potentially modifiable risk factors in a recently developed hospital-based violence intervention program (HVIP) for youth. Individuals aged 17–24 who sought hospital treatment for violent injury at a Level 1 Trauma Center enrolled to participate in a quasi-experimental study designed to evaluate a motivational-interviewing-informed case management HVIP (N = 48). Descriptive analyses of modifiable risk factors assessed at baseline for participants, including substance use, employment, housing, mental health issues, and firearm-related beliefs and behaviors, were conducted. Participants identified primarily as male (85%) and Black (87%). Commonly acknowledged risk factors included: PTSD (38%), unemployment or marginal employment (73%), low educational attainment (44% < high school equivalency), and daily marijuana use (55%). Participants’ acknowledgement of unsafe firearm behaviors was highly variable, with 50% denying any firearm carriage in the past 12 months. Nevertheless, participants reported neutral-to-moderate firearm beliefs, with moderate endorsement of needing a firearm for protection (M = 3.77, SD = 2.2) and acknowledgment that most people they knew carry a firearm (M = 3.6, SD = 2.0). However, there was mild disagreement with the idea that firearm carriage would reduce the likelihood of being victimized (M = 2.67, SD = 2.2). Given the variability in the reporting of unsafe firearm behaviors, HVIPs overly focused on firearm behaviors may not be appropriate for youth.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020073

Authors: Afroditi Lola Eleni Bassa Sousana Symeonidou Georgia Stavropoulou Athanasios A. Dalamitros Evangelos Kontaxakis

Sustained engagement in physical activity during adolescence is a critical determinant of long-term health and well-being. Performance feedback is widely used in youth sport settings, yet its motivational impact may depend on athletes’ developmental stage and training experience. This study examined adolescents’ motivational responses following individualized sprint performance feedback and investigated whether training experience and sprint performance moderated these responses. Fifty-three adolescent athletes (mean age = 14.86 ± 0.81 years) completed a brief five-item questionnaire assessing commitment, enjoyment, self-determination, intention to continue training, and self-efficacy immediately after receiving individualized sprint performance feedback. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate the scale’s factorial structure and reliability. A two-way analysis of variance examined the effects of training age (1–6 vs. 7–12 years) and sprint performance (faster vs. slower) on overall motivational response. Factor analyses provided preliminary support for a unidimensional motivational response construct (ω = 0.92; α = 0.92). Overall motivational responses following feedback were moderately positive. Sprint performance demonstrated a significant main effect on motivation. Importantly, a significant interaction between training age and performance emerged as the key finding, indicating that less experienced athletes were more sensitive to performance outcomes, whereas motivation among more experienced athletes remained relatively stable. Individualized sprint performance feedback appears to be associated with moderately positive motivational responses in adolescent athletes, particularly during early stages of sport participation. These findings highlight the importance of developmentally appropriate feedback strategies that emphasize progress and competence development to support engagement in youth sport, which may be relevant for sustained participation over time.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020072

Authors: Tonisha B. Lane Ebony Nicole Perez Shawna Patterson-Stephens

This study advances the model of proactive caring to articulate the strategies and practices employed by higher education professionals to support the retention and graduation of underserved students. Employing an explanatory case study design and drawing upon multiple data sources—including semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations—collected from students and higher education professionals, we identified six core elements essential to proactive caring: (1) staff accessibility, (2) trust-building, (3) positive motivation, (4) reinforcement, (5) encouragement, and (6) student accountability. Our findings also reveal that higher educational professionals initiate support prior to students’ arrival on campus by assessing institutional environments to identify potential barriers and leveraging data and experiential knowledge to proactively address these challenges. This research contributes to ongoing efforts to promote access and equity in higher education, particularly in the context of increasing anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) legislation. While the current study centers on Students of Color in STEM disciplines, the elements underlying the proactive caring model may be broadly applicable, which offers a framework for empathetic practitioners committed to supporting underserved students throughout their collegiate journey.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020071

Authors: Vilija Stanišauskienė Aldona Augustinienė Edita Štuopytė Giedra Valuckienė Maria Kononets

Young teachers are entering the profession, but many leave quickly due to professional stress, unfavorable working conditions, a lack of support, or an unclear professional identity. This trend disrupts the continuity of the educational process and reduces the quality of education, and reveals systemic gaps in the recruitment, training, and retention of teachers. Still, there is insufficient research on how these factors shape the career trajectory of young teachers from their perspective. Therefore, this paper addresses the research problem of which personal and environmental factors determine the professional stability, development, or departure of young teachers from the teaching profession. The study used a qualitative research strategy. The research data were collected from purposive sampling using semi-structured interviews with 14 young teachers. The interview data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. The results of the study revealed two main dimensions of factors influencing the career start of young teachers. Personal factors include fluctuations of emotional well-being, development of a professional self-concept and identity, motivation to teach, professional development, and a sense of career meaning. Only when environmental circumstances are favorable—school microclimate, support from managers and colleagues, infrastructure and working conditions, perception of education policy—can these internal resources be effectively realized.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020070

Authors: Wilson Kwamogi Okello

In 1926, a group of younger Black artists produced Fire!!, a short-lived but generative publication that sought to interrupt dominant scripts of racial uplift, citizenship, and cultural recognition. Refusing incrementalist visions tethered to Western and U.S. centered norms of belonging, the editors desired an otherwise form of cultural production, one generated outside prevailing regimes of representation. This essay reads Fire!! as a model of breach and mobilizes it to interrogate the contemporary (anti-)diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) landscape. Drawing on interdisciplinary system literature, I first trace the narrative logics that organize DEIA discourse, attending to how retrenchment operates through recursive patterns that normalize anti-Black constraint across policy and practice. I then theorize “reading against the grain” as a method for apprehending what exceeds these loops. Through a close reading of Fire!!, I argue that Black cultural production formed outside dominant registers functions as a mechanism for interrupting coherence, exposing the epistemic architectures that structure society and the Human while gesturing toward other modes of existence.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020069

Authors: Andrea Asha Joseph-McCatty Dashawna J. Fussell-Ware Kenyette Garrett Cecily Dyan Davis Kara James

This paper interrogates exclusionary discipline as a carceral practice for Black girls disproportionately exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in Tennessee. Using 2017–2018 data from the Office for Civil Rights and the National Survey of Children’s Health, we describe girls’ risk for suspensions, access to school support staff, and girls’ exposure to nine types of ACEs. Findings show Black girls in Tennessee had 4.22 times the risk of receiving a single out-of-school suspension and had 2.28 times the risk of being arrested compared to all other girls. Black girls in TN also had a higher risk for six out of nine ACEs, with a statistically significant ACE of parental divorce. We posit that the disproportional discipline and ACEs that Black girls experience are rooted in structural inequities that undergird the abuse-to-prison pipeline. We suggest that eradicating the adversity-to-prison pipeline requires schools to view ACEs as systemic harm, not personal deficits, and adopt intersectional, healing-focused reforms led by school social workers.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020068

Authors: Kasetchai Laeheem

Amidst the protracted socio-political volatility of Thailand’s southern border provinces, youth have emerged as pivotal agents of social architecture rather than mere passive observers of conflict. This study investigates Emotional Intelligence (EQ) not merely as a personal trait, but also as a critical psychosocial infrastructure for peace. Adopting a qualitative lens through in-depth interviews and focus groups with youth leaders, the research elucidates how EQ functions as a strategic mechanism for identity negotiation and intergroup reconciliation. The findings delineate five cornerstone competencies: acute self-awareness within structural constraints; emotional regulation as a safety stratagem; collective resilience-driven motivation; multicultural empathy as a catalyst for prejudice reduction; and non-violent communication. These attributes empower youth to undergo a profound transformation from victims of circumstance to proactive peacemakers. By bridging the internal emotional landscape with external social stability, the study argues that fostering emotional maturity is fundamental to communal resilience. From an educational standpoint, the paper advocates for the systemic integration of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) to cultivate collective emotional capital. Such a pedagogical shift—moving toward human security-centered curricula—is essential for fostering sustainable coexistence in multicultural, high-pressure environments. This study situates Emotional Intelligence within the framework of peace education, conceptualizing it as a psychosocial foundation for fostering relational peace, emotional resilience, and sustainable coexistence in conflict-affected contexts.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020067

Authors: Chuka N. Emezue Jessica Bishop-Royse Tipparat Udmuangpia Adaobi Anakwe Wrenetha A. Julion Niranjan S. Karnik

Firearm homicide is a leading cause of death among children and young men in the U.S. (ages 1–19), with young Black males in urban environments facing rates 18-to-24-fold higher than their non-Hispanic White peers in 2023. A key precursor to firearm violence victimization is weapon-carrying behavior (WCB), defined as carrying, concealing, or displaying firearms or other weapons in community or social contexts that elevate risk for injury, interpersonal threats, or law enforcement contact. Several structural, behavioral, and trauma-based risk factors fuel weapon-carrying. Yet these WCBs are rarely studied in tandem, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of these high-risk behaviors for youth. This cross-sectional study leveraged baseline data from a convenience sample of 226 violence-exposed urban young Black males, ages 15–24 (Mage = 18.3 years; SD = 3.1) enrolled in a trauma-informed digital firearm violence prevention pilot study. Eligibility required prior personal or witnessed experience of youth violence; reported prevalence therefore characterizes a high-risk subgroup rather than urban young Black males as a whole. Past-30-day weapon-carrying frequency was measured across five YRBS-aligned categories (0, 1, 2 to 3, 4 to 5, and 6+ days) and modeled as a categorical index under negative binomial regression. Associations with peer and community violence exposure, substance use, sociodemographic, and socioeconomic factors were estimated as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% CI. Past-30-day weapon carrying was reported by 42.5% of participants, with carrying frequency ranging from 1 day to 6 or more days. Participants reported high levels of direct victimization (64.8%), witnessing community violence (76.4%), and use of nonprescribed medications, including in instances preceding violence. In the fully adjusted model, indicators of violence exposure were the most consistent correlates of carrying. Direct victimization (IRR = 1.15, p < 0.05), general exposure to violence or aggression (IRR = 7.82, p < 0.01), and physical fighting (IRR = 1.11, p < 0.05) remained independently significant. Conversely, associations with substance use, dating aggression, and employment were attenuated, suggesting shared ecological vulnerability rather than independent causal pathways. Findings underscore the central role of chronic violence exposure and support the need for trauma-informed, multilevel prevention strategies in clinical and community settings.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020066

Authors: Bernadette Sánchez Camellia Sanford-Dolly Haeyoon Chung Yesenia Garcia-Murrillo Kay Thursby Bourke Nicole Jarvis Anna Arsenault Michael Kennedy

Although mentoring programs have been utilized to increase access to STEM in underrepresented communities, there is limited research on the culturally responsive mentoring practices that are needed in high-quality STEM mentoring programs for youth. Grounded in culturally responsive pedagogy and youth mentoring literature on cultural humility, this study examined the culturally responsive mentoring practices of scientist-mentors who work with racially minoritized adolescent mentees from low-income urban communities. Retrospective self-report surveys were administered to 142 scientist-mentor alumni followed by in-depth qualitative interviews of a subset of 35 scientist-mentor alumni. Data analysis revealed three culturally responsive practices that scientist-mentors utilized in their interactions with youth: (a) social-emotional support, (b) role modeling, and (c) youth-oriented science communication. Serving as mentors to youth in the community and spending time with them shifted the mentors’ mindsets. Specifically, mentors showed an increased (a) awareness of inequities in education and (b) commitment to continue engaging with communities. Implications for future research and mentoring program practice are discussed.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020065

Authors: Martins Veide

Understanding how socioemotional concerns evolve during emerging adulthood is central to research on young people’s psychological adaptation. This study examines temporal shifts in university students’ communication-related concerns across twelve consecutive cohorts (2014–2025) at a European university. Using a repeated cross-sectional mixed-method design, the study analyses nearly 800 student-generated questions from 543 first- and second-year students collected at the beginning of a communication psychology course. Inductive thematic coding, combined with χ2 tests and trend analyses, identified temporal patterns in thematic frequencies. Results show a significant increase in concerns related to emotion regulation, stress management, and conflict resolution, alongside a decline in abstract self-development and understanding others. These findings suggest a shift from exploratory, cognitively oriented priorities toward more pragmatic, emotionally grounded coping concerns among emerging adults. From a developmental perspective, early university adaptation increasingly centers on self-regulation and interpersonal boundary management. The study demonstrates how reflective data can serve as indicators of changing socioemotional needs, contributing to research on young people’s adaptation, wellbeing, and developmental processes during the transition to adulthood.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020064

Authors: Kasetchai Laeheem Punya Tepsing

This study addresses declining social trust and emerging moral challenges among youth in Thailand’s conflict-affected southern border provinces by developing a strategic framework grounded in the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy (SEP). A quantitative approach was employed, integrating the Modified Priority Needs Index and Priority Matrix analysis to examine discrepancies between current performance and perceived importance. The findings reveal differentiated patterns of moral development. Discipline and Responsibility are identified as a high-priority need, reflecting high importance but comparatively lower performance. Gratitude and Filial Piety, together with Kindness and Generosity, emerge as established strengths, functioning as cultural assets. Unity and Social Harmony and Social Sacrifice are classified as secondary yet contextually significant dimensions, indicating partial internalization. Based on this classification, the study proposes a differentiated strategy comprising targeted self-regulation development, strength-based reinforcement, and experiential activation through service-learning and multicultural engagement. Central to this approach is the creation of “multicultural social action spaces” that enable meaningful interaction across diverse groups. The findings suggest that aligning moral education with matrix-based priorities and contextual realities may support ethical resilience, social cohesion, and sustainable peace in pluralistic and conflict-affected societies.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020063

Authors: Colleen S. Walsh Laura Taylor Stevens Savannah T. Morgan Jasmine N. Coleman Phillip N. Smith Christopher Cordell Krista R. Mehari

Background: Understanding firearm ownership and acquisition practices may provide insight into how youth access firearms and develop norms around ownership. Methods: Using a mixed-methods, participatory approach, we examined motivations for firearm ownership, perceptions of responsible ownership, acquisition methods, and associated safety behaviors among adults and youth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 249 youth and adults who were firearm owners or lived in high-violence areas. Surveys were completed by a community-based sample of 122 youth and a national sample of 446 adult firearm owners. Results: Across qualitative and quantitative data, protection and hunting were the most common reasons for firearm ownership among adults and youth, and gun or sporting goods stores were the most frequently reported acquisition source. Adult definitions of responsible ownership emphasized secure storage, firearm handling proficiency, concealed carrying, and educating others. Latent class analyses identified three classes of ownership motivations and four classes of acquisition methods. Class membership varied by demographic characteristics and firearm-related behaviors, including storage and carrying practices. Conclusion: Overlapping motivations and acquisition pathways among adults and youth, along with class-based differences in storage and carrying behaviors, suggest that adult firearm practices shape youth exposure and access. Efforts to reduce youth firearm harm should prioritize promoting secure storage and responsible acquisition among adult firearm owners, particularly within groups with levels of risk.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020062

Authors: Maria Natividad Elvira-Zorzo Miguel Ángel Gandarillas Gabriela Alicia Pica-Miranda

The increasing use of digital technologies (DT) among university students has raised concerns about their associations with mental health (MH) and academic performance. Grounded in the Diversity in Learning (DinL) framework, this cross-sectional study examines how age and sex moderate the relationships between DT use, MH indicators, learning-related psychological difficulties, and academic outcomes. Data were collected through an online questionnaire administered to 4519 university students in Chile. The survey included self-reported measures of MH indicators and learning-related psychological difficulties (bad mood/irritability, anxiety, lack of motivation, attentional difficulties, and low achievement expectations), as well as academic performance and frequency of use of digital tools (social media, smartphones, gamification and collaboration applications, and asynchronous classes). Descriptive analyses, ANOVAs, and multiple regression models were employed. Results showed that younger students reported more frequent use of gamification apps, social media, and smartphones, as well as higher levels across all mental health issues and learning-related psychological difficulties. Social media use and particularly smartphone use emerged among the DT variables as the strongest predictors of MH problems and learning difficulties, with age significantly moderating these relationships. These predictors were significant for both young female and male students, although stronger associations were observed among females. Female students reported higher levels of MH problems (especially anxiety), as well as greater use of social media and smartphones. However, neither social media use nor smartphone use showed a consistent negative relationship with academic performance. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of considering age and sex differences when examining the links between digital engagement and student well-being. They also underscore the need for targeted interventions to promote healthier digital habits and emotional regulation strategies, particularly among higher-risk groups.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020061

Authors: Bayarjargal Uuganbayar Bettina F. F. Piko

While Mongolian university students have been exposed to rapid sociocultural changes, also shifting their sexual norms and substance use behaviors, there is limited empirical evidence on them. Therefore, we examined associations between substance use (smoking, drinking, illicit drug use), sexual behaviors (sexual intercourse, casual and unprotected sex), sexual beliefs, social support, and psychological factors (self-efficacy, optimism, and general well-being). Using a cross-sectional design, we employed self-administered online questionnaires in a sample of Mongolian undergraduate students (N = 396; aged 18–24 years; 49.2% males). More than 62% reported ever drinking, 40.4% ever smoking, 23.0% illicit drug use; 64.9% was the lifetime prevalence of sexual intercourse, 41.2% reported engagement in casual sex, and 29.5% had engaged in unprotected sex. Differences by sex were significant with a higher prevalence among males, except for current illicit drug use and unprotected sex. Substance use was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of having sexual intercourse and participating in casual sex. While higher levels of well-being, self-efficacy, optimism, and social support from family and friends were significantly linked to ever being engaged in sexual intercourse, these positive constructs did not prevent them from risky sexual behaviors. Sex differences in substance use, sexual behaviors, and beliefs support the influence of the prevailing social expectations and traditional gender role perceptions in Mongolia. These findings emphasize the importance of comprehensive health education and supportive psychosocial environments.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020060

Authors: Carrie Karsgaard Iveta Silova Victoria Desimoni

Why write about youth climate activism in 2026 [...]

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020059

Authors: Alex Abramovich John Segui Michael Silberberg Nicole Elkington Francesca Loffreda Alex Cheng

Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (2SLGBTQ+) youth disproportionately experience homelessness compared to cisgender and heterosexual youth; however, there is a distinct lack of population-based housing programs designed to meet their specific needs, particularly in suburban contexts. This study applies the socio-ecological model to examine the multi-level factors shaping the experiences, needs, and housing trajectories of 2SLGBTQ+ youth residing at the Blue Door INNclusion program—one of the first population-based housing programs for 2SLGBTQ+ youth in a suburban region of Ontario, Canada. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and survey data with residents of the Blue Door INNclusion program, we explore youths’ pathways into homelessness, their experiences during program participation, and their transitions toward independent living. Analysis focuses on how intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and structural factors shape youths’ experiences of safety, belonging, and access to supports, as well as changes in mental health, social connections, employment, and education over time. Findings indicate that pre-entry experiences, including family rejection and housing instability, shaped youths’ needs and engagement within the program. Across socio-ecological levels, affirming relationships, inclusive organizational practices, and access to tailored supports were central to fostering safety and belonging. Over time, youth described improvements in mental health and social connectedness, alongside increased engagement in education and employment, while structural challenges such as financial precarity continued to influence their transitions toward independence. By situating youths’ experiences within a socio-ecological framework, this study offers theoretically grounded insights into the multi-level conditions that support housing stability and well-being among 2SLGBTQ+ youth in suburban transitional housing contests.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020058

Authors: Kamryn S. Morris Shalonda M. Kirk

Amid concerns over the unequally distributed long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for children and schools, there is a renewed focus on mechanisms to promote positive wellbeing and restore social connections among Black students. As teachers are lauded as critical in supporting student well-being, their perspectives may help to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for Black students and leverage the contributions of families and communities to support students’ needs. Using interviews with teachers, we examined the following aims: (1) Investigate the mental health challenges Black students experienced following the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) Identify school-wide efforts to support resilience. Participants in this study included 15 teachers nominated by their principals and colleagues for demonstrating excellence in supporting Black students. Teachers described their Black students as experiencing (1) ongoing mental health problems, (2) disengagement from school, and (3) relearning how to socialize. To promote social connections and wellbeing, teachers described how their schools reinvested in connection and prioritized equitable access and use of technology. Understanding the unique mental health challenges Black youth face is critical for cultivating pathways towards resilience following the COVID-19 pandemic. Results contribute to the continued investigation and intentional promotion of equity and cultural responsivity when supporting Black students’ wellbeing. Researchers and educational shareholders can work to create and maintain socially and emotionally supportive environments that promote mental health by learning from the experiences of Black students and the teachers that support them.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020057

Authors: Tess Altman Shae Hunter Madeleine Gay

Co-design is a term commonly used to describe involving people with lived experience in program, policy, and research design and its outcomes. However, the implementation of co-design is inconsistent due to a lack of an agreed-upon definition, framework, and set of principles for application. In this paper, the co-authors, as practising policy advocates and co-designers, aim to develop a set of guiding principles for genuine co-design with children and young people with disability in Australia. The paper first synthesises the existing Australian evidence from youth and disability scholarship, best practice approaches, and case studies of co-design projects recently undertaken where the co-authors are based at Children and Young People with Disability Australia, and then validates this evidence base through collaborative autoethnographic reflections of the co-authors’ collective experience in a co-design team. Drawing together themes and insights from this process, we propose four relationally driven guiding principles for genuine co-design that can be applied in Australian as well as international settings: 1. personalised: building trust and safety over time; 2. holistic: embedding co-design across the project lifespan; 3. reflexive: considering and sharing power; and 4. inclusive: prioritising accessibility and diversity. We end with final critical reflections on addressing power relations and ableist structures in genuine co-design with children and young people with disability.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020056

Authors: Jesse W. Bassett Daniel J. Flannery Jeff Kretschmar Branka Primetica Meghan Patton Disbrow Brendan J. Sheehan

Firearm-related injuries are the leading cause of death for children, adolescents, and young adults in the United States, yet empirically evaluated court-based intervention models targeting firearm offenders remain rare in the peer-reviewed literature. This exploratory pilot study evaluates the implementation and pilot outcomes of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP), a court-based specialty docket designed to address gun violence through a trauma-informed, multidisciplinary model. This descriptive pilot evaluation utilized administrative court records, program data, and clinical service logs among 77 enrolled participants with felony-level, non-violent gun-related charges. Participants were entirely male, majority Black (87%), with a median age of 22 years, and primarily residents of high-poverty Cleveland, OH neighborhoods. Descriptive statistics and independent-samples t-tests were used to compare service utilization and drug screen outcomes between program participants who successfully completed and those who were unsuccessfully terminated from the program. Successful completion was contingent upon fulfillment of three program phase requirements, including consistent adherence to court-mandated supervision and active engagement in clinical and program services. Of 48 participants who exited the program during the pilot period, 34 successfully completed (67.3%). The one-year recidivism rate was 29.5%. Successful program completers received significantly higher monthly peer mentorship services than those who were unsuccessfully terminated, while counseling dosage and drug screen results did not significantly differ between groups. Findings suggest that multidisciplinary, trauma-informed, court-based models can safely intervene with justice-involved young adults and may serve as a replicable public health strategy for reducing gun violence.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020055

Authors: Terri N. Sullivan Carine E. Leslie Colleen S. Walsh Kimberly Lazarus Katherine M. Ross Skylar A. Radabaugh Alexys Weihl Angela Angulo Diane L. Bishop Nicholas Thomson

The present qualitative study explored perspectives from youth, caregivers, and community partners who lived in or worked with organizations that served two low-income, urban communities exposed to disproportionate rates of firearm violence. The purpose of the study was to (a) identify changes that community members and community partners would like to see in terms of safety, (b) compare the similarities and differences in responses across the three participant groups. Youth (n = 11), caregivers (n = 20), and community partners (n = 41) participated in semi-structured interviews as part of a larger study evaluating community strategies to reduce community-levels of youth violence. Perspectives on changes related to safety were represented across four themes: (1) Changes to policing, (2) Increasing safety, (3) More opportunities for youth and family programs and activities, (4) Structural and resource investments in communities. Overall, qualitative findings offered a context-specific picture of desired areas for change to improve community safety. The results contribute to a framework for community mobilization and have implications for the development of comprehensive community violence prevention initiatives.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020054

Authors: Ali Glasgow

The vulnerability of many Pacific communities is impacted by rising sea levels and exposure to extreme weather patterns. This qualitative research study was conducted with focus groups of Māori and Pacific youth in Aotearoa New Zealand. I am a Pacific researcher, and I examine research and report on findings from Pacific youth focus groups. Employing a Talanoa methodology, a key question posed was how educators in Aotearoa New Zealand supported the wellbeing of Pacific youth in the face of increasing climate extremes within their schools and communities. Engaging a Pacific values framework, this discussion emphasizes the critical role of teachers and education in eliminating concerns, working collectively, listening respectfully, and collaborating with Pacific youth in confronting the complexity of issues surrounding climate change, thereby creating a shift from a position of despair and helplessness to a place of hope and optimism. Findings from the study reveal that, in the education sector, climate change is not well addressed, teachers could do more to acknowledge and address climate crises faced in the Pacific region in the curriculum, and little attention is paid to the wellbeing of Pacific youth facing climate change in the Pacific. An implication is that teachers need to support Pacific youth and understand that education about climatic variance affects Pacific learners’ wellbeing.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020053

Authors: Ana Petak Sanja Narić Roberta Matković

Emotion regulation (ER) is associated with various mental health issues. However, a de-tailed understanding of the underlying processes is important for developing targeted interventions for common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Limited research has focused on these processes among emerging adults, a group that has shown a marked increase in mental health difficulties. The aim of this study was to examine whether rumination and worry, as forms of perseverative thinking, mediate the relationship between ER and symptoms of depression and anxiety in emerging adulthood. A two-wave longitudinal design was employed. The sample included 286 university students (80.4% female; Mage = 20.3, sd = 1.7). Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted in PROCESS. The results indicated a full mediation between ER and anxiety, where only worry emerged as a significant mediator. The relationship between ER and depression was both direct and indirect, mediated only by rumination. However, after controlling for all baseline values, all paths became nonsignificant, suggesting that the results may reflect stable between-person differences rather than within-person change. The moderation analysis revealed that the highest levels of depressive symptoms were observed among participants with simultaneously high levels of ER difficulties, rumination, and worry. The results suggest that preventive programs focusing on reducing perseverative thinking could play a key role in promoting better mental health outcomes in emerging adulthood.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020052

Authors: Kat Newman-Seymour Pui Yan Liu Purnima Tyagi Roya Haghiri-Vijeh

Puberty health and sex education (PHSE) curricula are not comprehensive or inclusive towards gender-independent, intersex, non-binary, or transgender (GIaNT) youth. A majority of this population seeks this information in online settings. Over the past two years, our research team, in collaboration with GIaNT communities, has developed an open-access online educational resource (OER) intending to bridge this gap in comprehensive PHSE for GIaNT youth in a gender-affirming, fun, and interactive way. After the OER was developed, our team recruited participants (aged 16–26) to navigate our website and complete a multi-method survey to gain their feedback, insights, and perceptions on this new OER. The survey responses indicated two key themes for the development and use of the OER: facilitators and strengths, and areas for improvement. The findings from this study were used to better meet the wants and needs of this population vis-à-vis changes to be made to our OER before its public launch for open-access, free use.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020051

Authors: Tamás Berki

This study examined how youth sport coaches support positive youth development (PYD) through their pedagogical practices, focusing on the following key PYD outcomes: Competence, Confidence, Contribution, and Character. A total of 113 youth sport coaches were systematically observed, involving athletes aged between 12–18 years. The coaches (M = 38.64 years; Male = 74; Female = 39) represented both individual and team sports and had an average coaching experience of 12.92 years. Our results showed that coaches put the most effort on Competence, followed by Confidence, while Character and Contribution received comparatively less attention. Competence development was mainly supported through verbal instruction, Confidence through general feedback, Contribution through active listening, and Character through role modeling. Regarding sport types, coaches in individual sports demonstrated higher levels of Competence and Contribution than team sport coaches. Furthermore, all four PYD dimensions were positively correlated, suggesting that gains in one dimension may support the others. Overall, Hungarian coaches emphasize technical and tactical competence, with less focus on social skills and value development. Confidence is mainly supported through general rather than specific feedback. Coaches in individual sports showed higher PYD engagement than team sport coaches. These findings highlight the need for more balanced, developmentally intentional coaching approaches.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020049

Authors: Alison Douthwaite Yusuf Damilola Olaniyan Ceri Brown

A sense of school belonging predicts NEET outcomes for adolescents. However, young people from marginalized groups often have a lower sense of school belonging than their majority peers. Emerging understandings of belonging as a complex, agentic process shaped by multiple relational, contextual, cultural and structural factors have posed problems for real-world applications of belonging. NEET young people tend to be viewed through a lens of risk factors, with a lack of research accounting for their experiences and feelings. While recent research recognizes the intersectional effects of disadvantage, or ‘compound disadvantage’, on NEET outcomes for young people from certain social groups, there is a lack of viable alternatives for educators and policymakers to account for these differential experiences of belonging in order to be able to respond to them. Connected Belonging is a relational and identity-building approach to enhancing young people’s wellbeing through supporting their connectedness and sense of self across the eight social domains of their lives. This paper outlines the development and validation of a young people’s survey, which enables education professionals to attend to and respond to the differing belonging experiences of diverse groups, operationalizing an intersectional lens on school belonging. After introducing the views of young people about systemic priorities to better support their engagement in education, training or work (EET), gathered through a youth voice event as part of a parallel research project, the paper outlines the process of developing, piloting and validating the tool. We argue that this survey tool has the potential to support improved attention to the views and experiences of diverse young people in a systematic, regular fashion. Furthermore, it offers potential for the evaluation of supportive actions grounded in youth voice.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020050

Authors: Kamia F. Slaughter Vena N. Reed Travis C. Smith

The college access policy landscape across Alabama, U.S., has gained traction in K-12 schools and higher education institutions over the last few years. In Spring 2021, the Alabama State Board of Education approved a resolution to require all seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In Fall 2025, the state began implementing its Alabama Direct Admission Initiative, a partnership between dozens of 2-year and 4-year in-state institutions to streamline college application processes for all seniors. Advocates of both anticipate an increase in college enrollment, particularly for students who have previously faced issues with financing postsecondary education. Despite such policies and initiatives, Black, rural students in Alabama still face unique challenges to college access. This paper addresses the following questions: How do Black, rural students access postsecondary education in Alabama? How do Black, rural students perceive and experience college access policies? What role does policy enactment play in Black, rural students’ college access experiences? Using a multi-site case study approach, we present insights gleaned from 16 virtual focus groups with students across five higher education institutions in Alabama. Findings from this study highlight how Black, rural students engage in three types of labor associated with college-going: assessment labor, simulation labor, and capacity-building labor.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020048

Authors: Stephen Case Roger Smith

Politics and policy are centrally implicated in the socio-historical construction of youth justice responses, yet the contexts, mechanisms, and processes influencing the ‘making’ of youth justice policy remain under-researched and poorly understood. The limited research evidence base devoted to youth justice policy-making (YJPM) has tended towards reductionist conceptualisations of ‘policy’ as restricted, static outcomes produced by governmental policy ‘actors’. However, privileging the YJPM status and role of senior governmental policy actors serves to reify their claims to being the ‘expert’ youth justice knowledge holders. This legitimises their exercise of power and ‘governance’ over non-governmental groups (e.g., civil servants, frontline practitioners, and academics) by dominating knowledge creation and claims to expertise in policy-making contexts. This research, therefore, seeks to identify and elaborate these complex, relational, and dynamic contexts and the attendant mechanisms of change that interact to drive YJPM. Semi-structured interviews with different stakeholder groups across youth justice contexts identified distal (macro) and proximal (meso/micro) contexts—mechanism relationships that drive YJPM. We conclude that the dynamic influence of organisational and professional identity (i.e., self-identity and identity assigned to others) is significant across contextualised mechanisms of YJPM, particularly the perceived identity, status, and role of the expert who attributes the credentials to contribute effectively to policy-making processes. This, in turn, leads us to discern and discuss three distinct characterisations of the youth justice policy–evidence–expertise nexus, namely: (i) evidence-endorsed policy; (ii) evidence-based policy; and (iii) evidence-enhanced policy.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020047

Authors: Laetitia Satam Chloe Gao Monica Taing Anthony Zhong Lydia Sequeria Pushpanjali Dashora Valerie Taylor

There is a mental health crisis among young people in Canada, suggesting a need for evidence-based, community-engaged strategies to strengthen the youth mental health workforce. This study explores the learning and professional development outcomes of participation in the National Youth Council (NYC) of Kids Help Phone (KHP), Canada’s only “national 24/7, free, confidential, and multilingual e-mental health service, blending technology with the empathy of clinical experts”. We surveyed and conducted focus groups with current and former NYC members to identify professional development outcomes associated with council participation. The results suggest that involvement in the NYC fostered professional skill-building, increased interest in mental health and youth-facing careers, improved civic engagement, and created a sense of empowerment and belonging. Barriers to full participation in youth councils included imposter syndrome, limited regional access to in-person activities, and limited representation from certain geographic areas (e.g., the Territories). These findings highlight the potential of youth advisory councils to support youth professional development, while emphasizing the importance of integrating structured mentorship and equity-focused practices into youth engagement models. NYCs may therefore serve as promising venues for strengthening the future youth mental health workforce.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020046

Authors: Todd Michael Franke

Youth has demonstrated exceptional progress throughout 2025, establishing itself as a vital platform for international research on youth and young adulthood [...]

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020045

Authors: Lezly Taylor Brenda Brand Shikhar Kashyap

Across the United States, equity-oriented STEM initiatives are frequently launched through short-term grants, yet few persist once external funding ends, particularly in economically marginalized communities where institutional capacity is constrained. This longitudinal qualitative study investigates how an out-of-school-time (OST) robotics initiative developed the relational and organizational capacity to transition from a time-limited grant project into a functioning STEM ecosystem that has persisted for a decade. Drawing upon eight years of focus groups and field notes analyzed through integrated deductive and inductive approaches, the study traces how STEM ecosystem tenets were enacted, adapted, and reinforced as partners navigated resource constraints. Findings identify four mutually reinforcing mechanisms that stabilized the ecosystem beyond the grant period: relational infrastructure coordinating work across students, educators, families, university partners, and district leaders; community recognition and collective pride conferring legitimacy and mobilizing local support; parental validation and logistical advocacy; and youth identity development and near-peer leadership renewing commitment and circulating expertise. Together, these mechanisms converted initial grant-funded inputs into durable capacity by reducing coordination costs, strengthening shared responsibility, and embedding STEM participation within community meaning-making. The study contributes to STEM ecosystem research by advancing a theory-building, process-oriented explanation of how equity-focused initiatives achieve durability.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020044

Authors: Cheng Cheng Huan Yu

The authors of this study aimed to develop and validate the College Students’ Coping with Public Health Crisis Scale (CSPHCS) among Chinese students, designed to assess coping strategies used during public health crises. This study had a rigorous, three-phase process comprising item development, scale development, and scale evaluation. Within these phases, a total of nine systematic steps were implemented. A total of 548 questionnaires were distributed, with 525 valid responses retained. A random subsample of 300 participants was used for exploratory factor analysis, and the remaining 225 were reserved for confirmatory factor analysis. The exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure after removing items with high cross-loadings. These factors were identified as (1) Information and Mental Health Support Coping, (2) Communication and Preventive Action Coping, and (3) Self-Regulatory and Expressive Coping, accounting for 50.14% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model with acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.887; TLI = 0.892; RMSEA = 0.077). The scale showed good reliability (α = 0.763, ω = 0.745). To sum up, the CSPHCS is shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument with implications for research and practice in understanding how college students cope with public health crises.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020043

Authors: Derek Sean Falk

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) is prevalent in young adulthood, yet its relationship with psychosocial well-being remains complex. This study examines the association between HED and perceived social isolation among young adults and tests whether this relationship varies by sexual orientation. Using pooled, nationally representative data from the 2022 and 2024 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), this study analyzed adults aged 18–29 (N = 723). Perceived social isolation was measured using the PROMIS Social Isolation Short Form. Weighted multivariable linear regression models assessed interactions between sexual orientation and HED occasions (0 vs. 1+), adjusting for sociodemographic variables and psychological distress. 45.5% reported HED. Lesbian/gay (B = 5.62, SE = 0.58, p < 0.001) and bisexual (B = 1.66, SE = 0.34, p < 0.001) young adults reported higher isolation than straight peers; HED was inversely associated with isolation (B = −1.71, SE = 0.20, p < 0.001). A significant interaction indicated that among lesbian/gay young adults, heavy drinking was associated with lower perceived isolation (B = −5.77, SE = 0.98, p < 0.001). Interventions should account for the social meanings of alcohol use to avoid unintentionally increasing isolation among sexual minoritized populations.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020042

Authors: Amine El Ayaychi

In the context of advancing communication technologies and digital spaces, Moroccan youth are increasingly engaging with concepts of mobility, presenting both opportunities and challenges in a liquid modern digital landscape. While digital identities and mobility have been extensively studied among Western youth, non-Western youth, including those in Morocco, are often viewed through a lens of being “at risk,” which biases objective analysis. This study addresses this gap by examining how digital mobility fosters culturally hybrid identities among Moroccan youth in a globalised world. Methods: An interdisciplinary ethnographic content analysis was conducted on youth digital productions and interactions on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The study draws on Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity and Stuart Hall’s theory of representation to explore identity formation. Results: Digital mobility enables Moroccan youth to navigate between local cultural influences (Amazigh, Islamic, African, and Arab) and global Western narratives, leading to hybrid identities. Challenges include cultural erosion through practices like Western-style dating shows and sexual freedoms that challenge social norms, potentially widening generational gaps. Opportunities arise from platforms like SAWT, where youth discuss taboo topics, create hybrid cultural artefacts, and engage in glocalisation, enhancing agency and global integration. Conclusions: Digital mobility acts as a catalyst for cultural hybridity, supporting global integration while highlighting the need for addressing accessibility disparities and unsupervised interactions. This framework contributes to digital youth studies by emphasising mobility’s role in identity evolution, advocating for balanced glocality over cultural protectionism or homogenisation.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020041

Authors: Chris Cunningham Ceri Brown Jo Davies Michael Donnelly Matt Dickson

The ambition of policymakers to ‘raise aspirations’ among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds as a means for improving social mobility in Britain has been a mainstay of political rhetoric for the last three decades. Reports such as Higher Education in the Learning Society in 1997, Unleashing Aspiration in 2009, and Success as a Knowledge Economy in 2016 are all underpinned by an ideology of neoliberal meritocracy that has transcended political parties and governments since the Thatcher administration. Even those who lean more to the left of the Labour Party within contemporary Britain have perpetuated this narrative by reframing it as ‘working-class ambition’. This paper advances an alternative view which reconceptualises the way in which young people from non-privileged backgrounds experience and perceive the world, and their place within it. Drawing upon our work on Connected Belonging in 2025 and our research on the From the Centre to the Periphery project in 2025, we suggest that ‘hopeful optimism’ offers a more realistic lens through which to understand what is needed to address the ‘personal troubles and public issues’ that young people face. Unlike aspiration, which has an inherently individualistic and future-orientated framing, with value systems directed by dominant hegemonic notions of ‘success’ that are commonly positioned in economic terms, we recognise optimism as being a holistic and relational process that resides in the present as well as looks to the future. Optimism, grounded within principles of hope, allows young people the freedom to be and to dream; by celebrating who they are and their interconnectedness, it protects them from fears of failure; by reimaging what success might mean, it liberates them as creators.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020040

Authors: Emmanuel Cohen Philippe Gradidge Amandine Ponty François Etotogo Alain Martial Wassu Fokam Wakenge Wakilongo Norbert Amougou Patrick Pasquet

African migrants living in High-Income Countries are more vulnerable to socio-economic insecurity, as well as higher morbidity and mortality. In their cultural background, these populations, especially the Bamiléké ethnic group from Cameroon, tend to socially value stoutness as a symbol of health and prosperity, potentially obesogenic in urban areas. However, recent studies showed that urbanisation has led to an acculturation process toward the promotion of thinness in young African adults, exposing them to emerging eating disorders. From this perspective, we conducted an original mixed-methods anthropological study, through a repeated qualitative cross-sectional study (two time points in 2011 and 2021) and a quantitative survey (in 2012), in young Cameroonian Bamiléké [18–39 y] migrating to urban Cameroon and France to innovatively explore obesity- and eating disorder-related body weight perceptions. We observed that the qualitative rural–urban tendencies were similar between 2011 and 2021. While rural people tended to value stoutness as a symbol of prosperity, wellbeing and peacefulness, urban people, especially in Paris, tended to value thinness, even extreme thinness, as a symbol of beauty and health and reported a pronounced weight stigma. Quantitatively, we found that Parisian Bamiléké had a desired and ideal body size (DBS and IBS) in the normal-weight category with standard deviations reaching or close to the underweight category, whereas the rural and urban ones had DBS and IBS means between normal-weight and overweight categories. Moreover, we observed a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in both urban groups while the Parisian one tended to underestimate one’s weight and expected to lose it. Public health policies should consider body image as a persisting risk factor for obesity and also a risk factor for emerging eating disorders in young Cameroonian migrants experiencing this dual burden within the urban transition.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6020039

Authors: Patrícia Silveira Clarisse Pessôa Simone Petrella

Armed conflicts are at the epicentre of an information war, amplified by false claims about the motivations of the conflicts and refugees. The spread of narratives, especially in digital media, challenges the European Union to implement effective strategies to combat misinformation and to adopt measures to scrutinise and hold the main communication channels accountable, in order to prevent hostile narratives from influencing public opinion and political decision-makers. In this context, this article seeks to analyse the implications of media discourses and misinformation in the development of social representations about the Russian–Ukrainian war and refugees, as well as the use of social networks by individuals to share this type of content. The research is based on an exploratory study as part of the R&D Project MeInWar—Study on the media and social representations of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, funded by Europeia University. The study employed a survey method and an online questionnaire applied to a non-probabilistic convenience sample of 222 individuals aged between 18 and 38. The results revealed that media narratives influence attitudes towards refugees and migration policies, and it is clear that factors such as age and gender have an impact on content-sharing practices and the motivations behind them.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010038

Authors: Stephanie A. Navarro Silvera Amanda S. Birnbaum Eva S. Goldfarb Ranju Mainali Lisa D. Lieberman

Depression, although a consequence of sexual violence, has not been studied in the context of college students’ views of campus sexual violence climate. Depression is one of the most prevalent and impairing mental health concerns among college students and has well-established links to sexual violence victimization; therefore, it serves as a theoretically and clinically meaningful focal outcome. Therefore, we assessed perceptions of institutional climate in the context of self-reported depression. Undergraduates (n = 716) reported perceptions and experiences of campus sexual violence and misconduct, connectedness, attitude, and depressive symptoms in an online survey. More than a third of participants reported elevated depressive symptoms. This was associated with campus connectedness and attitude, perceived campus climate, and personally experiencing rape, assault, or harassment. In a multivariate model, only the perceived climate variables did not retain significance. Elevated depressive symptoms were associated with connectedness and attitude towards the university and experiencing sexual harassment/assault. Understanding and explicitly addressing these connections may be beneficial for the effectiveness of campus prevention and intervention.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010037

Authors: J. Quinton Staples

This study examines the relationship between institutional resource allocation to Multicultural Student Programs and Services (MSPS) and the retention rates of students of color at public higher education institutions as operationalized by the Unit Power held by MSPS leaders. Situated in the socio-political context influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement and rising anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) legislation, the research seeks to understand if targeted investments in MSPS meaningfully enhance retention for Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Multiracial students. Using Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit), the study employs correlation and multiple regression analyses to assess the effectiveness of MSPS expenditures. Results demonstrate that institutional investment in MSPS is positively associated with higher one-year retention rates for students of color. Additionally, the research highlights the critical role of MSPS administrators’ unit power, characterized by their environmental influence, institutional authority, and negotiation capabilities, in securing necessary funding. These findings contextualize the financial decisions institutions face amidst legislative pressures questioning the validity of diversity initiatives. This study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating how resource allocation strategies directly impact equity and retention outcomes, advocating for strategic, data-driven investments in MSPS as essential components for institutional effectiveness, credibility, and sustainable diversity practices.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010036

Authors: Ema Macut Ivana Petrovic

This study investigates how Croatian students from the University of Split and Italian students from the University of Salerno perceive and use sex-related taboo language, focusing on differences between their first language (L1), Croatian or Italian, and their second language (L2), English. Data were gathered through an anonymous online survey exploring participants’ perception and use of 15 sex-related taboo expressions in both their L1 and L2. A total of 160 university students participated (N = 160), including 80 Croatian and 80 Italian students. The results indicate that students perceive sex-related words and phrases as more offensive in their L1 than in their L2. However, contrary to expectations, they reported using such language more frequently in their L1, both in oral and written communication. This study contributes to understanding how bilinguals navigate sex-related taboo language across their L1 and L2. Unlike most previous research, which has mainly focused on taboo language in general, this study specifically examines sex-related taboo words. The findings contradict the common notion that speakers choose L2 for swearing due to the emotional distance it provides. Instead, it suggests that participants may intentionally choose their L1 to convey stronger emotional intensity, especially in close or personal situations.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010035

Authors: Jean E. Rhodes Alexandra Werntz Megyn Jasman Delores Druilhet Morton

Young women from historically marginalized backgrounds face significant barriers to accessing the professional guidance and social capital necessary for career advancement. To address this problem, a flash mentoring digital tool was developed to expand underrepresented young women’s access to time-limited guidance from pre-screened professional women within Step Up Women’s Network, a mentorship nonprofit program. This community-based program evaluation used a user-centered design approach to develop and refine the platform. In-person workshops and informal group discussion sessions with young Step Up women aged 18 to 29 provided feedback on networking approaches and mentorship needs, which informed the platform design. A total of 285 female mentors and 363 female mentees downloaded and engaged with the platform over two years. Implementation metrics included 5008 messages exchanged with 2528 sent by mentees, 316 meetings held, and high usage of goal-setting features with 1445 goals set and check-ins with 72 percent of mentees. Evaluation findings suggested that the intervention was acceptable and feasible, fostering new, short-term supportive relationships within Step Up Women’s Network. Although additional evaluation with rigorous outcome measures is needed, this program evaluation highlights the potential of a scalable intervention for Step Up Women’s Network that extends the framework of youth-initiated mentoring interventions, which have shown considerable promise in recent years.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010034

Authors: Auralia Brooke

In alternative education programs, school wellbeing is enacted partially through the spatialized (emplaced and embodied) lived experiences of students whose educational futures are fragile. Displaced to a series of trailers and limited to half-day attendance, the participants in this qualitative study were removed from mainstream classes in a large urban high school to attend alternative programming. Utilizing a critical counter-mapping youth participatory action approach, 24 participants mapped their barriers and supports to school wellbeing by moving through, sitting within, and writing together in the school spaces they were no longer permitted to occupy during their studies. As a research collective, students produced twenty-six annotated counter-maps, inscribing their school histories, present tensions, and hopes for educational futures onto existing geographical maps of the building. Findings contribute to understandings of students’ perspectives on best practices for complex school interactions as a foundation for building school climates that center educational wellbeing, care, play, and relationships. In addition to insights into current spatial practices in schools and how they might be rewritten to advance an equity-orientation, this work makes visible the tensions between the school’s emphasis on academic performance and the youth’s lived experiences of injustice on the spatial and metaphorical edges of the system.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010033

Authors: Caroline Hummell Corliss Bean

Mentorship represents a promising approach for sport organizations interested in supporting the positive youth development, retention, and well-being of girls in sport. Despite growing interest in mentorship as a youth development strategy, limited research explores how sport organizations understand and deliver mentorship programming for girl-identifying youth in Canada. The purpose of this study was to examine how Canadian sport organizations conceptualize mentorship and implement it to support girls’ developmental and sporting experiences. Using a qualitative research design, we conducted semi-structured interviews with Canadian sport organizational leads (N = 9) and analyzed available program resources (e.g., evaluation reports, program manuals). Reflexive thematic and document analysis revealed three findings: (a) how organizational staff understand mentorship for girls in sport; (b) how mentorship is delivered in practice; (c) system-level barriers and recommendations that shape mentorship (programming). Findings contribute to sport and youth-focused scholarship by illustrating how sport organizations shape mentoring as a developmental experience for girls in sport and by pointing to gender-responsive, co-designed mentorship frameworks as priority areas for future research. Practically, this research underscores the importance of investing in relational capacity and evidence-based mentorship models to better support girls’ sport experiences in Canada.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010032

Authors: Jane Rossouw

Relationship and sexuality education research has largely centred on adult perspectives, particularly in exploring home-based sexuality education. This study shifts the lens to youth voices by examining how adolescents from LGBTQ+ families in South Africa experience and actively participate in home-based sexuality conversations. Using arts-based collage-creating methods with the adolescent participants, youth interpretations of sexuality learning in LGBTQ+ family homes were explored. The findings reveal that youth are not passive recipients but active co-creators of family sexuality knowledge, developing critical literacies about heteronormativity through ongoing and responsive home-based conversations. Youth identified home as a distinct pedagogical space characterised by safety, personalisation, ongoing responsive dialogue, inclusivity of diverse sexual and gender identities, and responsiveness to their developmental needs. However, youth also navigate tensions between LGBTQ+-affirming home environments and heteronormative public spaces, developing sophisticated strategies for managing these boundaries. This study contributes empirical evidence for valuing informal sexuality education spaces and positions youth from LGBTQ+ families as knowledge producers whose experiences can inform more inclusive, dialogue-based approaches. The findings have implications for supporting family-based sexuality education and challenging adult-centric assumptions about youth capacities in sexuality learning.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010031

Authors: Juan Carlos Armenteros Mayoral Álvaro Manuel Úbeda Sánchez José Álvarez-Rodríguez Daniel Álvarez Ferrándiz

Adolescence is established as a critical period for the onset of substance use and addictive behaviours. Sports participation can act as a protective factor that coexists with risk and protective variables. This study aims to analyse the association between habits, risk perception and lifetime and annual alcohol consumption and gambling at distinct stages of adolescence and to establish risk profiles. Cross-sectional study with the participation of 914 federated footballers selected by cluster sampling. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, consumption, risk perception and habits were collected. Descriptive analyses, χ2, principal component analysis, K-means and ordinal logistic regressions were performed. Two main components were extracted that explained 54.3% of the variance (KMO = 0.69). Four clusters were obtained, showing transitions between them. The WLE and AWU variables were established as risk factors for consumption (OR > 1), while the protective risk perception variables (OR < 1) varied according to the stage and consumption analysed.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010030

Authors: Emmanuel Olatunbosun Benjamin Oreoluwa Ola

Africa’s expanding youth population and rapid digitalization present opportunities for innovation and, ultimately, entrepreneurship and economic growth relevant for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8—Decent Work and Economic Growth. However, the role of social media in shaping these outcomes remains underexplored empirically. This study examines how platform-specific social media use influences innovation, operationalized through external search breadth and depth, while considering macroeconomic moderators. Using panel data from 52 African countries from 2009 to 2022 and fixed effects regressions, the study links activities on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google to innovation indicators such as R&D expenditure, patent applications, and scientific publications. The findings suggest that YouTube use is consistently and positively associated with all innovation indicators, highlighting its role in knowledge diffusion and creative expression. By contrast, X and LinkedIn display neutral or negative effects. High internet penetration alone is not sufficient enough to spur innovation, underscoring the need for enabling macroeconomics factors such as GDP per capita and ease of doing business. This study concludes that visual open-access platforms, supported by education and institutional capacity, are vital for inclusive and sustained economic growth.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010029

Authors: Luca Csirmaz Krisztian Kasos

As test anxiety has evolved conceptually, identifying specific components contributing to educational success is essential. This study is the first to examine how different components of test anxiety are related to university dropout. Hungarian university students were recruited through the university’s website and asked to complete a series of online questionnaires at three different points over two years to monitor test anxiety levels and potential dropout or graduation during this period. Of the 98 students who completed assessments at all time points, by the final measurement, 69 had already either graduated or dropped out of their studies. Test anxiety was measured using the multidimensional TAM-C-SF (Test Anxiety Measure for College Students—Short Form). Study dropout was defined as leaving a program before graduation. Task-irrelevant behaviors—a component of test anxiety that includes restless and avoidance behaviors—were significantly associated with dropout. Higher values of cognitive interference were also significantly associated with a higher likelihood of dropout. Task-irrelevant behaviors and cognitive interference might play a key role in academic persistence among university students. These findings highlight the importance of a multidimensional approach to assessing test anxiety and suggest interventional techniques that may help diminish these factors to support students in succeeding in their studies.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010028

Authors: Cynthia Valencia-Ayala Jeanne McPhee Elizabeth McBride Johanna B. Folk

Current school level practices and policies reproduce and reify carceral logics in schools through the disproportionate exclusion, removal, policing, and surveillance of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students from low-income backgrounds. Given the link between school-based discipline and youth incarceration, we sought to understand how young people experience and respond to inequitable discipline practices in educational settings. In this two-part study, we conceptually explore the mechanisms by which schools function as an extension of the carceral system through inequitable disciplinary practices and seek to empirically understand how students perceive and experience school-level carceral logics and the processes that lead students into the juvenile legal system. Study 1 consisted of three focus groups (N = 24) with high school students from historically marginalized backgrounds and explored youth perceptions of and experiences with discipline. Study 2 consisted of six focus groups (N = 28) with community college students who were incarcerated as youth, to understand their trajectories and educational experiences before, during, and following their incarceration. Taken together, the studies illuminate the intersection of schools and prisons as complex systems that historically marginalized students must navigate to access their education, leveraging skills and collective resilience to do so.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010027

Authors: Nell Watson Ali Hessami Salma Abbasi

Classical developmental psychology treats childhood animism—attributing life or mind to inanimate things—as a transient phase that recedes with schooling and the onset of concrete operations. The contemporary spread of lifelike AI has altered that background assumption, with particular implications for children and adolescents whose agency-detection systems and reality-testing capacities are still calibrating. Across interfaces, voices, avatars, and social robots, modern systems routinely exhibit contingent, context-sensitive behaviour that recruits developing social-cognitive systems during sensitive periods of identity formation and relational learning. Drawing on developmental psychology, cognitive science, human–AI interaction research, clinical psychiatry, and technology ethics, we: (1) present a mechanistic “hourglass model” showing how interactive AI engages animistic cognition with heightened effects during childhood and adolescence, including a developmental timing analysis of how differential maturation of agency detection, Theory of Mind (ToM), and prefrontal reality-testing creates windows of particular vulnerability; (2) disaggregate five distinct phenomena along an anthropomorphism-to-delusion trajectory with operational boundary criteria; (3) specify a graded psychopathology continuum with a fourth, orthogonal zone addressing adversarial design—itself disaggregated into three tiers with distinct regulatory implications; (4) identify conditions under which anthropomorphic engagement may be beneficial, including for youth; and (5) advance cognitive safety–inspired design with developmentally appropriate protections for minors. We introduce the IDAQ-CF-Tech, a twelve-item screener for AI-specific mind attribution offered as a provisional instrument for validation across age groups, and close with a phased research agenda emphasising longitudinal developmental outcomes, impacts on adolescent identity formation, and cross-cultural variation in techno-animism.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010026

Authors: Sara Arenas Carranza Jorge Expósito López Eva Olmedo Moreno

Research on unaccompanied foreign minors remains limited due to the low scientific visibility of this population and the complexity of trauma-related neurodevelopment. This study presents a scientometric analysis of international literature (2007–2025) to identify trends, collaboration networks, thematic clusters, and research gaps on trauma and neuroeducation in this field. Using data from Scopus and Web of Science, methodological, contextual, and thematic variables were coded and analysed through bibliometric and network techniques. Results show a 91% growth in publications since 2008, following an exponential pattern (r2 = 0.91), with 90 authors organised into 23 collaboration clusters and an average collaboration index of 0.80. Despite growing inter-institutional networks, research remains concentrated in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom–Africa axis. The study concludes that the field is entering a phase of consolidation, shifting from predominantly clinical perspectives toward preventive and integrative neuroeducational approaches that combine relational, cultural, and educational dimensions to mitigate the effects of migratory trauma.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010025

Authors: Marcia J. Watson-Vandiver

This phenomenological study explores the experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools and draws parallels between Black millennials and the “indignant generation,” a term Lawrence Jackson uses to describe African American life between 1934–1960. While the purview of school discipline discourse is saturated with conversations on racial disparities, the exigent problem still remains. As such, this research provides a nuanced probe into concepts of discontent and indignation within Black students. In doing so, this study recasts Black male students as experts, not observers, within educational research. Using counter-storytelling as the theoretical and analytical framework, this study examines both student engagement and school disaffection through the lens of “Black male positionality.” Participants (Black males, ages 25–35, n = 9) provide individual reflections of their past schooling experiences and also detail critical needs in educational reform. Using semi-structured interviews, participants provide in-depth, retrospective perspectives of schooling and reconceptualize renewed possibilities of educational reform for Black students today. The study’s major findings demonstrate school carcerality was evident via counterproductive discipline policies and semblances of “untapped potential” among students. The study’s findings surface important topics in Black education and help to broaden the scope of research to explore concepts of Blackness, being, and belonging within phenomenological studies.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010024

Authors: Carlos Pesquera Alonso Práxedes Muñoz Sánchez Almudena Iniesta Martínez

In many cases the label NEET (referring to the youth Not in Education, Employment, or Training) is applied without really taking into account the diversity within the group. Even among the studies focusing on NEET diversity, few publications challenge the use of the label at the international level. This article accepts that challenge and combines the mentioned perspective regarding educational level. The article also presents explanatory models, with variables belonging to four categories (NEETs and unemployment, economy, social aspects and education) aiming to analyze those differences. The results reveal that the difference between countries on the average educational attainment of NEETs and the rest of the youth are considerably big and that (1) variables connecting NEETs and unemployment do not explain those differences; (2) economic variables slightly explain the phenomenon; (3) social aspects show volatile significance; and (4) mostly educational factors clarify the differences. This study shows that for the study countries, the less competitive the education system, the higher risk of becoming a NEET for those who attain higher educational levels.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010023

Authors: Asianya Jones Addison Duane

Endemic racism, operationalized through exclusionary discipline practices contributes to the “spirit murdering” of youth of color in schools. While the school-to-prison pipeline frames the funneling of students into the (in)justice system, the school-to-prison nexus expands this understanding by interrogating the reality that schools are prison for many. Thus, education abolitionists call for a systemic account of “schooling” to embrace creative risk and radical possibility in the pursuit of liberation. However, existing literature has not substantively centered the voices of youth directly involved in these carceral systems, nor invited them to dream. This study asks: based on formerly incarcerated students’ experiences in school and prison, what must educational systems do to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline? Guided by qualitative methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated college students (four women, two men; majority Latinx/Hispanic) and conducted member checking. Our reflexive thematic analysis uncovered a troubling truth: schools frequently ignored and misinterpreted trauma, grief, and internalized pain among high school students. Participants described internal battles (i.e., mental health challenges) that often showed up externally as “behaviors” (e.g., fighting, skipping school, substance use) that resulted in exclusionary discipline. Equally important, participants re-imagined schools as homeplaces—sites of care, belonging, and agency. These narratives illuminate the need to dismantle punitive systems, center insights from those at the center of the experiences, and build just, loving, and equitable schools.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010022

Authors: Rachel Taffe Niobe Way Catriona Calvo-Studdy

Though an emerging body of theory and research suggests that individuals who feel and express greater interpersonal curiosity experience improved social functioning and relationships, researchers have yet to examine interpersonal curiosity from the perspective of those receiving questions from others. The present study employs a mixed-methods approach to explore the questions young adults wish to be asked by four relational partners (i.e., closest friend, mother figure, father figure, and romantic partner), along with their reasons why. Among our sample of college students (N = 641; Mage = 19.82), eight distinct types of questions (e.g., about one’s well-being), along with six themes in their reasons for wishing to receive this curiosity (e.g., to improve relational dynamics), were identified. Findings not only suggest that young adults have questions they wish to be asked but also offer insight into six potential mechanisms by which they believe interpersonal curiosity could enhance their relationships.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010021

Authors: Daniel Thalkar

This paper explores the entanglement of the coloniality of time, justice, and emancipatory horizons through the lens of restorative justice in public schools. The author utilizes Jacques Derrida’s theory of hospitality in order to demonstrate how restorative justice, as an open spacetime of impossible choices, creates liberatory possibilities. The author utilizes Charles Mills’ “white time” to deconstruct racial capitalism’s notions of time as they manifest in schools and to reflect upon how restorative justice’s orientation towards relational, fluid temporalities offers a means through which the ethico-ontoepistemological assumptions that underlie oppressive systems in schooling can be questioned and transformed. A restorative justice approach grounded in hospitality, this theoretical paper argues, offers a way through the oppressive temporality of White Time.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010020

Authors: Lateef Olalekan Bello Dorah Dubihlela

Youth unemployment and poverty remain critical development challenges in Nigeria, where rural young women face limited livelihood opportunities and economic vulnerability. Using cross-sectional survey data from rural Nigeria and an endogenous treatment effect regression model to address potential self-selection bias, the study examines the impact of non-agricultural employment participation on poverty reduction among young women. The results show that engagement in non-farm employment significantly reduces poverty across all poverty index dimensions, demonstrating that non-agricultural employment is an effective pathway not only for escaping poverty but also for improving welfare among those who remain poor. The findings underscore the need for gender-sensitive policies that expand non-agricultural opportunities in trade, services, and digital platforms and invest in rural infrastructure to enable women’s economic participation. By integrating such interventions into broader rural development strategies, policymakers can promote inclusive economic empowerment, advance gender equality, and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, offering a scalable model for rural poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa.

Youth doi: 10.3390/youth6010019

Authors: María Naranjo-Márquez Anna Bocchino Ester Gilart Eva Manuela Cotobal-Calvo Concepción Mata-Pérez José Luis Palazón-Fernández

Previous research suggests that certain personality traits, such as extraversion and openness, may be associated with sexual risk behaviors (SRB). Exploring psychological and social factors is critical to guide effective sexual health promotion. Background/Objectives: To examine the associations between sociodemographic characteristics, personality traits, sexual attitudes, and risky sexual behaviors among health science students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 730 health science students (median age: 21 years, IQR: 20–22 years) using validated questionnaires on personality (BPQ), sexual attitudes (BSAS), and sociodemographic factors. Non-parametric tests and logistic regressions were performed. Results: The results highlight significant differences in sexual attitudes based on sociodemographic characteristics, such as sexual orientation, type of relationship and cohabitation. High levels of pornography consumption are associated with drug use and greater permissiveness. A relationship was established between condom use and openness and intellect. Drug use scored high on extraversion and permissiveness. In relation to the use of dating apps, a positive relationship was found with permissiveness and substance use. Conclusions: The findings reveal a relationship between personality, sociodemographic characteristics, and risky behaviors, underscoring the need for tailored strategies in sexual health education for young adults.