Laura Ferrer-Wreder har över två decenniers erfarenhet som lärare på universitetsnivå. Hon har haft handledande och bedömande roller vid disputationer, masteruppsatser, och uppsatser på grundnivå för över 75 studenter och aspiranter i USA och Sverige. 

Laura Ferrer-Wreder är en del av ledningen för Forskningsgruppen i tillämpad utvecklingsvetenskap (ADS). Kortfattat bedriver gruppen forskning som är tillämpbar i samhället och fokuserad på barns, ungas och deras familjers utveckling i sammanhang som är betydelsefulla för deras livsbana. Gruppens teoretiska inriktning och praktiska forskning inom det växande forskningsfältet positiv utveckling hos unga (PYD) exemplifierar hur man kan inta ett helhetsperspektiv på barns och ungas utveckling med fokus på deras styrkor.

För mer information om positiv utveckling hos unga (PYD) och relaterade teman, se länkarna nedan.

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
 

Ett forskningsnätverk inom PYD-fältet

Laura Ferrer-Wreder samarbetar med The Positive Youth Development Cross-National Project som leds av Dr. Nora Wiium vid Bergens universitet, Norge.
 

Forskningsprojekt inom PYD-fältet

Pågående forskningsprojekt

Tidigt främjande av social och känslomässig kompetens samt dess betydelse för förebyggandet av framtida psykisk ohälsa. Finansiär: FORTE

Föräldrawebben**: Stödjande av familjer med barn i ungdomsåldern. Finansiär: Stockholms universitet och Region Stockholm.

**FöräldraWebben är skapad och utvecklad av forskare vid Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap vid Karolinska Institutet. De forskare som varit med i utvecklandet av FöräldraWebben är Kajsa Lönn-Rhodin, Martin Forster, and Pia Enebrink. Ett forskningssamarbete med Pia Enebrink möjliggör en effektivitetsprövning av den universella utgåvan av FöräldraWebben.

I urval från Stockholms universitets publikationsdatabas

• Global Profiles of Positive Youth Development: A Person-Oriented Analysis among Emerging Adults Living in 21 Countries

  2025. Jet Uy Buenconsejo (et al.). Journal of Youth and Adolescence

  Artikel

  Although global research on the 5Cs model of Positive Youth Development (PYD; competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring) has expanded in recent years, there is a lack of understanding about distinct and consistent PYD profiles across youth from diverse socio-cultural contexts. To address this gap, this study utilized a person-oriented analytic approach to examine the PYD profiles of 11,481 emerging adults (M^age = 21.77; SD^age = 2.74; 68.66% females) from 21 countries in four continents. Results of the multi-group latent profile analysis revealed four consistent profiles of PYD across countries: high/balanced (41%), self-efficacious (28%), socio-emotional (20%), and low/self-centered (11%). Participants’ age, gender, educational attainment, and country-level collectivism were also found to be associated with specific profiles. Older and more-educated females from less collectivistic countries were more likely to be in a high/balanced profile, while younger males from more collectivistic countries tend to be in a low/self-centered profile. Older and more-educated males from less collectivistic countries were more likely to be in a self-efficacious profile, while younger and less-educated females from more collectivistic countries tend to be in a socio-emotional profile. Controlling these socio-contextual covariates, the four profiles exhibited distinct relations with adaptive (resilience and contribution) and maladaptive outcomes (anxiety and adverse life experiences) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results highlight the importance of fostering a balanced set of Cs, which include both self-efficacious and socio-emotional qualities, to promote positive adaptation in challenging times across diverse developmental settings.

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• The factorial validity and measurement invariance of the 7Cs of positive youth development among emerging adults in Southeast Asia

  2025. Jet Uy Buenconsejo (et al.). Developmental Psychology

  Artikel

  Positive youth development (PYD) has gained considerable traction among developmental scientists, but past studies were generally conducted among youth samples from Minority World countries. This study investigated the factorial validity of the newly developed 7Cs model of PYD (competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, contribution, and creativity). Specifically, we compared four measurement models (one-factor, seven-factor, higher order, and bifactor) among emerging adults living in five Southeast Asian countries. The study also aimed to establish evidence of measurement invariance across gender, age, education, and country of origin. Criterion-related validity was also sought using COVID-19 socially responsive behaviors and anxiety. Controlling for the influence of gender, age, and education, sample-level comparisons were also performed on the 7Cs. Data came from 1,888 emerging adults (M_age = 24.10; SD_age = 6.89) from Indonesia (n = 253), Malaysia (n = 289), the Philippines (n = 496), Singapore (n = 306), and Thailand (n = 544) during the pandemic. The results supported the superiority of the seven-factor model, which exhibited strict invariance across gender, age, and education and partial scalar invariance across country of origin. The 7Cs exhibited mixed associations with the pandemic-related measures. Significant differences were found in the 7Cs across the five countries. The study provides additional evidence on the theoretical validity of the 7Cs model among youth from understudied settings, while also highlighting avenues for refining current PYD measures.

  Läs mer om The factorial validity and measurement invariance of the 7Cs of positive youth development among emerging adults in Southeast Asia

• En praktikbaserad coachingmodell sätter fokus på det sociala klimatet i lärandemiljön

  2025. Carina Wikman, Mara Westling Allodi, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Tidiga insatser och specialpedagogiska interventioner i olika skepnader: forskning, policy och praktik

  Kapitel

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• Validation of an instrument for understanding school absence: the Swedish version of the adapted school refusal assessment scale-revised

  2025. Johan Strömbeck (et al.). BMC Psychology 13

  Artikel

  Background  The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) is a widely used measure to understand school attendance problems. However, previous evaluations have yielded inconsistent findings on the factor structure.

  Methods  We prepared a Swedish translation of the original SRAS-R plus the eight alternative items in the adapted versions of the SRAS-R (i.e., the A-SRAS-R). Subsequently, we tested the Swedish A-SRAS-R in a pilot testing, evaluated its factor structure, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, and compared the model fit and internal consistency with the SRAS-R. Participants were students (n = 399) aged 12–16 years (M = 14.7, SD = 0.9) and their parents (n = 251).

  Results  Results supported a four-factor solution of the A-SRAS-R. However, the fourth factor was non-optimal concerning factor loadings and reliability. We found consistent evidence of convergent validity, and inconsistent evidence of discriminant validity.

  Conclusion  The results provide support for the A-SRAS-R being psychometrically sound, and superior in comparison to the SRAS-R. Notwithstanding the need for further development of the fourth factor, the A-SRAS-R appears to be a valuable instrument for understanding school absence among Swedish young people.

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• Reliability and validity of the Swedish version of the inventory of school attendance problems (ISAP)

  2025. Johan Strömbeck (et al.). European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

  Artikel

  School attendance problems (SAPs) are heterogenous in nature and thus warrant rigorous assessment prior to intervention. The Inventory of School Attendance Problems (ISAP) is a new instrument that supports a comprehensive assessment of SAPs. This study is the first evaluation of the Swedish version of the ISAP. A web survey comprising the ISAP, School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered to a Swedish community sample (n = 399) of secondary school students aged 12–16 years. We employed a cross-sectional design to test the factor structure of the Swedish ISAP using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Additionally, we evaluated internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha and omega total, and we evaluated convergent validity by comparing the ISAP with subscales from the SRAS-R and SDQ. Factor analysis yielded support for a predicted 13-factor model. Despite the Chi-square test indicating a significant misfit, the remaining fit indices suggested an adequate model fit. In this sample, there was adequate internal consistency for most scales. Correlations between ISAP factors and related constructs were generally large and positive. Overall, the findings support the reliability and validity of the Swedish ISAP, indicating its potential as a valuable tool for understanding SAPs among students in community samples. Further research is needed to explore its applicability in clinical samples.

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• Cognitive abilities in a sample of young Swedish children

  2024. Ingela Clausén Gull (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 15

  Artikel

  Cognitive abilities are closely related to social emotional competences (SEC). These abilities are important foundations in order to adapt to school, interact with peers and adults, as well as to navigate the wider socio-cultural context in which one develops. Further, young children are also acquiring and deepening their language and preliteracy skills which are important for later academic learning. Central to cognitive abilities are the processes that enable deliberate and goal-oriented actions, which fall under the conceptual umbrella of executive functions (EFs). In this study, we applied a conceptually broad perspective to examine cognitive abilities, preliteracy and SEC in preschool aged children. Children were participants in an intervention trial of the preschool edition of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS^®) conducted in preschools located in three municipalities within a large city in Sweden. Pre-test data were used to examine cognitive abilities and SEC in this sample of Swedish 4 to 5-year-old children (N = 247). We first performed an exploratory factor analysis including the wide range of examined abilities, and found that measures of abilities typically viewed as SEC, did not group with measures of preliteracy skills and abilities typically considered as EFs. Second, we performed confirmatory factor analyses on remaining relevant indicators of cognitive abilities, which indicated a two-factor model best fit the data, with one factor involving inhibitory control and one factor involving more complex and high-demanding skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and preliteracy skills). Results indicated that more complex EFs and preliteracy skills were closely linked, and can be differentiated from inhibitory control, already in the preschool years. Findings also point to the importance of including a broad range of cognitive abilities (e.g., pre-literacy skills) in order to gain a nuanced description of possible interrelations between cognitive and social emotional development. Furthermore, this study contributes to the theoretical discussion on EF structure during childhood, and provides a sound empirical rationale for the further development of early interventions that consider young children’s executive functions and preliteracy skills.

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• Insights gained from a cultural adaptation of preschool promoting alternative thinking strategies©: the importance of teachers’ cultures as an implementation driver

  2024. Åsa Norman (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 15

  Artikel

  Introduction: Cultural adaptation of interventions is complex and yet vital to achieving the intended benefits of interventions with new populations. However, little is known regarding deliverers’ perceptions of cultural adaptation and when a cultural adaptation process can be considered complete. The purpose of this study was to explore aspects of cultural adaptation that need further attention in an intervention that had undergone an initial cultural adaptation.

  Methods: Four focus groups (FGs) were conducted with preschool teachers who had worked with a culturally adapted version of preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS©) in Sweden for approximately 6 months. In total, 16 teachers from eight preschools were included, with 3–5 teachers in each group. All FGs were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach was applied to the transcribed data.

  Results: Three themes were identified where teachers described the need for further cultural adaptation for the intervention to align with personal and societal fundamental cultural values and be useful for their work as teachers in the Swedish preschool setting. The themes pertained to culturally adapting a manual-based intervention to a foundational, value-based approach, such as the practical application of core values and the steering documents of the Swedish preschool. Furthermore, the practical function of the culturally adapted intervention in the new cultural context revealed a further need to adjust materials and activities in interaction with the children. Finally, the prerequisites within the Swedish cultural setting, including resources and collaboration with parents as part of the work structure for preschool teachers in Sweden, needed further attention in relation to the intervention.

  Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of the deliverer in the cultural adaptation process in addition to adaptations that focus on end users (children in the case of preschool PATHS). Furthermore, the study indicates a need for a more open-ended view of the cultural adaptation process for interventions than perhaps previously described in models of cultural adaptation of interventions.

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• Editorial: Youth, health and development in diverse cultures and contexts

  2023. Nora Wiium (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 14

  Artikel

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• Children's social emotional competence in Pakistan and Sweden: Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Social Competence Scale (teacher edition)

  2023. Sara Thomas (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 13

  Artikel

  Introduction: Social emotional competence is fundamental to the positive development of children and youth. Accurately understanding and assessing children’s social emotional competencies, using psychometrically sound instruments, are essential to global efforts to support children’s social emotional learning, academic achievements, and health. This study examined the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported measure of young children’s social emotional competence, the Social Competence Scale – Teacher edition (SCS-T), in two samples of children growing up with varied economic resources/conditions, cultural norms, and educational experiences, namely Pakistan (N = 396) and Sweden (N = 309).

  Methods: Participants were aged 4–6 years old. The study design was cross-sectional.

  Results and Discussion: Using structural equation modelling, bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis models implying shared variance, among all items and domain-specific shared variance, among the prosocial items, emotion regulation items, and academic skills items resulted in good fitting models in each respective sample. Invariance testing across samples revealed a subset of items from each factor structure with partial scalar invariance, whereby five items had equal thresholds and could be comparable across the two samples. Thus, results provided partial support for hypotheses 1, 2, and 3, in that the posited three factor model (H1) was not clearly supported and a bi-factor model evidenced the best fit, among tested models, for both samples. Further, partial scalar invariance (H3) was found for five items out of 25 items, concerning social competence and academic skills. In regards, to the posited research question, the results of Z-tests showed significant (p < 0.001) latent mean differences between the samples. Compared to the Swedish sample, the Pakistani sample was 1.80 units lower on social competence (z = −6.41, p < 0.001) and 1.86 units lower on academic skills (z = −7.87, p < 0.001). The implications of these findings in light of efforts to promote positive child development in diverse parts of the world are considered.

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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)

  Artikel

  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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• Editorial: Positive youth development, mental health, and psychological well-being in diverse youth

  2023. Nora Wiium (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 14

  Artikel

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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

  Konferens

  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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• A cluster-randomized controlled trial of a teacher-coaching intervention: a pilot study aimed at supporting classroom climate and student development

  2023. Carina Wikman, Mara Westling Allodi, Laura Ferrer-Wreder. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 1-17

  Artikel

  This pilot study examined the utility of a practice-based coaching (PBC) intervention in Swedish elementary schools designed to support the classroom climate and benefit students. The intervention involved activities, self-assessment, observation, and coaching to the teachers, with the aim of improving the classroom climate and students’ self-concept, prosocial behavior, well-being, and academic achievement. The design was a cluster randomized trial with the school as the assignment unit. Participants in the intervention were 66 students in four classes, and in the control, four classes with 77 students. The duration of the intervention was five months. An autoregressive structural equation model was estimated. The correlations between the latent variables at pre-test ranged from low to high. There were significant standardized path coefficients concerning all the latent variables pre- and post-test. The estimates of the intervention at the post-test were non-significant. The results suggested a longer duration of the intervention with more frequent coaching sessions, which may enhance its effect.

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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

  Artikel

  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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• 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

  Artikel

  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.

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

• 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

  Artikel

  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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• 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)

  Artikel

  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

  Konferens

  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

  Artikel

  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

  Kapitel

  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

  Artikel

  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

  Kapitel

  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

  Kapitel

  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

  Artikel

  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

  Kapitel

  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

  Artikel

  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. .

  Bok (red)

  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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• The Cultural Adaptation of Interventions to Promote Positive Development

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

  Kapitel

  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 Developmental Assets to Mental Health in Norwegian Youth

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

  Artikel

  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

  Artikel

  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

  Kapitel

  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

  Artikel

  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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