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Advances in applied developmental science have contributed to the large literature on positive youth development (PYD) interventions. This study reports an investigation of a PYD program using an outcome-mediation evaluation model that drew on the treatment intervention science literature. The Changing Lives Program (CLP) is a community supported gender and ethnic inclusive PYD intervention framework. Using an empowerment approach, the CLP was implemented in a practice setting as a selective/indicated positive youth development program for multi-ethnic, multi-problem at risk youth in urban alternative high schools. The outcome-mediation evaluation model provided evidence in support of the direct outcome effects of the intervention. The model also proved effective in identifying at a micro process level a number of plausible causal mechanisms for use in the development of more conceptually complete models of the causal mechanisms that underlie intervention change. Implications for future development of theory informed empirically supported intervention models of PYD programs are discussed.

This study describes the development of a qualitative extension for the Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire (PEAQ), a widely used quantitative questionnaire assessing feeling of personal expressiveness, a core positive identity construct. The PEAQ qualitative extension was developed as part of an ongoing effort to develop and refine an easy-to-use, standardized, reliable method designed for use in adding a free response qualitative component to a full range of fixed response quantitative measures. This article reports basic psychometric properties for the qualitative extension and preliminary evidence of construct validity. The availability of a ready-at-hand standardized method for including free response qualitative extensions of widely used measures with known reliability and validity in developmental research provides a means for detecting and rendering theoretically meaningful: (a) unique sample-specific free response linguistic content properties, (b) linguistic content properties undetected by fixed response measures, and (c) newly emergent linguistic content properties of core developmental research concepts and constructs in ways not possible using fixed response methods alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]