Positive youth development and psychological outcomes: Longitudinal associations with curiosity, creativity, and well-being.

Abstract

This study examined the longitudinal associations between positive youth development (PYD) and three key psychological outcomes in adolescence: curiosity, creativity, and well-being. Using two-wave survey data from 699 Chinese middle school students, we investigated whether four PYD dimensions, including love, aspiration, faith, and grit, predicted changes in these outcomes over time. Longitudinal measurement invariance was first established for curiosity and well-being, with partial support for creativity, allowing for meaningful interpretation of structural relations. Structural equation modeling results revealed a differentiated pattern of associations. Aspiration was the only PYD dimension that consistently predicted both interest-type and deprivation-type curiosity, suggesting that future-oriented motivation may play a central role in adolescents' exploratory tendencies. In contrast, faith emerged as the only significant predictor of both creativity and well-being, indicating that meaning-related and self-regulatory processes may be more closely tied to these domains. Other PYD dimensions, including love and grit, were not significantly associated with changes in the outcomes after controlling for their prior levels. Overall, the findings suggest that PYD does not operate as a uniform construct in predicting adolescent development. Instead, specific dimensions of PYD appear to be differentially linked to distinct psychological processes. These results highlight the importance of considering the multidimensional nature of PYD and suggest that targeted interventions focusing on particular developmental assets may be more effective than broad-based approaches.