POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS OF INDEPENDENT, ADOLESCENT YOUTH PARTICIPATING IN A COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM

In New Zealand, adolescents between 16 and 18 years of age, who are un able to live with parents because of family dysfunction or conflict, a re eligible for the Independent Youth Benefit. In attempting to reduce benefit dependency in these young people, the Department of Social We lfare has designed an innovative community support programme. We have previously evaluated the programme, concluding that the approach was s uccessful for some; but emphasising that little is known about the emo tional and lifestyle needs of such adolescents. To explore these furth er, a questionnaire was administered and 235 usable forms were returne d. The responses, reported in this paper, revealed that some teenagers no longer under parental care are engaged in activities known to be h igh risk (for psychological and health problems), the degree to which they do so being related to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Yet for many, their day to day concerns seemed quite typical of adoles cents, focused on financial survival, employment, relationships, and a ppearance. Self-reported delinquent activities were associated with lo w self-esteem, infrequent positive activities, and negative opinions o f the programme. The findings suggest that negative affect limits adol escents' responsiveness to the development of constructive activities which mediate favourable outcomes (e.g., continuing in school, obtaini ng further training, seeking and gaining employment).