New study on adolescent development aims to help teens

SINGAPORE - With the increase in mental health conditions and social isolation among Singapore youth today, there is a worry that they may not reach their full potential as they navigate the challenges and demands of secondary school.

A new study aims to learn how to best support teenagers as they go through changes related to adolescence and puberty, and set them up for success.

Researchers hope to understand how the school, social and family environment impacts school and career aspirations, self-identity, relationships, well-being and lifestyles of teenagers.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, the study, led by Professor Kenneth Poon from the National Institute of Education (NIE), follows 7,000 adolescents throughout their four- or five-year journey in secondary school.

The study is jointly led by co-lead principal investigators, Dr Melvin Chan, assistant dean of knowledge management at NIE’s Office of Education Research, and Dr Trivina Kang, chief strategy and partnerships officer at NIE.

They lead a team of 12 investigators with expertise ranging from psychology and education research to games and learning.

Titled Dreams: Drivers, Enablers and Pathways of Adolescent Development in Singapore, the study was launched in 2023 when the participants were in Secondary 1.

It consists of seven sub-studies that each investigate a key area of adolescent development, including special education needs and the impact of financial disadvantage.

At his keynote presentation on May 29 at the Redesigning Pedagogy International Conference 2024 at Nanyang Technological University, Prof Poon said there has been local research done to track the development of children in earlier stages of development and education.

The Growing Up In Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes cohort study was started in October 2008 to understand how conditions in pregnancy and early childhood influence the health and development of women and children.

The Singapore Kindergarten Impact Project (Skip), a three-year longitudinal study, which followed children from Kindergarten 1 to Primary 1, was launched in 2015 to examine how the home and classroom environment impact children’s learning and development. 

A follow-up study, named Skip-Up for short, was launched to continue studying Skip participants and their classmates when they were in Primary 5 or 6.

Prof Poon said that while findings from these early studies emphasise the importance of the early years in a child’s development, there is a second “window of opportunity” that is also crucial.

“These opportunities occur in conjunction with the physical and sexual maturation that we see in young people,” he said, adding that physical changes happen concurrently with changes in the brain.

“We see the physical changes, but we don’t always see the other aspects, the psychological and cognitive aspects.”