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A Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment for Child and Adolescent Health Promotion

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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

Research suggests that increasing egalitarian relations between young people and adults is optimal for healthy development; however, the empirical assessment of shared control in youth–adult partnerships is emerging, and the field still requires careful observation, identification, categorization and labeling. Thus, our objective is to offer a conceptual typology that identifies degrees of youth–adult participation while considering the development potential within each type. We use an empowerment framework, rooted in evidence-based findings, to identify five types of youth participation: (1) Vessel, (2) Symbolic, (3) Pluralistic, (4) Independent and (5) Autonomous. The typology is constructed as a heuristic device to provide researchers, practitioners and policy-makers with a common language for articulating degrees of youth participation for optimal child and adolescent health promotion.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by the CDC/ASPH/PRC Minority Fellowship, the W. K. Kellogg Fellowship in Health Policy Research, the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health and the Rackham Merit Fellowship. The paper does not necessarily reflect the views of the aforementioned funding sources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Naima T. Wong

  2. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109 South Observatory, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA

    Marc A. Zimmerman

  3. College of Public Health, Department of Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Edith A. Parker

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  1. Naima T. Wong
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  2. Marc A. Zimmerman
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  3. Edith A. Parker
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Correspondence to Marc A. Zimmerman.

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Wong, N.T., Zimmerman, M.A. & Parker, E.A. A Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment for Child and Adolescent Health Promotion. Am J Community Psychol 46, 100–114 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9330-0

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