Learning Life Skills Through Challenging and Negative Experiences

Youth who are socially vulnerable are disproportionately confronted with culminating risk factors that impact their everyday lives. Within positive youth development (PYD) programs, life skills are viewed as critical outcomes because they represent transferable skills that enable youth to thrive. Although there have been advances with regard to understanding the processes related to the development and transfer of life skills, research has rarely explored the positive contribution that challenging and negative experiences can have as mechanisms that promote life skill development and transfer. The current study used purposive sampling to recruit socially vulnerable youth who participated in a community sport-based PYD program designed to teach life skills. The sample included seven boys and six girls, most of whom identified as Black, were on average 11.08 years of age, and fell within 200% of the federal poverty line. Data were collected using two different methods (i.e., semi-structured interviews, photo-elicitation interviews). A hybrid thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the interview data. Findings from the current study help to advance PYD research by highlighting the potential of utilizing challenging and negative experiences as critical opportunities for youth development. For example, youth discussed how they learned through their own mistakes and consequences—both within and outside of sport—and how these opportunities contributed both their ability to develop and transfer life skills. Using these findings, youth programs can be designed to answer the call of the Grand Challenges for Social Work and promote healthy development for all youth.