title: Growth-promoting relationships with children and youth.
abstract: At the heart of afterschool programs are the relationships that form between the children and youth who participate in these programs and the adults who lead them. To be effective, adults working in afterschool settings must be able to engage youth in growth-promoting relationships. This article identifies and describes four foundational ways of interacting with youth that foster the development of such relationships-engaging in warm and emotionally supportive connections, providing developmentally appropriate structure and support, cultivating and responding to youth initiative, and scaffolding and propelling youth learning and skill development.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Boston University.
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Jean E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rhodes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D012574:Schools; D012944:Social Support