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Positive Psychology Programs for Youth in Diverse Communities

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Evidence-Based Positive Psychological Interventions in Multi-Cultural Contexts

Abstract

Positive psychology interventions have shown great promise in promoting well-being. However, existing programs for both adults and youth have typically targeted predominantly affluent populations in high income communities and countries. Less is known about the relevance and benefits of positive psychology approaches with other populations. This chapter describes our team’s collective experience developing, implementing, and evaluating school-based positive psychology programs for youth (children and adolescents) in a variety of communities around the world, including communities in India, Kenya, and Canada. We discuss the relevance of positive psychology concepts, especially character strengths and resilience, and intervention approaches. We share lessons learned and recommendations for future work that can help to ensure positive psychology programs are cross-culturally relevant and responsive. Key among these are: (1) the importance of including local community members in each phase of program development, implementation, and evaluation, and (2) the necessity of flexibility when scaling programs to reach large populations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA

    Jane Gillham

  2. CorStone, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Katherine Sachs Leventhal & Steve Leventhal

  3. University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), Scarborough, Canada

    Tayyab Rashid

  4. Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Toronto, Canada

    Afroze Anjum

Authors
  1. Jane Gillham
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  2. Katherine Sachs Leventhal
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  3. Tayyab Rashid
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  4. Afroze Anjum
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  5. Steve Leventhal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jane Gillham .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Human Performance Management Group, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Llewellyn Ellardus Van Zyl

  2. Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

    Sebastiaan Rothmann Sr.

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Gillham, J., Leventhal, K.S., Rashid, T., Anjum, A., Leventhal, S. (2019). Positive Psychology Programs for Youth in Diverse Communities. In: Van Zyl, L., Rothmann Sr., S. (eds) Evidence-Based Positive Psychological Interventions in Multi-Cultural Contexts. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20311-5_9

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