2-153 - Predictors of Gratitude in Youth

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Gratitude, or having positive feelings toward a benefactor and generally appreciating good things, is associated with many benefits for youth. However, little is known about factors that predict youth gratitude. A better understanding of the factors predicting youth gratitude would allow us to create targeted gratitude interventions and provide information on best practices for cultivating gratitude during childhood and adolescence.

Various predictors of child and adolescent gratitude are examined in the four papers of this symposium. The first paper uses qualitative data to examine children’s definitions of gratitude. These data provide evidence that older children, females, children with more grateful mothers, and children with a religious background have a better understanding of gratitude. The second paper examines child gratitude in a parenting context. Findings indicate that grateful children have more grateful parents, and that grateful parents tend to engage in more behaviors that reinforce their children’s gratitude. The third paper uses a large multi-national study to examine different levels of sophistication regarding youth’s gratitude experiences. Results show that both child age and cultural background predict children’s experiences of gratitude. The fourth paper uses a large longitudinal data set to examine predictors of older children’s and adolescents’ gratitude over a 4-year period. Analyses indicate that youths’ prosocial behavior, life satisfaction, and social integration all predict increases in gratitude over time. Overall, these papers provide evidence of many different predictors of child and adolescent gratitude, and they have important implications for the development of youth gratitude interventions and positive youth development generally.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chairs

• Meagan Ramsey, West Virginia University

• Amy L Gentzler, West Virginia University

Individual Presentations

• How Do Children and Their Mothers Define Gratitude? Examining Predictors of Their Understanding of Gratitude - Presenting Author: Meagan Ramsey, West Virginia University; Amy L Gentzler, West Virginia University; Katelyn Black, West Virginia University; Anthony Casella, West Virginia University

• Raising Grateful Kids: What can Parents do? - Presenting Author: Danielle Ruscio, Hofstra University; Jeffrey J Froh, Hofstra University; Tara Lomas, Hofstra University; Meagan Muller, Hofstra University; Giacomo Bono, California State University, Dominguez Hills; Robert Emmons, University of California, Davis

• The Development of Gratitude in American, Brazilian, Russian, and Chinese 7- to 14-year-olds - Presenting Author: Jonathan R H Tudge, Univ of North Carolina Greensboro; Lia Beatriz Freitas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Irina Mokrova, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Yudan Wang, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

• What Makes Grateful Teens? Longitudinal Models of Determinants - Presenting Author: Giacomo Bono, California State University, Dominguez Hills; Christopher Odudu, California State University, Dominguez Hills; Robert DeWitz, California State University, Dominguez Hills; Jeffrey J Froh, Hofstra University