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Developmental Assets and the Promotion of Well-Being in Middle Childhood

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Handbook of Child Well-Being

Abstract

In this chapter, the stage of middle childhood is defined, and challenges to studying well-being in middle childhood are described, notably the lack of agreement over how to define both middle childhood and well-being. Several global approaches to framing well-being in middle childhood are described, by way of introducing the developmental assets approach to positive child and youth development, as the recommended framework for examining well-being in middle childhood. The assets framework is explained and research is presented showing the extent of developmental assets among US 4th–6th grade students, as well as data linking higher levels of assets to greater well-being. A discussion is presented to further illuminate how the developmental assets appear to contribute to well-being in middle childhood. The related construct of sparks, or the deep interests children have, is also discussed as a key contributor to well-being in middle childhood. This chapter concludes with an examination of the cross-cultural validity of the assets framework as an approach for studying and promoting the well-being of children around the world.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Search Institute, c/o 940 Chestnut Ridge Road, Manchester, MO, 63021, USA

    Dr. Peter C. Scales Ph.D.

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  1. Dr. Peter C. Scales Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Peter C. Scales Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Asher Ben-Arieh

  2. Research Institute of Quality of Life, University of Girona, Girona, Spain

    Ferran Casas

  3. Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Ivar Frønes

  4. Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Jill E. Korbin

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Scales, P.C. (2014). Developmental Assets and the Promotion of Well-Being in Middle Childhood. In: Ben-Arieh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I., Korbin, J. (eds) Handbook of Child Well-Being. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_66

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_66

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9062-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9063-8

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