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Reed Larson

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Papers by Reed Larson

Youth Programs Are Important Spaces for Emotional Learning

Journal of Youth Development, Sep 29, 2021

Emotional skills are now widely recognized to be essential skills for young people to survive and... more Emotional skills are now widely recognized to be essential skills for young people to survive and thrive across all aspects of their lives. Teens become able to develop powerful new skills for understanding and managing their emotions. They also are able to learn skills for using the valuable functions of emotions. But this learning isn't automatic; it depends on experience. In this commentary, we highlight key elements of youth programs that make them important contexts for youth's active engagement in emotional learning. We present examples from research on how program staff facilitate youth development of skills to manage and use emotions. We conclude with suggestions on practices and policies that support emotional learning.

Toward a Psychology of Positive Youth Development

Journal of child and youth care work, Nov 17, 2020

Dealing with Moms and Dads: Family Dilemmas Encountered by Youth Program Leaders

Journal of Youth Development, Jun 1, 2014

The leaders of youth programs encounter a range of challenging situations that involve youth's pa... more The leaders of youth programs encounter a range of challenging situations that involve youth's parents or families. This qualitative study obtained data on the variety and nature of these family-related "dilemmas of practice." Longitudinal interviews with leaders of 10 high quality programs for high-school-aged youth yielded narrative information on a sample of 32 family dilemmas that they had encountered. Grounded theory analysis identified four categories of family dilemmas: 1) problems at home that become a concern to the leader, 2) parents' expectations are incongruent with program norms or functioning, 3) parents do not support youth's participation in the program or an aspect of the program, and 4) communicating with parents on sensitive matters. Each of these categories of dilemmas entailed distinct considerations and underlying issues that effective leaders need to be able to understand.

New Horizons: Understanding the Processes and Practices of Youth Development

Journal of Youth Development, 2011

This article presents new horizons for research on youth development by focusing on the challenge... more This article presents new horizons for research on youth development by focusing on the challenges youth face in learning teamwork and in coming to terms with diversity. These are both essential competencies for navigating the “real world” of the 21st century. We examine how youth experience these challenges within programs; also how they present second-order challenges to practitioners. The underlying message of this article is that it is essential for researchers to see programs from the point of view of the people in them. Researchers have learned quite a bit of what can be learned from arm’s length: that programs can make a difference in youths’ lives and that certain features of settings are associated with these changes. To go further, researchers need to work side-by-side with practitioners and youth to understand their complex worlds as they experience them.

Why Trust Matters: How Confidence in Leaders Transforms What Adolescents Gain From Youth Programs

Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2015

Youth's trust in program leaders is considered a key to the positive impact of youth programs... more Youth's trust in program leaders is considered a key to the positive impact of youth programs. We sought to understand how trust influences youth's program experiences from their perspective. We interviewed 108 ethnically diverse youth (ages 12–19) participating in 13 arts, leadership, and technology programs. Analysis of these accounts suggested five ways in which youth's trust in leaders amplified program benefits. Trust increased youth's (1) confidence in leaders' guidance in program activities, (2) motivation in the program, (3) use of leaders for mentoring, (4) use of leaders as a model of a well‐functioning relationship, and (5) experience of program cohesiveness. Across benefits, trust allowed youth to draw on leaders' expertise, opened them to new experiences, and helped increase youth's agency.

Understanding Youth Development From the Practitioner's Point of View: A Call for Research on Effective Practice

Applied Developmental Science, 2015

We would like to thank the youth and adult leaders who shared their experiences with us and to th... more

Intrinsic Motivation and Positive Development

Positive Youth Development, 2011

This chapter was originally published in the book Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol... more This chapter was originally published in the book Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol. 41, published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for noncommercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who know you, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.

Positive Youth Development in Organized Programs: How Teens Learn to Manage Emotions

Research, Applications, and Interventions for Children and Adolescents, 2013

Adults must be able to manage anger, anxiety, and other emotions in order to lead productive and ... more Adults must be able to manage anger, anxiety, and other emotions in order to lead productive and healthy lives. The ability to manage emotions requires handling "hot" emotional situations as they occur, such as fi nding ways to express anger without lashing out or to regulate anxiety in order to concentrate on one's work . Managing emotions also involves the ability to make use of the functional properties of different feelings, for example, channeling excitement in order to motivate action or responding to guilt with refl ection on one's actions . Emotional management skills are linked to a variety of positive outcomes, and thus understanding the development of these skills is important for the study of positive youth development.

Participation in Youth Programs as a Catalyst for Negotiation of Family Autonomy with Connection

Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2006

Current research and theory suggest that the healthy path of autonomy development involves gradua... more Current research and theory suggest that the healthy path of autonomy development involves gradual negotiation of adolescents' independence within a con-Reed W. Larson is the Pampered Chef Endowed Chair in Family Resiliency and is a professor in the Departments of Human and Community Development, Psychology, and Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and spent five years working under Daniel Offer, as Director of the Laboratory for the Study of Adolescence at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center. His research focuses on the daily developmental experience of adolescents, particularly in the context of youth development programs and families.

Amplifiers of developmental and negative experiences in organized activities: Dosage, motivation, lead roles, and adult-youth ratios

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2007

This study evaluated four sets of factors hypothesized to amplify adolescents' developmental and ... more This study evaluated four sets of factors hypothesized to amplify adolescents' developmental and negative experience in organized youth activities. A representative sample of 1,822 eleventh grade students from 19 high schools completed the computeradministered Youth Experience Survey. Findings indicated that amount of time, motivation, holding a lead role, and the ratio of adults-to-youth were independently related to students' reports of developmental experience in an organized activity. These variables accounted for substantially more variance (23%) in reported developmental experiences than type of activity (3%); and they had only modest relationships with youths' negative experiences (2% of total variance). The findings suggest that developmental benefits of programs might be higher if youth were motivated by enjoyment and had lead roles more often. Further, they raise an important policy issue regarding how to make best use of staff to maximize developmental benefits.

Connecting Youth to High-Resource Adults: Lessons From Effective Youth Programs

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2009

Adolescents benefit from contact with high-resource community adults, but intergenerational obsta... more Adolescents benefit from contact with high-resource community adults, but intergenerational obstacles make these interactions difficult, fragile, and rare. This qualitative research investigated the success of seven, primarily urban, leadership, and arts programs that attempted to facilitate these interactions within their programming. Program advisors and 71 ethnically diverse program youth (mean age = 16.5) were interviewed biweekly over 3 to 4 months. Analyses indicated that programs were effective in facilitating these interactions through organizing activities that entailed structured, meaningful youth-adult role relationships. Substantial brokering efforts appeared to be required of advisors. Although these contacts involved one-time interactions or, at best, longer-term superficial relationships, youth described obtaining valuable information, skills, and access to adult worlds. The findings illuminate the challenges, limits, and benefits of attempts to bridge youth and adult...

How youth get engaged: Grounded-theory research on motivational development in organized youth programs

Developmental Psychology, 2011

For youth to benefit from many of the developmental opportunities provided by organized programs,... more For youth to benefit from many of the developmental opportunities provided by organized programs, they need to not only attend but become psychologically engaged in program activities. This research was aimed at formulating empirically based grounded theory on the processes through which this engagement develops. Longitudinal interviews were conducted with 100 ethnically diverse youth (ages 14 -21) in 10 urban and rural arts and leadership programs. Qualitative analysis focused on narrative accounts from the 44 youth who reported experiencing a positive turning point in their motivation or engagement. For 38 of these youth, this change process involved forming a personal connection. Similar to processes suggested by self-determination theory , forming a personal connection involved youth's progressive integration of personal goals with the goals of program activities. Youth reported developing a connection to 3 personal goals that linked the self with the activity: learning for the future, developing competence, and pursuing a purpose. The role of purpose for many youth suggests that motivational change can be driven by goals that transcend self-needs. These findings suggest that youth need not enter programs intrinsically engaged-motivation can be fostered-and that programs should be creative in helping youth explore ways to form authentic connections to program activities.

Emotional Development in Adolescence: What can be Learned From a High School Theater Program?

Child Development, 2007

Grounded‐theory analyses were used to formulate propositions regarding the processes of adolescen... more Grounded‐theory analyses were used to formulate propositions regarding the processes of adolescent emotional development. Progress in understanding this difficult topic requires close examination of emotional experience in context, and to do this the authors drew on qualitative data collected over the course of a high school theater production. Participants’ (ages 14–17) accounts of experiences in this setting demonstrated their capacity to actively extract emotional knowledge and to develop strategies for managing emotions. These accounts suggested that youth’s repeated “hot” experience of unfolding emotional episodes in the setting provided material for this active process of learning. Youth also learned by drawing on and internalizing the emotion culture of the setting, which provided concepts, strategies, and tools for managing emotional episodes.

Bridging Intergroup Difference in a Community Youth Program

American Behavioral Scientist, 2007

This article provides an intensive case study of a change process in which members of a youth pro... more This article provides an intensive case study of a change process in which members of a youth program developed relationships with and altered attitudes and behavior toward diverse groups, including those defined by ethnicity, social class, religion, and sexual orientation. Latino and African American members of a community youth activism program were interviewed over a 4-month period, and supplementary data were obtained from participant observations and from interviews with the lead organizer. Qualitative analyses revealed a process in which youth were active agents of self-change. Their reports suggest three stages of change: developing relationships across groups, learning and discovery, and coming to act with awareness in relation to difference. The program facilitated this change not only by providing Allport's contact conditions and affording youth personalized experiences but also by providing them with critical understanding of the interpersonal and systemic processes t...

Toward a psychology of positive youth development

American Psychologist, 2000

Are Adolescents More Emotional? A Study of the Daily Emotions of Middle Class Indian Adolescents1

Psychology and Developing Societies, 1999

This study evaluates the hypothesis that adolescence is a time of greater emotionality, focusing ... more This study evaluates the hypothesis that adolescence is a time of greater emotionality, focusing on urban middle class Indian youth. A sample of 100 8th graders and their parents provided 13,674 reports on their experience when signalled at random times by alarm watches over one week. Consistent with the hypothesis, the adolescents reported significantly more negative states and extreme positive states than both their mothers and fathers. Further analyses indicated that the negative emotional states of adolescents were related to school stress and inversely related to family and peer variables. These factors may contribute to adolescent emotionality. Significant inverse correlations between rates of negative emotions and mental health indicated that frequent negative emotions among adolescents should not be dismissed as normative.

Adolescents' Accounts of Growth Experiences in Youth Activities

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

The Youth Experiences Survey 1.0: Instrument development and testing

format_quoteYES scales demonstrated high reliability, with most scales scoring above alpha = .70, indicating strong internal consistency in measuring youth experiences.format_quote

The Kaleidoscope of Adolescence: Experiences of the World's Youth at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe, 2002

The Kaleidoscope of Adolescence Experiences of the World's Youth at the Beginning of the 21st Cen... more The Kaleidoscope of Adolescence Experiences of the World's Youth at the Beginning of the 21st Century B. Bradford Brown and Reed W. Larson A century ago people were intrigued by a new invention, the forerunner of the modern kinescope. By inserting a strip of paper containing a series of pictures into a drum, then spinning the drum while peering through a set of slits around the drum's perimeter, one could watch the pictures on the paper slowly coalesce into a repetitive set of coordinated movements. From the drum's disparate pictures, a single, moving picture appeared before one's eyes. In many respects, our understanding of adolescence at the outset of the 21st century mimics this instrument of entertainment from Victorian parlors. We spin together the related but distinctive features of life for youth around the world and discern a common image of their movement from childhood into adulthood. At a superficial level the pictures coalesce to give the impression that young people worldwide share the same challenges, interests, and concerns. We speak of the emergence of a "global youth culture" (Schlegel 2000), in which young people-at least in the middle class-wear the same clothing and hair styles, listen to some of the same music, and adopt similar slang expressions. We remark on how the world is "shrinking" by virtue of new technologies (e.g., the Internet) that bring people from far-flung corners of the globe into close contact with each other. We emphasize the commonality of experience among youth as opposing ideologies falter and economic systems begin to meld. The provocative opening sentence to A. Bame Nsamenang's contribution to this volume (see Chapter 3), however, challenges any satisfaction we might take in this kinescopic image.

Globalization, Societal Change, and Adolescence Across the World

Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, 2009

... REED W. LARSON, SUZANNE WILSON, AND AIMEE RICKMAN ... 596 Globalization, Societal Change, and... more