# Harnessing Youths' Need to Contribute to Societal Challenges: A Naturalistic Experiment

## TL;DR

This study explores how engaging adolescents in societal challenges can help align their desire to contribute with actual opportunities, potentially improving their mental health.

## Contribution

The study provides initial evidence that adolescents' need to contribute to societal challenges can be harnessed through structured programs.

## Key findings

- Adolescents showed a disbalance between their need to contribute and perceived opportunities before the program.
- Participation in the program reduced this disbalance, especially for those more sensitive to social rewards.
- The positive effects were not sustained at a 2.5-month follow-up.

## Abstract

Global societal challenges can negatively impact youths' mental health, but also be transformed into opportunities to have a positive impact. However, little is known about harnessing youths' need to contribute to societal challenges.

We conducted a naturalistic experiment with 139 Dutch adolescents (M
age = 14.68, SDage = 0.99, range = 12–17, 60.4% female). Adolescents in the experimental group participated in a societal challenge program, consisting of a workshop and impact challenge. Both the experimental and control group answered questionnaires about the need and perceived opportunities to contribute, feelings of vigor/depression, and novelty seeking at four time points (T1 = pretest, T2 = after the workshops, T3 = after the impact challenge, T4 = a 2.5‐month follow‐up).

There was an overall disbalance between adolescents' need to contribute and their perceived opportunities to make valuable contributions before the challenge program. This disbalance was enlarged for adolescents who were more sensitive to social rewards. After the workshops and impact challenge, the disbalance was smaller in the experimental group compared to the control group, and adolescents who participated with a higher challenge intensity, showed a higher need to contribute at T3. These differences were no longer observed at T4.

Our findings provide initial evidence for the notion that some adolescents may be more inclined to become “agents of change” than others. By demonstrating that adolescents have a high need to contribute to societal challenges, this study provides important building blocks for research on adolescent mental health in a changing world.