Search Results (465)

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. Full article

The concept of subjective well-being among Orang Asli youth remains insufficiently understood due to limited empirical research on the community. Orang Asli youth represent a unique social group whose experiences are shaped by their culture, language, belief systems, and traditional lifestyle. These elements influence how well-being is perceived beyond economic indicators. Therefore, this study aims to explain the concept of subjective well-being among the Orang Asli Seletar youth. A case study research design was employed in this qualitative study. Twenty (20) informants aged 18 to 30 years, residing in Johor, participated in focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews. This study’s findings identified seven (7) main themes related to the concept of subjective well-being among Orang Asli Seletar youth: (i) tranquility; (ii) happiness; (iii) comfort; (iv) sufficiency; (v) preferences; (vi) awareness; and (vii) satisfaction. In conclusion, this study provides a basis for understanding the subjective well-being of youth within the Orang Asli Seletar community. From the perspective of mainstream society, their lifestyle may appear modest and inadequate. However, this does not accurately reflect their true experience, as objective well-being should not be the sole measure of this community’s development. Greater emphasis on subjective well-being is essential to support this community’s thriving. Full article

While much of the current research on early specialization focuses on physical outcomes, training models, and policy implications, little is known about how athletes themselves make sense of their developmental experiences. This study aims to examine how ice hockey players perceive and experience early specialization within competitive youth sport contexts, with the goal of generating a nuanced, inductively grounded understanding of athlete development from the athlete perspective. A qualitative study design was used where eight current and former ice hockey players with experience of early specialization participated. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using qualitative conventional content analysis. Three overarching themes emerged, highlighting experiences of loneliness, pressure, and elevated expectations within elite sport environments, alongside the vital importance of support networks and team community: ‘Thrown into adulthood with premature expectations’, ‘Balancing Support and Pressure in Athlete Development’, and ‘The Struggle Between Dream and Reality’. Players described feeling pressured, isolated, and prematurely professionalized, often at the expense of personal development. The findings highlight the psychological and structural challenges of early specialization in elite ice hockey. While support systems played a crucial role, they also contributed to performance anxiety and external expectations. These insights underscore the need for youth sport systems that prioritize long-term athlete well-being over short-term success. Full article

This study examined the compensatory and risk-protective roles of informal mentoring in the longitudinal associations between discrimination and behavioral health problems among Latino/a adolescents and emerging adults. The study addressed the limited research on mentoring among Latino/a youth, particularly with regard to behavioral health, and considered both the presence of and relationship quality with mentors as well as gender differences (girls vs. boys). Latent growth curve analysis was used to investigate trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems across 11 observations spanning 7 years. Mentor presence assessed at Wave 9 when youth (N = 544) were approximately 15–18 years old had an association with internalizing problems consistent with the compensatory model, in which a resilience factor offsets the harmful effects of a risk factor, for girls. Among girls with a mentor, relationship quality buffered associations between discrimination and internalizing problems, consistent with the risk protective model. Among boys who reported having a mentor, relationship quality had an association with internalizing problems consistent with the compensatory model. For both girls and boys with mentors, relationship quality buffered associations between discrimination and externalizing problems, consistent with the risk protective model. Whereas discrimination consistently shows harmful effects on Latino/a adolescents’ emotional and behavioral adjustment, a resilience perspective underscores the reality that, with adequate support, most youth are able to overcome those risks. The current study fills gaps in the literature by examining how informal mentoring can foster resilience to such harmful effects, and highlights directions for future research and practice aimed at enhancing the well-being of this large and fast-growing population. Full article

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) represent a significant global mortality burden, largely driven by viral-triggered exacerbations. In the elderly, susceptibility to viral pathogens is critically linked to the “interferon gap”—a kinetic delay in innate antiviral signaling resulting from immunosenescence and Th2-skewed inflammaging. While traditional vaccines provide pathogen-specific protection, their efficacy is often compromised by age-related immune hyporesponsiveness and antigenic drift. This perspective paper proposes a dual-phase, virus-agnostic immunomodulatory platform designed to restore mucosal immune competence and provide a rapid-response intervention for incipient exacerbations. Rather than acting as a pathogen-specific vaccine, the platform serves as a comprehensive host immune-rejuvenation engine and cellular adjuvant platform. The platform consists of two integrated stages: Allopriming and Alloantigen Inhalation Recall (AIR). Allopriming utilizes AlloStim^® (activated, allogeneic Th1 cells) to leverage the evolutionarily conserved allo-rejection response, establishing a lung mucosal reservoir of allo-specific Th1 tissue-resident memory cells (Trm). Building on previously published Phase I/II data showing that Allopriming reverses biomarkers of immunosenescence and sustains durable heterologous antiviral responsiveness, the AIR strategy is introduced as a patient-administered rescue mechanism for frail CRD patients. AIR is designed to activate pre-positioned Trm cells at the earliest onset of symptoms, inducing a high-magnitude IFN-γ surge in the lung mucosa. By bridging the senescent “interferon gap” with the rapid effector kinetics of Trm activation, this approach represents a novel paradigm toward reconstituting youthful-like antiviral mucosal immunity to both enhance vaccine efficacy in the elderly and protect against both seasonal pathogens and emerging viral triggers (“Disease X”) of CRD. Future randomized studies in long-term care settings are planned to evaluate clinical outcomes in high-risk populations. Full article

Background: The role of religion and faith-based organisations in public health is increasingly examined through the framework of religious health assets (RHAs), defined as resources located in or held by religious entities that may be mobilised for health and development. Within this framework, church health assets (CHAs) are conceptualised as congregationally specific expressions of RHAs, namely, the tangible and intangible resources recognised within local church settings and interpreted by church leaders as relevant to adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). Despite growing interest, there remains limited empirical work examining how such assets are perceived in relation to young people’s sexual and reproductive health, particularly from an emic perspective in sub-Saharan Africa. Aim: This study explored how pastors in South Africa’s Vaal Triangle perceive church assets relevant to AYSRH. Methods: The article presents findings from a qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with eleven purposively selected pastors from Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, and Sasolburg. Data were collected between August 2019 and February 2020, prior to the COVID-19 restrictions that later altered face-to-face engagement in South Africa. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis informed by interpretive description, employing iterative coding, constant comparison, memoing, and a clearly defined audit trail. Results: The findings identified ten perceived CHAs, comprising five tangible assets, interaction spaces, community resources, normative teaching materials, networks and partnerships, and financial resources—and five intangible assets—reputation, voice on sexuality, mission and vision, a ready audience, and embodied messages. Across these themes, pastors predominantly framed AYSRH in moral and pedagogical terms, emphasising abstinence, guidance, and restoration, rather than a broader continuum encompassing information, prevention, care, rights, and service access. Conclusions: The study concludes that pastors perceive churches to possess substantial AYSRH-related assets; however, the analysis reflects perceptions rather than demonstrated implementation or measurable impact. The findings highlight both potential and limitation, indicating that the same assets may function as facilitators or barriers depending on their interpretation and application. The study contributes a pastor-centred, emic account of CHAs within a South African context and underscores the need for future multi-stakeholder research to assess how faith-sensitive AYSRH interventions operate in practice. Full article

Coastal small-scale fishers in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) face mounting challenges from climate change (CC), with vulnerability shaped by ecological exposure, socio-economic dependence, and limited adaptive capacity. This study reflects on two contrasting cases, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea (PNG), to explore fishers’ perceptions and perspectives on CC and practical adaptation strategies. In PNG, 209 respondents from Momase, the Islands, and Southern regions participated. In Taiwan, 45 respondents from the Yunlin and Chiayi coastal regions participated. Significant correlations in coastal communities’ vulnerabilities and perceptions towards CC were revealed. Small-scale fishers perceive rising sea temperatures, shifting fish stocks, and intensifying typhoons as disruptive shocks to livelihoods and eroding traditional fishing practices. In Taiwan, despite relatively stronger infrastructure, household income, and access to technology, adaptation remains constrained by market pressures, declining youth participation, and regulatory complexities. In PNG, fishers deeply rely on natural resources and coastal ecosystems for subsistence and income, yet face acute risks from sea-level rise, coral bleaching, and unpredictable weather. With limited financial resources, weak institutional support, and geographic isolation, fishers perceive CC as an amplifying factor to existing vulnerabilities, leaving communities dependent on traditional knowledge and communal coping strategies. Fishers’ perceptions of CC are shaped by lived experiences rather than scientific discourse, influencing adaptation choices ranging from livelihood diversification to migration. Perceptions of CC drivers, their distal and proximal impacts on coastal fishing community livelihoods are viewed as siloed; yet, remote sensing data revealed that the impacts are transboundary. The findings underscore the urgent need for context-sensitive policies that integrate local knowledge, science-based data (such as remote sensing CC maps) to strengthen institutional support, and enhance resilience among vulnerable and underserved coastal small-scale fishers. Full article

The ongoing academic debate on interpreting the disenchantment and re-enchantment of modern society remains unresolved. This study traces the theoretical genealogies of enchantment, disenchantment, and re-enchantment, proposing that enchantment is not a fixed concept but a dynamically evolving and reconstructed process. Focusing on sacred mountain circumambulation—a traditional pilgrimage ritual deeply entrenched in Tibetan cultural contexts—this study employs qualitative methods, conducting semi-structured interviews with 33 contemporary Tibetan youth to examine the manifestations of enchantment within this practice. Findings reveal that, against the backdrop of globalization and China’s social transformation, Tibetan youths’ circumambulation practices exhibit several emerging characteristics in organizational patterns, material preparation, modes of action, degree of ritual participation, and intergenerational differences. Within this pilgrimage activity, the process of disenchantment is evident as Tibetan youth attain higher levels of cultural and educational literacy. Traditional foundations of enchantment, such as taboos associated with sacred mountains and utilitarian motivations, persist. Simultaneously, new forms of enchantment with distinctly modern features—including topophilia and emotional value—are steadily emerging. The results suggest that disenchantment does not entail the demise of enchantment, nor does re-enchantment signify a return to traditional enchantment. Instead, sacred mountain circumambulation embodies the cognitive and perceptual process through which Tibetan youth engage with, understand, and negotiate enchantment via their individual lived experiences. This research not only uncovers the evolving significance of circumambulation in modern society but also offers a fresh perspective on how enchantment adapts and endures within contemporary contexts. Full article

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. Full article

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. Full article

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk is elevated in female youth football, yet knee joint loading has mainly been studied under controlled laboratory conditions. This limits understanding of how injury risk emerges during realistic match situations. This study provided a field-based kinetic characterization of football-specific movements by estimating knee abduction moments (KAMs) using wearable sensors and machine learning. Fifty-two highly talented female youth players performed agility tasks during training, including structured exercises (F-EX) and game-based play (F-GAME). Full-body kinematics were collected with inertial measurement units, and a validated support vector machine model, trained on synchronized motion capture and force plate data, classified trials as high or low KAM. Across 662 change-in-direction trials, 9–12% were classified as high KAM in both conditions, indicating that potentially high-risk loading regularly occurs during routine actions. High KAM trials showed reduced knee and pelvis flexion, increased hip flexion, and greater pelvis rotation toward the cutting direction, reflecting upright, stiff movement strategies. Performance analyses revealed smaller cut angles in exercises and greater approach acceleration in game play, without differences in peak velocity. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of field-based kinetic screening and support a complex-systems perspective on ACL injury risk. Full article

Uncertainty is a central feature of sport and has been extensively examined in sport science, primarily from performance-oriented perspectives such as anticipation, decision-making, and motor control. However, less attention has been given to how athletes subjectively perceive and experience uncertainty and how these interpretations shape their responses. The present study addresses this gap by exploring athletes’ lived experiences of uncertainty in sport. Using a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with former youth athletes from various sports. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, generating 15 themes organized across key dimensions of uncertainty, including unpredictability, lack of information, internal versus external sources, and the appraisal of uncertainty as a threat or a challenge. Findings indicate that uncertainty is experienced as a multifaceted and subjective phenomenon shaped by perceived control, prior experience, and situational context. Athletes differed in how they interpreted uncertainty, with some perceiving it as threatening and others as an opportunity for growth, which in turn influenced emotional responses and coping strategies. Key coping mechanisms included communication, information seeking, social support, and focusing on controllable aspects of performance. These findings extend existing sport science literature by integrating experiential and interpretative dimensions of uncertainty with established performance-based approaches. Furthermore, the results suggest conceptual links with the construct of intolerance of uncertainty (IU), highlighting the potential value of examining individual differences in how athletes appraise and manage uncertainty. The study provides an exploratory foundation for future research integrating IU within sport contexts and underscores the importance of addressing both subjective and performance-related aspects of uncertainty in sport psychology. Full article

This study examines how local social policies addressing young people’s well-being and working-life capacities within the framework of sustainable development are understood, and how they might be further developed in a Swedish municipal context. The study draws on three qualitative datasets: professionals from municipal social services, representatives of municipal units and civil society organisations, and young people aged 15–19. Data were analysed using abductive thematic analysis informed by Doyal and Gough’s theory of Human Need and Helne and Hirvilammi’s Having–Doing–Loving–Being model of relational well-being. Findings indicate that professional participants recognise links between social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainability, yet practice is largely oriented towards individual and social concerns, with limited engagement with the natural environment. Youth participants indicated detachment from both nature and societal processes, framed responsibility as habitual, and exhibited intergenerational detachment alongside temporal and geographical distance from sustainability issues. The findings also indicate siloed municipal sustainability policies. The study concludes that current policies may insufficiently integrate the ecological and relational dimensions of human needs and that there is a need to develop ecosocial policies and practices that promote more sustainable well-being and working-life capacities, especially for young people. Full article

This study examined how perceived social media affordances, self-presentation, and online engagement collectively shape experiences of social validation among Nigerian youths within an integrated framework that combines Affordance theory, Goffman’s Dramaturgical perspectives, and Uses and Gratifications. Using a quantitative survey of 480 active social media users across platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X), data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, regression, and regression-based sequential mediation modelling. Our findings indicate that perceived social media affordances significantly predict self-presentation behaviours (β = 0.79, p < 0.001), self-presentation significantly predicts online engagement (β = 0.43, p < 0.001); and online engagement predicts perceived social validation (β = 051, p < 0.001). Our findings also reveal that self-presentation and online engagement jointly and sequentially mediate the relationship between perceived affordances and perceived social media validation, with a significant indirect effect (β = 0.13, 95% CI [0.09, 0.19]) and a non-significant direct path from affordances to validation. Within a connectivity-constrained environment of Nigerian youths, our findings support a process-based understanding of digital interaction, showing how technological affordances are translated into social outcomes via structured, theoretically grounded user practices. Apart from validation emerging as a salient gratification, the study noted other motivational cues (sociability, identity expression, and information seeking) behind youth engagement with social media, suggesting that validation is just one of many reasons underlying youth social media use. The study contributes to Global Majority Media scholarship by providing a theoretically integrated process-based framework and a mechanism-oriented narrative of social media use in a non-Western setting. Full article

Background: Healthcare policy in the United Kingdom recognizes that teenagers and young adults (TYAs: 16–24 years at diagnosis) require specialist care. In England, Principal Treatment Centers (PTCs) exist, delivering enhanced care exclusively within the PTC or as ‘joint care’ with designated hospitals (DHs). Central to this is the TYA multidisciplinary team (MDT) and an outreach model coordinating care between hospitals. We previously reported similar outcomes regardless of care location. Aims: To compare TYA experiences of care with healthcare professionals’ perspectives of the service they deliver. Methods: Mixed methods across England and Wales were used. The TYA-MDT identified TYAs who then received a postal invite to a cross-sectional survey capturing experiences of places of care, treatment, healthcare professional support (HCP), mental health, sexuality/fertility, clinical trials and care coordination. Comparisons were made based on exposure to care in a specialist TYA environment within 6 months of diagnosis: all-TYA-PTC (all care in the TYA-PTC, n = 70, 28%), no-TYA-PTC (no care in the TYA-PTC (n = 87, 35%): care delivered in a children/adult unit only), and joint care (care in a TYA-PTC and in a children’s/adult unit, n = 91, 36%). HCP perspectives were captured by rapid ethnography. Results: A total of 250/1056 (24%) TYAs participated. Overall, 200 (80%) rated their teams as excellent/good for helping them prepare for treatment. No evidence of significant differences existed between categories of care for proportions receiving support from key TYA-related professionals: TYA cancer nurse specialists (all-TYA-PTC n = 58, 91%; joint care n = 71, 88%; no-TYA-PTC n = 64, 82%) and social workers (all-TYA-PTC n = 30, 55%; joint care n = 36, 48%; no-TYA-PTC n = 28, 38%). A trend of diminishing support from youth support co-coordinators existed (all-TYA-PTC 63%; joint care 49%; no-TYA-PTC 40%, p = 0.069). This may explain why few differences in patient experiences existed across categories of care. Forty-nine HCPs participated. They were more critical in their interpretation of care, highlighting inequity in resources and challenges in some pathways and coordination. Conclusions: Similar access to age-appropriate support across care settings is likely to reflect recruitment methods. When TYAs are known to the MDT, age-appropriate care can be mobilized beyond TYA units, which could explain the equitable outcomes observed across different care locations in young people who responded to the survey. Nevertheless, gaps persist in communication and coordination, particularly within joint care models, and in the involvement of allied health professionals such as dieticians and physiotherapists, whose input is essential for rehabilitation and return to normal life. Strengthening these areas will require continued investment in workforce capacity and digital infrastructure to support genuinely coordinated, developmentally appropriate TYA cancer care. Full article