Schools are considered one of the primary settings in which prevention and intervention initiatives can be implemented successfully, reaching a large number of young people. Especially when promoting social and emotional learning (SEL), many adolescents benefit from universal programs implemented in the school context. This chapter embeds…

Adolescence is a developmental period of risk, as well as a window of opportunity for cultivating positive development and thriving. It is characterized by simultaneous changes in the brain, body, mind, and social domains that offer a platform for building new skills and habits. This chapter discusses the role that secular forms of mindfulness and…

In the past years, the number of mindfulness-based intervention and prevention programs has increased steadily. In order to achieve the intended program outcomes, program implementers need to understand the essential and indispensable components that define a program's success. This chapter describes the complex process of identifying the…

During adolescence, young people are traversing exciting and also challenging stages in their development. Mindfulness, if taught in a developmentally appropriate way, has the potential to be an asset in adolescents' lives. Developmentally appropriate approaches of mindfulness intervention during adolescence need to consider adolescents'…

During adolescence, teenagers try a range of risk behaviors including smoking, drinking, and the use of soft drugs. Because substance use contributes to an unhealthy lifestyle of teenagers on the short term and can lead to serious health problems on the longer term, prevention in this target group is important. This chapter provides an overview of…

Anhedonia refers to the inability of experiencing pleasure in positive life events. It has been conceptualized as a stable yet malleable characteristic and is associated with hypoactivity in the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic systems. Very recently, it has been posited as an etiologic factor associated with drug addiction onset,…

Commentators interested in school-based prevention programs point to the importance of economic issues for the future of prevention efforts. Many of the processes and aims of prevention science are dependent upon prevention resources. Although economic analysis is an essential tool for assessing resource use, the attention given economic analysis…

Although behavioral management is one of the most challenging aspects of working in an afterschool setting, staff do not typically receive formal training in evidence-based approaches to handling children's behavior problems. Common approaches to behavioral management such as punishment or time-out are temporary solutions because they do not…

Much attention is given today to the importance of forging family, school, and community partnerships. Growing numbers of schools, many of them with afterschool programs, are dedicating resources to support and sustain relationships with families and community-based organizations. And, among government agencies and the philanthropic sector, there…

Well-implemented afterschool programs can promote a range of positive learning and developmental outcomes. However, not all research and evaluation studies have shown the benefits of participation, in part because programs and their evaluation were out of sync. This chapter provides practical guidance on how to foster that alignment between…

Youth engagement is the least researched, but potentially most important, aspect of participation in afterschool programs. The level of youth engagement can vary across programs, across youth within a program, and within individual youth over time. Engagement is important for both recruiting and retaining participants, and has been associated with…

This chapter discusses efforts to define and improve the quality of afterschool services, highlighting areas of agreement and identifying leading-edge issues. We conclude that the afterschool field is especially well positioned to deliver high-quality services and demonstrate effectiveness at scale because a strong foundation has been built for…

In contemporary developmental science, relational development systems models have been used to frame the positive youth development (PYD) perspective, which posits that youth will thrive when there is alignment between their strengths and ecological resources in their context. Evidence from the 4-H Study of PYD indicates that out-of-school-time…

At the heart of afterschool programs are the relationships that form between the children and youth who participate in these programs and the adults who lead them. To be effective, adults working in afterschool settings must be able to engage youth in growth-promoting relationships. This article identifies and describes four foundational ways of…

Making sound decisions in funding youth-serving organizations can be greatly enhanced by implementing a comprehensive and inclusive learning process that embraces the perspectives of and input from a variety of stakeholders, including program staff and leadership, various community partners, and, most important, the youth. Youthprise effectively…