Thriving And Spirituality Among Youth: Research Perspectives And Future Possibilities

Thriving and Spirituality Among Youth empirically explores the connections between spirituality and positive youth development through the research of a set of scholars from the wide array of scientific fields including biology, sociology, and theology. This unique handbook shows how to foster positive development during adolescence, including youth contributions to families and communities in civil society. The material draws on research conducted with various populations including immigrant Hispanic, Chinese, Israeli, and Muslim-American youth. Social workers and mental health professionals will find a new, developmentally rigorous data base for a science of "adolescent spirituality."

AMY EVA ALBERTS WARREN, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University.

RICHARD M. LERNER, PhD, is the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and the Director of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University. He has edited or coedited many publications, including The Handbook of Life-Span Development (Wiley), and was the founding editor of both the Journal of Research on Adolescence and Applied Developmental Science.

ERIN PHELPS, EdD, is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University.

Foreword.

Preface.

List of contributors.

Chapter 1 Research Perspectives And Future Possibilities In The Study Of Thriving And Spirituality: A View Of The Issues.

Part 1 Biological contexts of PYD and spirituality.

Chapter 2 Prefrontal Cortical Activation During Emotion Regulation: Linking Religious/Spiritual Practices With Well-Being.

Chapter 3 Closeness of All Kinds: The Role of Oxytocin and Vasopressin in the Physiology of spiritual and religious behavior.

Chapter 4 Positive Youth Development And Age-Related Changes In Cortical Thickness During Adolescence.

Chapter 5 Neural Correlates of Positive Youth Development.

Part 2 Individual and psychological contexts of PYD and spirituality.

Chapter 6 Strengthening Human Potential For Great Love: Compassion Through Elaborative Development.

Chapter 7 When Beliefs Fit And When They Don't: Religious Conversion, Spirituality, And Positive Youth Development.

Chapter 8 The Shared Pathways of Religious/Spiritual Engagement and Positive Youth Development.

Chapter 9 Religious Adolescents' Views Of Success And Spirituality.

Chapter 10 Assessing The Relationship Between Ethnic And Religious Identity Among And Between Diverse American Youth.

Part 3 Social and cultural contexts of PYD and spirituality.

Chapter 11 Contributions Despite Challenges: Exploring Positive Youth Development Among Muslim American Youth.

Chapter 12 The Role Of Religion And Worship Communities In The Positive Development Of Immigrant Youth.

Chapter 13 The Interplay Of Self-Transcendence And Psychological Maturity Among Israeli College Students.

Chapter 14 Belief Systems And Positive Youth Development Among Chinese And American Youth.

Afterword.