Maureen Emily Kenny

A major concern for the general public is the well-being of youth. Rates of mental health problems among youth have been increasing since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Problems with academic performance and mental health have been noted to disproportionately affect youth of color. Mental health professionals have a long history of engaging in prevention interventions and continue to be positioned to promote well-being in schools and communities. This special issue focuses attention on efforts to promote well-being and prevent problems among youth using culturally relevant, collaborative, systems-oriented, and strengths-based approaches.

Arthur (Andy) M. Horne, PhD, Research Emeritus Professor and Dean at the University of Georgia, was born on November 26, 1942 and passed away unexpectedly of complications from open heart surgery, on August 26, 2024. We will mourn his passing forever but also want to celebrate his life and accomplishments. For a fuller commentary on Andy’s life and work, please locate his obituary, beautifully written by his daughter, Sharon Horne (herself a well-known psychologist), at: https://www.lordandstephens.com/. The present tribute focuses on Andy’s contributions to prevention in counseling psychology. It was Maureen Kenny who termed him a “Pillar of Prevention,” a moniker that fits like a good glove.

Given the critical role of higher education in fostering social mobility and access to decent work, our study investigates how the college experience, shaped by social marginalization and economic constraints, influences students’ academic engagement and work volition before and during COVID-19. Drawing from the psychology of working theory (PWT) and decent education, we assess the mediating role of school belongingness and the moderating effect of COVID-19 timing through structural equation modeling. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 exacerbated the negative effect of social and economic marginalization on work volition and the negative effects of economic constraints on academic engagement, while also diminishing the moderating effect of school belongingness. These insights are crucial considering the profound disruptions in higher education due to the pandemic and underscore the importance of fostering school belongingness as a component of decent education to sustain student engagement and positive views of their work futures.

Building on prior research documenting associations between youth purpose and academic, psychological and physical well-being, this study examined the contributions of workplace learning (WPL) to youth purpose and internal motivation among 281 youth of diverse racial and ethnic identities and economic status enrolled in two high school networks offering innovatively designed WPL. Sequential regression analyses revealed that the quality of WPL, defined by mentor support for training, learning opportunities, and youth autonomy, contributed positively to youth purpose and internal motivation, beyond the negative effects of perceived social and economic barriers. Findings are discussed through the perspectives of psychology of working, decent education, self-determination theory and career construction and suggest that WPL is a promising intervention for overcoming inequities in fostering youth talent and purpose, including personal goals, meaning and intentions for social contribution.

Decent education is conceptualized as playing an important role in preparing young people for college and career and eventual access to decent and satisfying work. While this is a promising extension of psychology of working theory for youth (PWT), the construct was derived from a review of literature, and needs to be informed by research, including youth perspectives. To address this gap and to advance research on youth PWT, we interviewed 17 high school seniors (11 female, four male, two non-binary) with diverse racial/ethnic identities and levels of caretaker educational attainment. Interviews were conducted in the year following the outbreak of COVID-19 with students attending innovative schools that feature student-centered learning, workplace internships, and close relationships with advisors and workplace mentors. Analyses conducted through Consensual Qualitative Research highlight youth perceptions of how relational supports and learning experiences at school and in workplace internships can promote a range of academic, vocational, social skills and psychological resources relevant for college and career readiness. The findings amplify youth understanding of decent education and extend knowledge of psychological resources, including youth purpose, self-efficacy, and critical consciousness, aligned with youth PWT.

Rooted in the decent education as a precursor to decent work, this study investigated via network analysis the relationship between the work as meaning inventory for university students (WAMI-U) (positive meaning, meaning-making through study, greater good motivations) and the humor styles questionnaire (HSQ) (health-promoting styles: affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor; health-endangering styles: aggressive humor, self-defeating humor) in 371 Italian university students. Central nodes and bridge nodes between WAMI-U and HSQ were calculated. Positive meaning, meaning-making through study (WAMI-U), and self-enhancing humor (HSQ) had high centrality. Affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor (HSQ), and positive meaning (WAMI-U) had bridge function. The high centrality and bridge function of self-enhancing with all dimensions of WAMI-U, followed by the bridge function of affiliative humor in relation to meaning-making through study (WAMI-U) confirmed them as health-promoting styles. Negative associations between maladaptive humor styles and positive meaning (WAMI-U) confirmed their standard as health-endangering styles. Implications for research and prevention are discussed.

This article advances a prevention and positive youth development perspective for promoting access to decent work and decent lives for all. We apply the psychology of working theory to consider the readiness of youth to contribute to this aspirational goal and the roles that education and career development education could play in furthering a reality of decent work and decent lives. We propose a transformative model of career development education that encompasses youth purpose, career adaptability, hope, critical consciousness, relational support, and equitable systems.

The chapter outlines the concepts of decent work and decent lives. Drawing from the psychology of working theory (PWT), the concept of decent work is delineated. Precarious work is discussed, with attention to vulnerable workers, as well as the value of preventive intervention through job crafting and diversity management, which are approaches for protecting vulnerable workers in organizations. Furthermore, the concept of decent lives is explicated, emphasizing the importance of individuals having a sense of meaning in their lives at work and in life more broadly. A strengths-based primary prevention approach is highlighted for building healthy communities, healthy organizations, and healthier societies, thereby enhancing access to decent work and decent lives for all.

Psychology of working theory (PWT) emphasizes the role of contextual constraints in career development, as well as promotive factors that might be cultivated to navigate these constraints. Although PWT has implications for promoting youth career development, most research has focused on college students and working adults. We interviewed 12 youth residing in a Latinx community with a high level of poverty and attending a well-resourced private high school with a high degree of college acceptance to explore developmentally and culturally relevant promotive factors that might inform the extension of PWT for youth. Analyses conducted through Consensual Qualitative Research revealed a strong sense of purpose and hope that were grounded in family, school, and workplace supports. Participants reported critical awareness of societal inequities and a focus on challenging inequity through hard work rather than societal change. We discuss implications for extending PWT theory, research, and intervention with Latinx youth.

In recognition of growing economic inequality and rapid transformation in the world of work, we seek to understand how young people perceive their futures to develop career development education that supports both personal goals and promotes social and economic justice. Thirty-six students attending high-performing high schools in the United States ( n = 19) and Israel ( n = 17) were interviewed to assess their espoused future plans and conceptions of work and society. Consistent with the psychology of working theory, students' plans were reflective of the social, economic, national, and historical contexts in which they are embedded. US and Israeli students expressed optimism and anxieties about their futures, along with recognition of social and economic inequalities and limited motivation and awareness of how to effect social change. The findings are discussed with regard to implications for career development education and the promotion of social and economic justice.