Positive development in emerging adulthood

Positive functioning in the developmental period of emerging adulthood has received little investigation. The current study investigated components of positive development using confirmatory factor analysis of Australian Temperament Project data collected from 1,158 young adults aged 19-20 years. Positive development constructs that have been theoretically conceptualised were examined to test core concepts. Five first-order constructs were identified in this sample: Civic Action and Engagement, Social Competence, Life Satisfaction, Trust and Tolerance of Others, and Trust in Authorities and Organisations. A second-order positive development factor defined by these constructs provided good fit for the data. This model of positive development in emerging adulthood can provide an outcome measure that can then be used to investigate the developmental processes and pathways involved.

Differentiating three conceptualisations of the relationship between positive development and psychopathology during the transition to adulthood

The transition to adulthood is characterised by both great potential for positive change and a relatively high incidence of problem outcomes. A multidimensional model of positive development during the transition to adulthood (at 19-20 years) has recently been proposed. However, an unresolved question regarding the nature of positive development during this time is how best to conceptualise its relationship to psychopathology. We drew on data from 1158 participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a large longitudinal community-based study that has followed young people's psychosocial adjustment from infancy to early adulthood. Using structural equation modelling, we compared three models reflecting different conceptualisations of the relationship between positive development and psychopathology. The results suggest that positive development and psychopathology are best modelled as separate but correlated constructs. Hence, development in one domain is likely to influence the other, although separate and specific developmental pathways are also likely to be operating.

Predictors of positive development in emerging adulthood

This article responds to recent calls for a focus on successful development in young people and examination of its developmental precursors, in order to identify potentially modifiable targets for interventions. The current study examined child and adolescent precursors of positive functioning in emerging adulthood, including individual characteristics, relationship factors, and connections to the community, using a multidimensional positive development measure at 19–20 years. The sample consisted of 511 males and 647 females who were participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a population based longitudinal study that has followed young people's psychosocial adjustment from infancy to early adulthood. Higher levels of positive development in emerging adulthood were associated with stronger family and peer relationships, better adjustment to the school setting, higher family socioeconomic status, and better emotional control. Some significant gender differences were observed, with emotional control, family relationships, and community orientation all being stronger predictors of males' than of females' positive development. The findings provide possible targets for child and adolescent interventions to promote positive development in early adulthood.

Evaluating The Scared Cool project : understanding peacemaking through creativity and personal development in Timor-Leste

This article presents an evaluation of Scared Cool, a physical theatre project for young people in Dili, Timor-Leste. The project was hosted by non-government organisation Ba Futuru as part of their ongoing efforts to promote peace and conflict resolution in that new nation. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were undertaken with a range of stakeholders: participants; staff; the host organisation; audience members and the wider community, to determine their perceptions about project outcomes. The article also describes the ‘theories of change’ that leaders used to guide their work, and issues arising from the data.
The Scared Cool initiative appears to provide significant cultural and social benefits for the young participants. These include development of capacity for artistic expression, creative and analytic thinking, confidence and English language skills. There were also benefits to other stakeholders including audience members. These included the enjoyment of attending a live performance, and the potential for trauma resolution and positive relationship building. This study confirms the potential for participatory arts projects to assist with the positive development of young people in highly disadvantaged communities. In so doing, such projects can contribute to positive social change by assisting the resolution of trauma and violence.

Development amidst communal conflict: case study of a Christian FBO in a Buddhist–Muslim conflict region in Myanmar

Faith can be a powerful force for positive development and social change, but as James (2011) notes, it is a highly flammable fuel that can also easily result in negative outcomes. The pervasive influence of religion in the lives of many gives it a unique ability to shape both individual and communal identities (perceptions of self and others). While religious identities can be an extremely positive force, they can also be used as a source for exclusive and intolerant attitudes, with a potential to feed nationalisms that become motivators or justifications for conflict. This is particularly true in tense multi-religious contexts where competing ethnoreligious nationalistic identities and historical claims are forced to coexist – especially for faith-based development agencies that relate to one of those identities.This chapter explores the work of a small local Christian faith-based organisation (FBO) working in Buddhist communities in a region of significant Buddhist–Muslim tension and recent violent communal conflict, as a case study of development across complex faith boundaries. Local FBO Bethel works in partnership with the international FBO GraceWorks Myanmar (GWM). Making this case particularly interesting, Bethel has evolved out of a related religious organisation that still maintains a mandate for preaching a contextual Christian message to Buddhists, and most of the local workers are converts from Buddhism. Given the most inflammatory religious sparks for worsening conflicts are widely regarded to be discriminatory practices and proselytism – or perceptions of proselytism (e.g. Clarke and Jennings 2008; Flanigan 2010) – this case study is interesting for the way these issues are handled. This chapter includes new research examining whether and how this FBO has been able to avoid inflaming tensions and has been broadly granted a social mandate to operate in Buddhist communities, even though it constitutes a third religious actor in a context of vitriolic interreligious conflict.

Mental health and wellbeing of Australian adolescents: pathways to vulnerability and resilience

The Australian Temperament Project (ATP) provides a unique lens through which to view he pathways to vulnerability and resilience that Australian children take from infancy to adolescence, and beyond. Commencing in 1983, the ATP is now completing its 24th year and 14th wave of data collection. The present paper provides an overview of the data on adolescent antisocial behaviour, substance use, internalising problems and aspects of positive development and wellbeing. Several pathways to vulnerability or resilience are described that vary in their age of onset. Constellations of common risk factors suggest that there may be overlapping priming factors for later mental health problems. A different mix of factors relates to pathways to wellbeing. This unique Australian study provides invaluable insights into stability and change in the pathways to mental health that children take across life.

The interface of acute and aged care: the role of the nurse in provincial area

Objective: This study was to investigate issues that arose from pre-admission to post-discharge, for people in Toowoomba, Queensland over the age of 65 admitted to an acute facility. This paper concentrates on a significant concern that emerged from the latge amount of data collected during this project, that is, the role of the nurse in the continuum of health care involving elderly people.

Method: The study involved a multi-site, multi-agency and multi-method (qualitative and quantitative) approach. Data was collected from regional service providers, the Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Home and Community Care (HACC), the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT), elderly people who had been discharged from regional hospitals and their carers, residents of regional aged care facilities, area health professionals and elderly regional hospital inpatients.

Results: The data indicated that nurses in this provincial area currently play a limited role in preadmission planning, being mostly concerned with elective surgery, especially joint replacements. While nurses deliver the majority of care during hospitalisation, they do not appear to be cognizant of the needs of the elderly regarding post-acute discharge.

Conclusion: The recent introduction of the model of nurse case management in the acute sector appears to be a positive development that will streamline and optimise the health care of the elderly across the continuum in the Toowoomba area. The paper recommends some strategies, such as discharge liaison nurses based in Emergency Departments and the expansion of the nurse case management role, which would optimise care for the elderly person at the interface of care.

Making a difference for young gifted and talented children

Online resource, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

Professionals who work with young children who are gifted or talented can make a real difference to them reaching their full potential.

This resource provides early childhood professionals with information and resources to help identify and provide learning for young gifted and talented children (from infancy to eight years old) and their families.

Gifted and talented young children experience wellbeing and positive development when provided with supportive and challenging learning environments that are responsive to their individual strengths and interests.

Every early childhood professional will be working with gifted children. It is estimated that 10–15 per cent of children are gifted, which means a typical early childhood group or school class will contain at least one gifted child. Many will have more, so it is imperative that professionals reflect on their practice and seek professional learning opportunities to increase their understanding and knowledge of giftedness and talent in young children.

Research has shown that educators who have received professional learning opportunities or pre-service preparation in giftedness and talent are better able to recognise and understand giftedness in children, and have more positive attitudes towards it.

The professional learning opportunities in this online resource will assist professionals to identify and engage in good practice when working with young gifted and talented children.

30 Years on : some key insights from the Australian Temperament Project

In 2013, the Australian Temperament Project (ATP) longitudinal study celebrated its 30th anniversary. This article provides a brief overview of the ATP, and highlights some key findings that have emerged over the past three decades. From amongst the many research areas explored in the ATP, topics covered here include temperament, learning problems, mental health, risk-taking, bullying, positive development, and relationships with parents in adulthood. Future plans for the study are also presented, including the new ATP Generation 3 Study which commenced in 2011 - a unique longitudinal study of the children of the ATP participants.

Examining potential barriers to early intervention access in Australian hearing impaired children

Early intervention for children with hearing loss involves assistance in oral speech development, optimal use of hearing devices and fostering a holistic partnership between allied health and the children's families. Adequate access to early intervention has been shown to be vital in the positive development of long term language and social outcomes. However, there has been limited research to identify the factors which may influence access. This study aimed to explore whether access to early intervention by children with hearing loss is affected by: geographical location, socio-economic status and ethnic-minority family status.

Marxists in the age of Palmer: a genealogy of ‘anti-politics’

The decline of trust in Australian political institutions and the rise of anti-political sentiment, most dramatically represented by the phenomenon of Clive Palmer, has been largely perplexing to the Australian left whether in its labourist, green or revolutionary varieties. In recent years support for Labor and the Greens has fallen, union membership has continued to stagnate and the revolutionary left has failed to break out of its campus enclaves despite a global crisis of capitalism. This article provides a critical examination of a minority trend within the Australian left that seen the rise of ‘anti-politics’ as a positive development. Leading figures in this have been Tad Tietze, Elizabeth Humphrys, Marc Newmann and anonymous blogger The Piping Shriek. Their work has been critical of attempts to revive traditional institutions of the left and has argued that the organised left has become committed to a project of state management of individual behaviour. This line of argument represents a distinctive critique of politics that echoes themes espoused by John Anderson and Sydney libertarianism. This article applies Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach to explain the revival of libertarian themes on the left and their particular resonance within Sydney political culture.