Structural model of 5Cs of positive youth development in Croatia: relations with mental distress and mental well-being

ABSTRACT

The 5C model of Positive Youth Development has widely been researched in the last decade yielding inconsistent structural solutions in different cultural settings. This paper seeks to examine the structure of the 5C model in the Croatian context. The internal structure and criterion validity of the model were examined on a sample of 3559 1st grade high school students (M = 15.12 years; 53.5% female). The item-based structural equation analyses showed that the ESEM model provides a better fit to the five-factor structure than the CFA and bifactor models. Facet-based bifactor and bifactor (S·I-1) analyses confirmed general construct, positive youth development. Higher competence, confidence, and connection predicted less while higher character and caring predicted more mental distress in youth. Full SEM model showed that competence, character, confidence, and connection, four of the 5Cs, were associated with positive mental health. The results support the 5C model and suggest specifics of the local context.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive youth development
• 5C model
• mental well-being

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the school administration for their partnership in conducting this study. The authors sincerely thank the adolescents for participating in this study under pandemic conditions.

This paper was funded by the project ‘Testing the 5C framework of positive youth development: traditional and digital mobile assessment - P.R.O.T.E.C.T.’ funded by Croatian Science Foundation (UIP-2020-02-2852).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics statement

Ethical approval for the study was firstly obtained from the Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and the National Agency for Education and the Ministry of Science and Education approved the study as well. Since some questions were sensitive and could induce negative feelings and thoughts, parents were asked for written consent and active consent was asked from students too.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miranda Novak

Miranda Novak, is an associate professor working in the group of scientists gathered around the Laboratory for Prevention Research, Department of Behavioural Disorders, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb. Her main research interest is youth mental health promotion, mental health policy, prevention of internalized disorders, evidence-based program implementation and usage of modern technology in mental health promotion. From 2021, she is leading an installation research study on the 5C approach to positive youth development funded by Croatian Science Foundation. She is coordinating a digital youth platform Pukotine.hr supported by Unicef Office Croatia and other partners. Was a Fulbright Research Fellow at University of Oregon, USA, in 2019.

Lucija Šutić

Lucija Šutić is a PhD student at the postgraduate doctoral study of Prevention Science at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Zagreb and is currently employed on the project Testing the 5C framework of positive youth development: traditional and digital mobile assessment. After she received her Master’s degree in Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb, she has worked as a school psychologist and project manager in the agency for digital marketing. Her former scientific interest was focused on romantic relationships in adolescence and early adulthood, as well as on stigmatization of mental disorders. She was awarded the Rector’s award for scientific work as a student.

Hana Gačal

Hana Gačal is a PhD student at the postgraduate doctoral study of Prevention Science at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Zagreb and is currently employed on the project Testing the 5C framework of positive youth development: traditional and digital mobile assessment. After she received her Master’s degree in Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Rijeka, she has worked as a teaching assistant in the field of biological psychology, as well as methodology and statistics at the Department of Psychology. She was also an external associate on the project PROMEHS – Promoting Mental Health at Schools, which is aimed at increasing socio-emotional wellbeing and resilience and preventing internalized and externalized behavioural problems in children and adolescents. Her former scientific interest was focused on personality traits, emotions, and mental health.

Darko Roviš

Darko Roviš is a head of Department for Promotion and Protection of Mental Health at the Teaching institute of public health in Rijeka, where he has been working since 2005. He has also been employed part-time at the Department of Social Medicine and Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka since 2011, as well as at the Department of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Studies of the University of Rijeka since 2014. He participates in a number of courses in the field of social medicine, public health, health education, health promotion and disease prevention. He finds his research interest in the field of promotion of (mental) health and prevention of risky behaviours.

Josipa Mihić

Josipa Mihić, is an associate professor and head of the Department of Behavioural Disorders at the study programme of Social Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb. She teaches at the study of social pedagogy and the doctoral study of Prevention Science and is a member of the Laboratory for Preventive Research (PrevLab). Within the Laboratory, she studies risk behaviours, the development of emotional and social competencies in children and youth in the school environment, the effect of mindfulness/meditative practices on positive development of individuals, and the role of compassion and self-compassion in preventing behavioural problems and mental health promotion. She also works as a psychotherapist at the Teaching and Clinical Centre of the Faculty.

Toni Maglica

Toni Maglica is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Split. He has been working with children and youth with behavioural problems, as well as with their families for many years now. This is also the area of his scientific interests, therefore he studies and publishes scientific papers in the field of mental health and behavioural problems in childhood and adolescence, with special focus on family environment. Moreover, he is included in prevention of behavioural problems, especially in the context of socio-emotional learning.