Laura Ferrer-Wreder has over two decades of experience as a university-level teacher. She has had formal supervisory or evaluation roles in dissertation, masters, and undergraduate theses for over 75 students or trainees in the United States and Sweden. Presently, Laura is the Director of Studies for the undergraduate education and the International Master’s program (not including the PAO program) at the Department of Psychology, Stockholm University.

Laura Ferrer-Wreder is co-head of the Applied Developmental Science (ADS) Research Group. In brief, the ADS group exemplifies research that is practical, developmental, and focused on the development of children, adolescents, and their families in key developmental contexts. A theoretical orientation and research actions within the ADS group that provide one illustration of what it means to take a holistic strengths-based view to the study of child and adolescent development is embodied by growing research field of Positive Youth Development (PYD).

To learn more about Positive Youth Development (PYD) and related ideas, see the links below.

Ferrer-Wreder, L., & Kapetanovic, S. (2021). Exploring the positive potentials of diverse European youth: What makes individual and contextual thriving possible? In A. Kozina & N. Wiium (Eds)., Positive youth development in context. Ljubljana, Slovenia: Educational Research Institute. Digital Library, Scientific Monographs, 42.
www.pei.si/ISBN/978-961-270-341-7.pdf

Global framework on transferable skills | UNICEF
 

A Research Network in the PYD Area

Laura Ferrer-Wreder is a research partner in The Positive Youth Development Cross-National Project led by Dr. Nora Wiium at the University of Bergen, Norway.
 

Research Projects in the PYD Area

Ongoing research projects:

Early social emotional competence promotion and its prospective importance to preventing later mental illness. Funder: FORTE

Parent Web**: Supporting Families with Adolescents. Funder: Stockholm University and Region Stockholm

**The Parent Web is created and developed by researchers at Karolinska Institute's Department of Clinical Neuroscience, namely Kajsa Lönn-Rhodin, Martin Forster, and Pia Enebrink. An effectiveness trial of the universal editon of the Parent Web is made possible through a research collaboration with Pia Enebrink.  

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Does attending preschool in an economically advantaged or disadvantaged neighborhood moderate the effects of the preschool edition of promoting alternative thinking strategies^®?

  2022. Sabina Kapetanovic (et al.). Frontiers in Education 7

  Article

  Early interventions that foster the participation, engagement, and development of children attending preschools, including those in economically disadvantaged (low-income) neighborhoods, are of high priority. One such intervention is a universal socioemotional learning (SEL) program called Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS^®) which aims to promote social emotional competence and positive adjustment in children, in general, and may have unique benefits for children attending preschool in low incomes areas. In the SEL field, areas in need of exploration include the possible role that neighborhood income level (i.e., all residents' income in a postal code that a preschool is located in) could have for children's social emotional competence and positive adjustment and how neighborhood income level may relate to benefits of an intervention such as PATHS. The study aims were to investigate 1) the baseline group differences in social emotional competence and adjustment depending on the neighborhood income level and 2) to determine if neighborhood income level moderated the effects of PATHS on children's social emotional competence and adjustment from pre to posttest. Participants were 275 children aged four to five years old, from the preschools randomized into an immediate intervention (n = 145 children) or a wait-list control group (n = 130 children). Overall, 42.9% (n = 118) of the children attended preschools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and 57.1% (n = 157) of the children attended preschools in economically advantaged neighborhoods. Children's social emotional competence and adjustment were assessed through child tasks, child observations and teacher reports. The moderation of intervention effects by the preschools' neighborhood income was tested in a series of just-identified structural equation models (SEM) that explored interaction effects (income*PATHS interactions). At baseline, relative to children attending preschool in economically advantaged preschools, children attending preschool in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods showed lower levels of inhibitory control, working memory, task orientation and higher levels of inattention. Children attending preschools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods participating in PATHS also showed reductions in inattention, social withdrawal and anxiety compared to control group children also attending preschool in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Additionally, PATHS children from advantaged neighborhoods improved their prosocial behavior, but not their social independence, relative to control group children who also attended preschool in advantaged neighborhoods. Offering PATHS as an SEL intervention in early childhood education and care settings could help to reduce disparities among children in a number of key outcomes.

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• The Importance of School Pedagogical and Social Climate to Students’ Unauthorized Absenteeism – a Multilevel Study of 101 Swedish Schools

  2022. Martin Karlberg (et al.). Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 66 (1), 88-104

  Article

  While individual and family factors behind students’ school absenteeism are well-researched, fewer studies have addressed school climate factors. This study investigated the association between school climate in Swedish schools and students’ absenteeism. A multi-informant survey of school climate was conducted in 101 schools and analysed in relation to the history of absenteeism of 2770 students attending those schools in the 7th grade at inception, with follow-up until completion of the compulsory school (9th grade). Data on absenteeism was extracted from schools’ registers. Student (but not teacher) positive ratings of school climate were associated with lower absenteeism between the age of 13 and the age of 16. The associations between student rated school climate and absenteeism appeared stronger among students with highly educated parents.

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• Self-Concept, Prosocial School Behaviors, Well-Being, and Academic Skills in Elementary School Students: A Whole-Child Perspective: A Whole-Child Perspective

  2022. Carina Wikman, Mara Westling Allodi, Laura Anne Ferrer-Wreder. Education Sciences 12 (5)

  Article

  Whole-child development focuses on supporting not only academic but also social emotional skills. This cross-sectional study's aim was to examine the associations between the child-rated self-concept and well-being, teacher-rated prosocial school behaviors, and academic skills (as measured by child performance tasks) and to examine if there were group differences by gender for these constructs. The sample was 143 s grade students (M age = 8 years old). The results indicate that self-concept correlated highly with well-being and moderately with prosocial behaviors, while academic skills correlated moderately with prosocial behaviors. The results also show that the boys had lower average prosocial behavior (teacher-rated) and self-concept (child-rated) ratings relative to the girls. The findings indicate that prosocial behavior, well-being, and self-concept can be measured in psychometrically sound and practically meaningful ways in Swedish elementary schools. Because many of the socioemotional and behavioral constructs were correlated with academic skills, these constructs could be important targets for early academic support interventions inspired by a whole-child approach.

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• Attention to the Whole Child Perspective

  2022. Carina Wikman, Mara Westling Allodi, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. 2022-Conference RCEN, 11-13 June, 2022

  Conference

  In schools, the academic life of children is often put in the front of educational practice, yet attention to the whole child is valuable because it underlies improvements in multiple child outcomes (Cantor, Osher, Berg, Steyer, and Rose, 2018; Osher, Cantor, Berg, Steyer, & Rose, 2018). Whole-child development is an approach that focuses on supporting not only academic skills but personal, social, and emotional skills in children (Darling-Hammond et. al., 2019). Especially important for the present study is the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning CASEL framework’s competencies of self-awareness as well as social awareness and relationship skills (CASEL 2013; 2020). Children´s self-concept is one key index within the domain of self-awareness and children´s prosocial behaviors are an indicator of social awareness and relationship skills. In the present study, we examined cross-sectional associations between indicators of social emotional competence (i.e., self-concept, prosocial behaviors) and children’s well-being and academic skills. 

  Participants comprised 143 children in second grade in four municipal primary schools. Eight elementary school teachers provided teacher ratings of the prosocial behaviors of participating children. Other constructs were child reported well-being and self-concept. Children also completed tests in math and literacy.

  The main findings from a structural equation model showed that the indicators of social emotional competence: self-concept and prosocial behaviors correlated moderately. Self-concept correlated highly with well-being and prosocial behaviors. Academic skills in terms of reading and math correlated moderately with prosocial behaviors and also well-being with math. Correlations between reading and well-being, reading and self-concept as well as math and self-concept were low and non-significant. 

  The present study is important from a Nordic perspective given that there is a need to build up empirical examples for why a whole child approach to education has value and should be retained and emphasized throughout a child’s education.

   

  References 

   

  Cantor, P., Osher, D., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2019). Malleability, Plasticity, and Individuality: How Children Learn and Develop in Context. Applied Developmental Science, 23 (4), 307-337.

  Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2013). 2013 CASEL guide: Effective social and emotional learning programs—Preschool and elementary school edition.

  Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2020). CASEL's SEL framework.

  Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B, and Osher, D. (2020). Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied developmental science, 24 (2) 97-140.

  Osher, D., Cantor, P., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2018). Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development. Applied developmental science, 22 (1), 1-31.

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• A Cluster Randomized Trial of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®) With Swedish Preschool Children

  2021. Lilianne Eninger (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 12

  Article

  The preschool edition of Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS(R)) is a school-based, teacher implemented universal intervention developed in the United States designed to promote social emotional competence (SEC) in children as a foundation for improved mental health. PATHS is delivered as a curriculum and it is based on theories and research regarding SEC, brain development, and optimal school environments. A majority of children in Sweden attend preschool, which is government-subsidized and follows a national curriculum focusing on both academic and social emotional learning. However, there is not so much focus on formal instruction nor manual-based lessons. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term (pre- to post-test) effects of PATHS in the Swedish preschool setting. Using a two-wave cluster randomized trial with multi-method and informant assessment (N = 285 4 and 5-year-old Swedish children; n = 145 wait-list control; n = 140 intervention; K = 26 preschools; k = 13 intervention; k = 13 control) we assessed changes in child emotional knowledge, emotional awareness, social problem solving, prosocial play, inhibitory control, and working memory using structural equation modeling (SEM). We included schools with at least one classroom of 4-5-year-old children from three municipalities. We excluded open preschools, parent cooperative preschools, and family day homes. After random assignment, schools were informed of condition assignment. Research team members were not blind to assignment. We hypothesized that relative to children in control schools, children in intervention schools would evidence improvements in social emotional competence as well as other outcomes. Children in PATHS, relative to children in the control, evidenced improvements in working memory and prosocial play, but also showed an increase in hyperactive behaviors. Girls in PATHS, relative to girls in the control, showed improvement in emotional knowledge and reduced anxiety. These results are considered in light of efforts to promote positive development and mental health.

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• The Cultural Adaptation of Interventions to Promote Positive Development: The Preschool Edition of PATHS^® in Sweden

  2021. Laura Ferrer-Wreder (et al.). Handbook of Positive Youth Development, 399-413

  Chapter

  This chapter is a commentary regarding advances in the intervention cultural adaptation research literature, particularly as it concerns positive development (PD) interventions. An overview of research on PD interventions is provided. Thereafter, the chapter focuses on the implementation of PD interventions cross-nationally, highlighting the importance of cultural adaptation in this process. The Planned Intervention Adaptation (PIA) protocol is used along with a case study, as an illustration of steps that can be taken in the cultural adaptation of interventions and to highlight issues that can be at stake when culturally adapting PD interventions. The case is an overview of the cultural adaptation of the preschool edition of PATHS^®. PATHS^® is an American (U.S.) developed, school-based teacher implemented intervention designed to support young children’s social emotional competence and to change schools’ climate in ways that foster social emotional learning. Social emotional competence is an important expression of PD. This chapter provides an overview of how specific aspects of culture and context were considered in a PATHS^® effectiveness trial. This chapter concludes with a summary of lessons learned from this case and the need to culturally recast some concepts in the process of translation, as well as a consideration of promising approaches to advance the development, impact, and spread of adaptable culturally relevant PD interventions.

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• The Importance of Pedagogical and Social School Climate to Bullying

  2021. Hanna Hultin (et al.). Journal of School Health 91 (2), 111-124

  Article

  BACKGROUND: Bullying is a public health issue with long‐term effects for victims. This study investigated if there was an association between pedagogical and social school climate and student‐reported bullying victimization, which dimensions of pedagogical and social school climate were associated with bullying, and if these associations were modified by individual‐level social factors.

  METHODS: The study had a cross‐sectional multilevel design with individual‐level data on bullying from 3311 students nested in 94 schools over 3 consecutive school years. School climate was measured with student and teacher questionnaires, aggregated at the school level. The association between school climate and bullying victimization was estimated with multilevel mixed‐model logistic regression.

  RESULTS: In schools with the most favorable school climate, fewer students reported being bullied. This was especially evident when school climate was measured with the student instrument. Students in schools with favorable climate had an adjusted odds ratio of bullying of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.55‐1.00) compared to students in schools with the worst climate. Results from the teacher instrument were in the same direction, but less consistent.

  CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in school climate has the potential to affect students both academically, and socially, as well as decrease the prevalence of bullying.

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• Actualizing Change with Roma Youth and Their Communities

  2021. Carolyn Cass Lorente, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Roma Minority Youth Across Cultural Contexts, 45-62

  Chapter

  This chapter summarizes how youth development, sometimes also called positive youth development, is defined and explained in the field of human development. The authors provide illustrations of how the youth development approach has been applied through descriptive and interventional research with non-Roma, ethnic minority youth in various parts of the globe. Lessons learned from the wider intervention evidence base with non-Roma, ethnic minority youth are then explored in relation to future directions and needed advances in intervention research with Roma youth. The chapter ends with a practical consideration of how existing, beneficial youth development interventions designed for youth with other ethnic minority backgrounds might be effectively adapted to improve the lives of Roma youth.

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• Capitalizing on Classroom Climate to Promote Positive Development

  2021. Hanna Ginnner Hau, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Mara Westling Allodi. Handbook of Positive Youth Development, 375-386

  Chapter

  Although many conceptualizations of classroom climate exist, one view is that it involves individual and group level interactions in a classroom with teachers and students, as well as interactions among students. Classroom climate is important to academic and social aspects of student learning and development. The research literature on classroom climate has largely been advanced by educational and public health theory and research. This chapter presents a novel pairing of ideas and evidence about classroom climate and the field of Positive Development (PD). From a PD perspective, the classroom is a setting, which has the potential to confer an array of resources to youth. To this end, we present Goals, Attitudes, and Values in School (GAVIS) as an illustration of a research program in Sweden that demonstrates how PD theory and the study of classroom climate can intersect. Future empirical work of classroom climate taking into consideration the intersections with PD theory and research will open up new avenues for intervention and improvement of classroom climate, as well as more effective and frequent multidisciplinary collaboration within classrooms as a key ecology of youth development.

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• Exploring Lived Experiences of Parents of Youth and Youth with a Foreign Background in Sweden

  2021. Laura Ferrer-Wreder (et al.). Child and Youth Care Forum 50, 453-470

  Article

  Background: Sweden is in transition when it comes to the immigrant experience. More research is needed to document the life circumstances and adjustment of those with foreign background living in Sweden.

  Objective: This study investigated the lived experiences of parents of youths and young people themselves who have an Iraqi or Syrian background and are living in Sweden.

  Method: This cross-sectional qualitative interview study focused on a sample of parents of youth and youth (N = 26) with a foreign background. Participants were either born in Syria or Iraq or had one or both parents born in these countries and had migrated to Sweden. Participant interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.

  Results: In relation to the study aim, the analysis indicated three main themes in participants’ responses which concerned life in Sweden, feeling at home, and coping.

  Conclusions: Overall, these themes reflected how the perception of everyday experiences relates to adjustment within a multi-cultural urban Swedish context. This study showed how participants with a foreign background are rich in their own diversity of experiences and viewpoints. Results also pointed towards the promise of social policy and services aimed at benefiting those with a foreign background if such efforts are situated in the microsystems that provide life daily structure, as well as in contexts that offer socialization and networking opportunities (e.g., training, education, work, and school). Further, such action should consider the importance of the extended family as part of family-focused initiatives.

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• Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and the 5Cs of Positive Youth Development in Mexico

  2021. Alejandra del Carmen Dominguez Espinosa (et al.). Handbook of Positive Youth Development, 109-121

  Chapter

  Healthy lifestyle behaviors (HLBs; regular fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity) share intersections with Positive Youth Development (PYD) through the promotion of health, well-being, and overall positive functioning among young people. This chapter examines such intersections in Mexico in light of pressing health concerns and the need for effective preventative approaches to reduce adolescent obesity. The chapter begins with operationalization and a summary of relevant empirical work on HLBs and the 5Cs of PYD (i.e., competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring) as a way to highlight the incremental contributions offered to the PYD field and the uniqueness of the Mexican context. The chapter follows with an illustrative empirical example from a cross-sectional self-report study with Mexican youth regarding HLBs and the 5Cs. The results from a structural equation modeling supported the reliability and validity of the HLBs and the 5Cs measures in Mexico. Further, the chapter provides evidence for positive associations among the main constructs investigated in a path model indicating that HLBs are associated with the 5Cs. The final section provides indications for research, policy, and practice based on the evidence presented in this chapter.

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• Psychometric Properties of the Elementary Social Behavior Assessment in Swedish Primary School

  2021. Carina Wikman, Mara Westling Allodi, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Frontiers in Education 6

  Article

  This study examined the psychometric properties of a Swedish language adaption of the teacher-rated Elementary Social Behavior Assessment (ESBA), which provides an index of students’ prosocial school behaviors. Participants were eight teachers (two teachers per school in four schools) who rated their students (N = 143 children, M age = 8 years old). The ESBA factor structure was tested with Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a series of models. The two- and three-factor models showed better fit. ESBA showed high internal consistency at the observed level. ESBA’s psychometric properties show initial promise as a tool to help Swedish teachers to support students’ prosocial skills development. 

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• Roma Minority Youth Across Cultural Contexts

  2021. .

  Book (ed)

  This book explores Positive Youth Development (PYD) in Roma ethnic minority youth. Standing apart from current volumes, this book focuses on the Roma ethnic minority — one of the most marginalized and oppressed minority groups in Europe — and on strengths and resources for optimal well-being in the community. The international and multidisciplinary contributors to this book address the complexities of Roma life in a variety of cultural settings, exploring how key developmental processes and person-context interactions can contribute to optimal and successful adaptation. The conclusions clarify how the PYD of ethnic minority children and youth may be fostered based on the empirical findings reported in the volume. The book draws on core theoretical models of PYD and theories of normative development from the perspective of developmental science to highlight the applicability of these frameworks to Roma groups. With a special focus on cultural, contextual, and socio-economic characteristics of Roma, this project also aims to provide a better understanding of what does and what does not contribute to the success of youth in oppressed minority groups.

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• Reading Development among Swedish Children

  2021. Birgitta Herkner (et al.). Cogent Education 8 (1)

  Article

  Language abilities in preschool years, including those measured with letter knowledge, are predictors of reading development in later school years. The aim of this study was to investigate variation in children's language abilities before they started school in relation to gender and neighborhood level socioeconomic status (SES). Schools from three municipalities with varied resources and living conditions participated in this study. The participants were 231 children 4-6 years old (girls n = 117, boys n = 114; mean age 4.8 years old; SD = 6 months). In this cross-sectional study, children took the Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) object test and a Letter Knowledge task. Results showed no significant differences in task performance between boys and girls. Children attending preschools situated in average to above average SES areas had higher scores on the RAN object task compared to those who attended preschools located in low SES neighborhoods. Finally, a significant association was found between children's first language and SES. The implications of these results are explored in this article.

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• Roma Youth Development in Context

  2021. David L. Sam, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Radosveta Dimitrova. Roma Minority Youth Across Cultural Contexts, 207-219

  Chapter

  One goal of this volume was to review the effectiveness of the positive youth development (PYD) perspective in improving the developmental outcomes of Roma youths. In addition, the volume was interested in formulating recommendations on how to improve the welfare of other marginalized and improvised youth against a backdrop of accruing knowledge from this strength-based approach. The primary focus of this concluding chapter is to build on lessons gained from applying PYD principles with Roma youth. While acknowledging the developmental gains Roma youth have achieved following the application of PYD principles, the chapter points to the fact that these gains are limited because of the prolonged and institutionalized prejudice and discrimination Roma have suffered within the societies in which they live. In light of the limitations imposed on Roma youth, the chapter suggests the need to draw on principles from acculturation and multiculturalism to help remove societal hindrances that can prevent Roma from being integrated into the fabric of the societies that they reside in.

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• The Cultural Adaptation of Interventions to Promote Positive Development

  2021. Laura Ferrer-Wreder (et al.). Handbook of Positive Youth Development, 399-413

  Chapter

  This chapter is a commentary regarding advances in the intervention cultural adaptation research literature, particularly as it concerns positive development (PD) interventions. An overview of research on PD interventions is provided. Thereafter, the chapter focuses on the implementation of PD interventions cross-nationally, highlighting the importance of cultural adaptation in this process. The Planned Intervention Adaptation (PIA) protocol is used along with a case study, as an illustration of steps that can be taken in the cultural adaptation of interventions and to highlight issues that can be at stake when culturally adapting PD interventions. The case is an overview of the cultural adaptation of the preschool edition of PATHS®. PATHS® is an American (U.S.) developed, school-based teacher implemented intervention designed to support young children’s social emotional competence and to change schools’ climate in ways that foster social emotional learning. Social emotional competence is an important expression of PD. This chapter provides an overview of how specific aspects of culture and context were considered in a PATHS® effectiveness trial. This chapter concludes with a summary of lessons learned from this case and the need to culturally recast some concepts in the process of translation, as well as a consideration of promising approaches to advance the development, impact, and spread of adaptable culturally relevant PD interventions.

  Read more about The Cultural Adaptation of Interventions to Promote Positive Development

• The Importance of Developmental Assets to Mental Health in Norwegian Youth

  2021. Nora Wiium, Marianne Beck, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Frontiers in Psychology 12

  Article

  In the present study, we examined the importance of developmental assets to prolonged sadness (i.e., being sad most of the time or all the time for no reason in the last month) and suicide attempt. Cross-sectional data on items measuring developmental assets as well as prolonged sadness and suicide attempt were collected from high school students in Norway (N = 591, 55% girls). The findings from independent t-tests indicated that youth with poor mental health reported less developmental assets relative to their peers who did not report such problems. In logistic regression, asset categories, such as Positive identity and Personal assets, were significantly associated with poor mental health (especially prolonged sadness) after adjusting for other asset categories and demographic factors, such as age, sex, and parents' educational background. The influence of Empowerment and Family assets, which was significant when only the assets were assessed, was no longer significant when demographic variables were also considered. While more research on factors that can promote youth mental health is needed, our findings suggest that policies and programmes that ensure that youth have access to the necessary developmental resources and opportunities may also be empowering youth, enhancing their mental health, and consequently, facilitating their active involvement in their community.

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• The Importance of Positive Psychological Strengths in Well-Being and Adjustment of Romanian Emerging Adults

  2021. Laura Ferrer-Wreder (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 12

  Article

  Transition to adulthood in countries that have seen recent historical structural changes in society as well as changes in what it means to be an adult represents important contexts for investigations of ways in which positive development and transition to adulthood are experienced. Situated in such context, this cross-sectional study aimed to (1) describe profiles of positive psychological strengths, as measured by the Five Cs of positive youth development (PYD) and (2) document how identified profiles might differ in relation to other aspects of positive and problematic development. Participants were 272 Romanian emerging adults attending university (76% female; aged 19-29 years old, M-age = 21 years old). Latent class analysis was performed to identify patterns of psychological strengths using the Five Cs theory of positive youth development. Pairwise Wald chi square difference tests were then conducted to determine if the identified Five Cs profiles were associated with significant differences in other key outcomes. Findings indicated that, a two-class model emerged as the best fitting model, and in this model, Class 1 was similar to Class 2 on strengths of competence, confidence, and connection. However, the two classes were distinguishable by caring and character, with Class 2, the numerically more common profile (89%), being elevated on character and caring relative to Class 1 (which was a less frequently occurring profile, 11%). This finding highlights the importance of examining the diversity of positive development, even within the same theoretical framework. Further results indicated that the two identified classes showed similarities in problematic behaviors as well as in purpose in life and psychological complaints. Other group difference tests by profile/class indicated that Class 2 was higher in general and social well-being relative to Class 1, with a trend in the same direction for hope. However, an unexpected finding was that Class 2 was also elevated in somatic complaints relative to Class 1. These are important findings not only because of the contribution to the generalizability of the Five Cs theory and measure but also because of the implications of the findings to research, policy, and practice in the Romanian context and beyond.

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• Childcare, Culture, and Child Development

  2020. Laura Ferrer Wreder (et al.). The Oxford Handbook of Moral Development

  Chapter

  This chapter concerns theory and research relevant to child development and early childhood education and care (ECEC), which is a key ecology for human development. In this chapter, the authors provide an overview of the organizational features and processes important to understanding these settings. The authors then focus on describing the Nordic welfare model as it relates to ECEC settings, with an exploration of how certain ethics are reflected in the design, goals, and practice of ECEC settings in Sweden. The chapter then moves to summarizing and reflecting on the empirical research literature on how Swedish ECEC settings may support aspects of children’s moral development; finally, the authors pose several questions that may prove important to advancing future research in this area.

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• Measuring Dimensions of Family Interaction in Adolescence

  2020. Kyle Eichas (et al.). European Journal of Psychological Assessment 36 (5), 901-906

  Article

  The aim of this study was to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity of adolescent and parent ratings of family interaction. Adolescent and parent ratings of democratic parenting, parental warmth, and adolescent free disclosure were measured using a multitrait–multimethod confirmatory factor analytic approach. Participants included 3,959 Swedish youth in seventh grade (average age 13 years), with follow-up measurements in eighth and ninth grades. At each grade, findings provided support for trait discriminant validity and discriminant validity of methods. However, findings failed to provide support for convergent validity. Overall, the present findings suggest that measurement of family interactions should include the perspectives of both parents and adolescents because their perceptions of family interactions may represent different family interaction constructs.

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• Psychometric Properties of a Swedish Translation of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS)

  2020. Sarah Thomas (et al.). Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

  Article

  This cross-sectional study established the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) and an index of empathy in a sample of Swedish four to six year olds (N = 115). Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, we found that a five-factor PKBS and one-factor empathy model provided good fit to the data, posterior predictive p-value (PPP) = .246. Results indicated good internal consistency (ω .73 to .92). Consistent with the CASEL model and prior research, positive associations were found between social emotional competencies. Relationship skills were positively associated with empathy and negatively associated with internalizing problems. Results provided support for the use of the PKBS as well as the empathy scale in Swedish preschools.

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• The Study of Family Context

  2020. Kari Trost (et al.). Journal of Early Adolescence 40 (2), 165-196

  Article

  The present cross-sectional study aimed to examine whether characteristics of the parent-child relationship in adolescence are important for adjustment and identity development. Participants were recruited from schools in central Sweden for a larger longitudinal study when the cohort was 13- to 14-year-olds (N = 3,667). Characteristics of the parent-child relationship, like parental warmth, democratic parenting, and child communication, and adolescent adjustment problems and identity coherence were studied. It was found that democratic parenting was positively linked to child communication but negatively associated with problematic peer relationships and behavioral problems. Parental warmth was linked to other parenting characteristics as well as identity cohesion. Democratic parenting was linked to greater school engagement and identity coherence for boys and girls. Gender differences were found. The findings support the notion that democratic and warm parenting may provide support for adolescent identity development and adjustment.

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• Reliability and construct validity of five life domains in the adolescent drug abuse diagnosis instrument in a sample of Swedish adolescent girls in special residential care

  2020. Marie-Louise Klingstedt (et al.). Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 37 (4), 411-426

  Article

  Aim: This cross-sectional study investigates the psychometric properties of the Swedish edition of the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD), and specifically examines the internal consistency and construct validity of five life domains reported by female adolescents in special residential care in Sweden (N= 780;M-age= 16 years old).

  Methods: Principal component analysis and entropy-based analysis were used to test construct validity.

  Conclusion: Results indicate that ADAD may be able to reliably distinguish between areas that are important targets for intervention.

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• Contributions of Positive Youth Development to Intervention Science

  2019. Kyle Eichas, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Tina M. Olsson. Child and Youth Care Forum 48 (2), 279-287

  Article

  Background: Advances in knowledge of how to promote positive youth development (PYD) have significant potential to enrich intervention science. As part of a broader movement in the direction of a more fully integrated intervention science, PYD intervention research can provide practitioners in youth behavioral and mental health with an updated set of intervention tools beyond problem-focused strategies for reducing or preventing dysfunction.

  Objective: The objective of this commentary is to highlight potential contributions of PYD research to the development of more complete models of youth intervention, as well as to identify directions for future PYD intervention research.

  Method: This commentary discusses and expands on findings from the present articles that contribute to an empirical foundation for connecting PYD promotion with the science and practice of treatment and prevention.

  Results: The findings point to practical advantages that result from understanding the empirical links among PYD, treatment, and prevention on the way to achieving a more fully integrated intervention science, as well as methodological challenges involved in pursuing this agenda.

  Conclusions: In this context, the next generation of intervention science will be driven by integrating PYD’s contextual, cultural, relational, global, and participatory values into the science of building and testing youth interventions.

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• Gender and Positive Youth Development Advancing Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana

  2019. Nora Wiium (et al.). Zeitschrift fur Psychologie mit Zeitschrift fur angewandte Psychologie 227 (2), 134-138

  Article

  The positive youth development (PYD) perspective suggests that thriving leads to participation and contribution. All nations working to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Ghana, face challenges in their efforts to ensure that all youth have equal opportunities to thrive. The study design was cross-sectional and participants were 858 Ghanaian adolescents attending senior high school (44% girls). We explored thriving indicators as reflected by the 5Cs of PYD (i.e., confidence, competence, connection, character, and caring) in light of the adolescents' gender and socio-economic background. Results indicated that boys scored higher on competence relative to girls and that girls scored higher on caring relative to boys. No significant differences were found for socio-economic background. Cultural norms and socialization processes that perpetuate gender inequality may be important to understanding the observed gender differences. Implications of these results are considered in light of efforts to achieve SDGs in Ghana.

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• Identity in Adolescence: The Balance between Self and Other

  2019. Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Jane Kroger.

  Book

  This fully revised fourth edition of Identity in Adolescence: The Balance Between Self and Other presents four theoretical perspectives on identity development during adolescence and young adulthood and their practical implications for intervention. Ferrer-Wreder and Kroger consider adolescent identity development as the unique intersection of social and cultural forces in combination with individual factors that each theoretical model stresses in attempting to understand the identity formation process for contemporary adolescents.

  Identity in Adolescence addresses the complex question of how adolescent identity forms and develops during adolescence and young adulthood and serves as the foundation for entering adult life. The book is unique in its presentation of four selected models that address this process, along with cutting-edge research and the implications that each of these models hold for practical interventions. This new edition has been comprehensively revised, with five completely new chapters and three that have been extensively updated. New special topics are also addressed, including ethnic, sexual, and gender identity development, the role of technology in adolescent identity development, and ongoing identity development beyond adolescence. 

  The book is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying adolescent development, self and social identity within developmental psychology, social psychology and clinical psychology, as well as practitioners in the fields of child welfare and mental health services, social work, youth and community work and counselling.

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• Pedagogical and Social School Climate: Psychometric Evaluation and Validation of the Student Edition of PESOC

  2019. H. Hultin (et al.). Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 63 (4), 534-550

  Article

  Previous studies indicate that school climate is important for student health and academic achievement. This study concerns the validity and reliability of the student edition a Swedish instrument for measuring pedagogical and social school climate (PESOC). Data were collected from 5,745 students at 97 Swedish secondary schools. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and multilevel composite reliability estimates, as well as correlations with school-level achievement indicators, were calculated. The results supported an 8-factor structure at the student level and 1 general factor at the school level. Factor loadings and composite reliability estimates were acceptable at both levels. The school-level factor was moderately and positively correlated with school-level academic achievement. The student PESOC is a promising instrument for studying school climate.

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• Stability and Change in Patterns of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

  2019. Knut Sundell, Jenny Eklund, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Journal for Person-Oriented Research 5 (1), 1-16

  Article

  Research examining relations between various types of antisocial behavior (ASB) have generally been based on cross-sectional data. Although there is a strong correlation between types of ASB, it has been less common to examine how patterns of adolescents’ problems vary over time. This study used a person-oriented approach to examine patterns of ASB in adolescents longitudinally and also investigated how these patterns were associated with three outcomes. The sample con-sisted of 778 Swedish adolescents in grade 7 (13 years old) followed over time to grade 9. Patterns of ASB were identified based on adolescent-reported tobacco and alcohol use, truancy, bullying in school, and delinquency. The outcomes were drug use, depressive symptoms, and missing grades in grade 9. Results revealed an escalation in the frequency and seriousness of ASB over time, although the largest single cluster over time evidenced no ASB. One cluster in particular increased the risk of drug use, depression, and missing grades at grade 9. Results are discussed in relation to school-based prevention efforts.

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• Introduction to a special section on Explaining Positive Adaptation of Immigrant and Minority Youth across Cultures

  2018. Peter F. Titzmann, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Radosveta Dimitrova. Journal of Adolescence 62, 171-174

  Article

  This special section on “Explaining Positive Adaptation of Immigrant and Minority Youth across Cultures” is the result of an expert meeting organized by the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP), and the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA). The aim of this special section was to bring together empirical studies and expert commentaries on a pressing topic of global importance, and to explore intersections between the fields of acculturation and positive youth development. From these contributions, several major challenges were identified. These included the need for greater attention to the strengths and adaptation of immigrant adolescents (i.e., to include a positive youth development framework in acculturation research and theory), the differentiation and intersections between acculturative processes and normative developmental challenges, the evolution acculturation theory, the need to better understand contact between multiple groups, the consideration of context-dependency and dynamic nature of acculturative processes.

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• Positive Youth Development of Roma Ethnic Minority Across Europe

  2017. Radosveta Dimitrova, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Handbook on Positive Development of Minority Children and Youth, 307-320

  Chapter

  Roma are one of Europe’s largest and most vulnerable ethnic minority groups, currently making up nearly 12 million people, and have historically experienced severe marginalization and discrimination. Roma children and youth in particular are globally recognized to be in need of support and their successful adaptation and optimal outcomes are of major interest to practitioners and policy makers. This chapter addresses resources within proximal contexts, such as peers and family contexts that have the potential to foster positive youth development in Roma ethnic minority populations in Europe. Roma are mainly a sedentary indigenous ethnic minority group characterized by strong family, community and peer bonds, thereby creating a unique and underrepresented context to study PYD. In this chapter, we provide a brief historical overview, current research and empirical findings on Roma children and youth within peer and family contexts. We draw on core theoretical models of PYD as well as selected developmental theories of normative development to highlight the applicability of these traditional frameworks to Roma ethnic minority groups. In so doing, we pay careful attention to the cultural, ethnic, and economic characteristics of Roma youth and their family context. In the conclusion, we explored the implications of the reviewed evidence to the development of resource-oriented policy and practice for Roma youth.

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• An empirical test of a diffusion framework for school-based prevention: the 21 Swedish junior high school study

  2015. Laura Ferrer-Wreder (et al.). Journal of community psychology (Print) 43 (7), 811-831

  Article

  This is a three year, quasi-experimental trial of an intervention diffusion framework. There were 11 intervention and 10 control junior high schools located in either a large Swedish city or the Swedish countryside. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to evaluate a two-level model (1337 students nested in 85 classrooms), outcomes: internalizing and externalizing problems, substance use, socio-emotional competence, and perception of a positive school environment. Results showed that framework-related benefits were predominately shown either for one gender or one gender living in a particular setting. Changes were also primarily of a buffering character, in which a subgroup of comparison participants showed a poorer pattern of change relative to intervention participants. Study results provide evidence for discourse about what is an optimal level of choice for intervention stakeholders to have when implementing interventions and provides an empirical test of a diffusion framework in routine practice, outside of the United States.

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• Advancing child and adolescent well-being through positive youth development and prevention programs

  2014. Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Handbook of Child Well-Being, 3025-3041

  Chapter

  This chapter is a commentary that highlights advances in a particular group of interventions–positive youth development (PYD) and prevention interventions that have demonstrated utility in increasing the social and emotional competence of children and adolescents. As this chapter documents, social and emotional competence has been central to several PYD (e.g., Catalano et al. 2002; Durlak et al. 2010) and prevention interventions (e.g., Beelmann and Lösel 2006). Importantly, interventions focused on building social and emotional competence have demonstrated wide ranging beneficial effects on a number of important positive and problematic outcomes. Social and emotional competence is a particularly useful construct, in that it may be of explanatory importance to the etiology and developmental progression of both optimal and problematic outcomes. It represents one of potentially many examples of how the wider frameworks of PYD and prevention science might attain greater synergy. Such examples are critical in that the middle ground between prevention science and PYD could eventually represent one of the leading edges of future growth and innovation for intervention science. As intervention science matures, there is a clear need to widen the reach of interventions, helping more people on larger scales more flexibly and reliably. Although present day meta-analyses reveal a great deal, the next phases of intervention science will increasingly center on the need to know how interventions fare under varying conditions. Such information exists in some cases, but a greater integration of the stage of intervention development information in meta-analyses is needed.

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• Tinkering with Perfection: Theory Development in the Intervention Cultural Adaptation Field

  2012. Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Knut Sundell, Shahram Mansoory. Child and Youth Care Forum 41 (2), 149-171

  Article

  Background Testing evidence-based interventions (EBIs) outside of their home countryhas become increasingly commonplace. There is a need for theoretically guided researchon how to best create and test the effects of culturally adapted interventions.

  Objective To illustrate how the field might raise the scientific and practical value offuture effectiveness and dissemination trials of culturally adapted interventions, as well asto provide support for theoretically informed research on this subject to take greater root.

  Methods Nine theories that offer guidance on how to adapt existing EBIs for a newcultural group were summarized and evaluated.

  Results Commonalities among the selected theories included a focus on the need forcollaboration as part of the adaptation process and shared emphasis on taking systematicsteps to select an intervention to adapt, as well as calls for adaptations to be guided byspecific types of empirical studies. Among the theories, variability existed in terms of whatconstituted an adaptation.

  Conclusions As EBIs go global, intervention adaptation promises to be the subject ofsubstantial future scholarly attention. There is a need to develop systematic evidence-basedmethods that allow for some degree of adaptation, while still bringing about EBIs’ desiredbenefits.

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• Is More Better? Outcome and Dose of a Universal Drug Prevention Effectiveness Trial

  2010. Laura Ferrer-Wreder (et al.). Journal of Primary Prevention 31 (5), 349-363

  Article

  Two evidence-based interventions, Life Skills Training and TimeWise, were combined in an effectiveness trial. Participants were predominately African American youth (N = 715; Mage = 12). The study authors provide an empirical demonstration of the implications of incorporating dosage information in intervention outcome analyses. Study results showed no program-related benefits for drug use. Results indicated intervention-related benefits for assertiveness and anxiety management skills and drug use intentions as well as a reduction in detrimental leisure motivations. High program exposure and lesson coverage tended to be connected to intervention benefits. Study findings also documented ways that dosage information provides insight into interventions and their effects.

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• Evaluation of a Pilot School-Based Teacher-Coaching Intervention to Change the Social Climate in Second Grade

  2023. Carina Wikman, Mara Westling Allodi, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. EARLI 2023 - Book of abstracts, 171-171

  Conference

  The structure of relationships in the classroom and socio-emotionally proceeding in the learning environment may hinder or support children´s learning and development. Therefore, measuring the social climate is essential to identify challenges, successes, and areas for additional improvement. The present study examined the effect of a practice-based coaching intervention in improving the social climate in the learning environment and academic achievement and behavioral outcomes for students. The design was experimental with a cluster randomized assignment. Eligibility criteria for participants and clusters were 1) municipal primary schools, 2) second-grade classes, and 3) teacher certification. Intervention pertains to the cluster level: classes were N=4 and students N=66; wait-list-control group: classes were N=4 and students N=77. The duration of the intervention was five months. It consisted of three key components: action planning, observation, and professional conversation, according to the Practice Based Coaching model. The overall aim of the present study was to develop and test the effects of the intervention that involves the introduction of activities, self-assessment, observation, and coaching aimed at beneficially changing the social climate in the classroom, with a hypothesized indirect impact on students´ self-concept, prosocial behavior, well-being, and academic achievement. To investigate the immediate effects of the intervention, autoregressive structural equation models were estimated. The regression estimates of the intervention of the latent variables at the post-test were non-significant. Based on the obtained results, we discuss potential changes for a longer duration, more frequent coaching sessions, and additional instruments that might enhance the effect of the intervention changes without compromising its feasibility.

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• Neighborhood conditions in a Swedish context - Two studies of reliability and validity of virtual systematic social observation using Google Street View

  2023. Ingela Clausén Gull (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 14

  Article

  Introduction: The goal of these studies was to investigate the reliability and validity of virtual systematic social observation (virtual SSO) using Google Street View in a Swedish neighborhood context.

  Methods: This was accomplished in two studies. Study 1 focused on interrater reliability and construct validity, comparing ratings conducted in-person to those done using Google Street View, across 24 study sites within four postal code areas. Study 2 focused on criterion validity of virtual SSO in terms of neighborhoods with low versus high income levels, including 133 study sites within 22 postal code areas in a large Swedish city. In both studies, assessment of the neighborhood context was conducted at each study site, using a protocol adapted to a Swedish context.

  Results: Scales for Physical Decay, Neighborhood Dangerousness, and Physical Disorder were found to be reliable, with adequate interrater reliability, high consistency across methods, and high internal consistency. In Study 2, significantly higher levels of observed Physical Decay, Neighborhood Dangerousness, and signs of garbage or litter were observed in postal codes areas (site data was aggregated to postal code level) with lower as compared to higher income levels.

  Discussion: We concluded that the scales within the virtual SSO with Google Street View protocol that were developed in this series of studies represents a reliable and valid measure of several key neighborhood contextual features. Implications for understanding the complex person-context interactions central to many theories of positive development among youth were discussed in relation to the study findings.

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• Study protocol for a non-randomized controlled trial of the effects of internet-based parent training as a booster to the preschool edition of PATHS®: Universal edition of the Parent Web

  2023. Tina M. Olsson (et al.). PLOS ONE 18 (4)

  Article

  Well implemented, universal parental support is often effective in families with younger children, but research on their effects on families with adolescent children is scarce. In this study, a trial of the universal parent training intervention Parent Web in early adolescence is added to the social emotional learning intervention Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS (R)), completed in early childhood. The Parent Web is a universal online parenting intervention based on social learning theory. The intervention aims to promote positive parenting and family interaction through five weekly modules completed over 6-8 weeks. The main hypothesis is that participants in the intervention group will exhibit significant pre- to post- intervention-related benefits relative participants in the comparison group. The aims of this study are: 1) provide Parent Web as a booster aimed at improving parenting support and practices at the transition into adolescence to a cohort of parents whose children have previously participated in preschool PATHS, and 2) examine the effects of the universal edition of Parent Web. The study has a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing. The incremental effects of this internet-delivered parent training intervention are tested in parents of early adolescents (11-13 years) who participated in PATHS when 4-5 years old compared to a matched sample of adolescents with no prior experience of PATHS. The primary outcomes are parent reported child behavior and family relationships. Secondary outcomes include self-reported parent health and stress. The proposed study is one of the few trials to test the effects of universal parental support in families of early adolescents and will therefore contribute to the understanding of how mental health in children and young people can be promoted across developmental periods through a continuum of universal measures.

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