Psychometric Properties of the Five C’s of Positive Youth Development among Latinx Adolescents

• In Event: Education, discrimination, and positive youth development among Latinx populations

Abstract

The Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework represents a paradigm shift in developmental scholarship by focusing on youth’s strengths, rather than their potential deficits. The Five C’s Model of PYD operationalizes thriving by five characteristics: Competence, Confidence, Character, Connection and Caring (Lerner et al., 2005). The Five C’s has become one of the most widely used frameworks in youth development research (Heck & Subramaniam, 2009), however, empirical work on PYD has mostly been conducted among White, middle-class populations (Lerner et al., 2009). A substantial research gap persists regarding the empirical validity of PYD among ethnic-minority youth (Travis & Leech, 2013) and, by extension, its criterion validity in their adjustment. The current study extends previous work by (a) examining the factor structure of PYD among a Latinx adolescent sample and (b) assessing associations between PYD constructs and adjustment indicators.
The sample included 288 Latinx middle school students from the Southwestern US (Mage = 13.69 years; 47.7% female; 86.3% U.S.-born). Participants reported their positive youth development (i.e., Competence, Care, Character, Connection, and Caring, Geldhof et al., 2013) and academic grades. Mothers reported youth’s levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Glisson et al., 2022) via telephone interviews.
Validity of PYD was assessed by model fit of the individual Cs, five-correlated factor model, a second-order factor structure, and a bifactor model through a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and model comparisons. Structural equation modeling (SEM) in R was utilized to assess criterion validity by testing associations between the 5 C’s, youth’s grades, internalizing behaviors, and externalizing behaviors. We examined model fit using the chi-square statistic, root-mean-squared error of approximation (RMSEA; MacCallum et al., 1996), the comparative fit index (CFI; Bentler, 1990), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR; Hu & Bentler, 1999). When comparing models, we utilized the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) values.
The results suggested that the five-correlated factor structure best fit the data (see Table 1) with certain modifications (e.g., dropping the items of the values diversity subscale of Character). The criterion validity analyses (see Table 2) showed that Connection, Character, and Competence were negatively associated with externalizing behavior, while Character and Competence were negatively associated with internalizing behavior. All the C’s were positively associated with academic performance.
This is the first study to examine both the psychometric properties of PYD and test its criterion validity among Latinx youth. Our findings provide preliminary recommendations to future scholars on how to successfully adapt the PYD measure for Latinx youth. The results showed that the five-correlated factor model best fit the data, but specific modifications were necessary to maximize model fit. Dropping the items of within the values diversity subscale could highlight the need to include cultural assets within PYD measurement models for ethnic minority youth, to best reflect their appraisals of diversity as minoritized individuals. Additionally, our findings suggest that specific C’s are associated with reductions in internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while all C’s are promotive of academic performance. For the conference, measurement invariance across all three study waves will be explored.

Authors

• Kiera Midori Coulter, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Y Delgado, University of Arizona

• Rajni L. Nair, Arizona State University

• Lorey A Wheeler, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Rayni Thomas, University of Arizona