Positive Youth Development and Wellbeing: Gender Differences.

The five C's of positive youth development (PYD) (competence, confidence, character, caring, and connection) have been associated with adaptive development among young people. Gender differences in young people's wellbeing and mental health have been studied and analyzed, but the investigation into their association with the five C's is still in its infancy. In the present study, we analyzed the influence of the five C's on the wellbeing, more specifically, anxiety, social alienation, general wellbeing, physical symptoms, and psychological symptoms, of Portuguese adolescents, by gender. Participants were 5th-12th grade students attending public schools in Lisbon, Portugal. The questionnaire was administered to 384 adolescents. The results indicated important gender differences in young people's wellbeing. The results revealed some differences between genders that should be considered in interventions that aim to promote the wellbeing of adolescents. On the other hand, confidence was positively associated with mental health and wellbeing for both boys and girls, skill should be promoted among young people, because it was competence that revealed the greatest association with wellbeing, among the variables analyzed.

Construct Validity of the Portuguese Version of the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study aims to validate the resilience scale developed by Wagnild and Young for the Portuguese population. METHODS: The instrument validation was conducted with a sample of 313 adults attending the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences, of which 62.3% were female and 37.7% male, between 18 and 58 years old. RESULTS: Three factors were decided upon: life satisfaction, planning-discipline, and independence, and there was a positive average correlation between the three factors. The confirmatory factor analysis showed excellent comparative fit index and root mean square error of approximation values, so we conclude that the model has an excellent fit. Also, Cronbach's alpha coefficient used for internal consistency values reported good values. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the key global indicators of the model's fit and reliability analysis express their quality for Portuguese population.