Abstract
Although a literature on interventions that promote positive development has begun to emerge, important gaps concerning these interventions continue to exist. As part of our program of research, we have made an effort to begin addressing these gaps. An overview of a research project conducted using two sets of multi-ethnic data drawn from the Miami Youth Development Project (Kurtines, Montgomery, Lewis Arango, & Kortsch, Citation2001) is presented. Though tentative and preliminary, the findings from the project provide preliminary evidence for the success of Changing Lives Program (CLP) in promoting positive qualitative change. Specifically, the results document a relation between participation in CLP and short-term qualitative longitudinal change in life course experiences at the individual developmental level. The basic pattern of qualitative change for participants in the CLP intervention condition tended to be positive, significant, and in the hypothesized direction relative to non-intervention controls, suggesting that intervention does effect positive change.
Notes
This paper describes the work of the Youth Development Project of the Child and Family Psychosocial Research Center, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199. Thanks to (in alphabetical order): Richard Albrecht, Donette Archer, Ondina Arrufat, Marlene Arzola, Alan M. Berman, Steven L. Berman, Ervin Briones, Janene Bussell, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Arlen Garcia, Clary Milnitsky, Seth Schwartz, Silvia Sullivan, Sara K. Swenson