Positive Youth Development (PYD) model is a strength-based perspective of transition to adulthood derived from developmental systems theory. Developmental assets (DAs) framework describes the individual and contextual resources that may promote PYD. This work aims to analyze the associations between internal and external DAs and PYD, as well as…

Sport is a context that provides positive developmental benefits to adolescents. However, these benefits are not distributed equally to all participants. This study examined whether the motivational constructs of attainment value and ability self-concept were related to positive developmental experiences in sport, and tested intensity of…

In order to prepare students for adulthood and responsible citizenship, most high schools offer extracurricular activities designed to facilitate the learning of a wide range of competencies. The purpose of this study was to examine how participation in a single or a combination of extracurricular school activities for high school students may…

Civic engagement is an important marker of thriving among adolescents, and more research is needed that clarifies the ecological assets (positive supports across settings) that foster youth civic engagement. Simultaneously modeling associations between multiple ecological assets and civic behaviors can provide a nuanced view of the way…

Evidence points to associations between the socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods and children's and adolescents' development. A minimal amount of research, however, examines how timing of exposure to neighborhood socioeconomic conditions matters. This study used longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development…

Through secondary data analysis of a nationally representative sample, the study explored the relations between adolescent summer arrangements and associated developmental outcomes (well-being, externalizing behavior, body mass index, and academic performance). The study also examined if these relations were mediated by parental knowledge of youth…

To gauge the status of connections between the research literature about adolescent development and current theoretical and applied work pertinent to the concept of positive youth development (PYD), we assessed whether the adolescent development literature from 1991 to 2003 reflected a network of terms associated with PYD. A list of 16 terms…

The role of religious identity in positive youth development was examined in this study of personal meaning and prosocial concerns in adolescence. A structural equation model was tested on a sample of 801 urban public high school students. Participants responded to questionnaires assessing religious identity, personal meaning, and prosocial…