Last updated: August 2014 www.ojjdp.gov/mpg

 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 1

Positive Youth Development 

Positive Youth Development (PYD) focuses on protective factors or the assets of youth and adolescents 

(Scales et al. 2005; Schwartz et al. 2007; Lerner et al. 2005; Theokas et al. 2005). PYD embraces the concept 

of youth as having the capacity to thrive, defined as “fulfilling one’s potential and contributing 

positively to one’s community” (Edberg 2008). In short, PYD emphasizes the potential of each juvenile. 

This approach represents a fundamental shift away from earlier conceptualizations of youth as broken, 

dangerous, and “problems to be managed,” as well as a shift away from a “deficit model” that 

understood positive development as the absence of negative or risk behaviors (such as drug use, 

truancy, delinquency) [Lerner 2005; Lerner et al. 2013]. Many models of intervention or prevention prior 

to the early 1990s focused almost exclusively on reducing risk exposure (Lerner 2005). 

Deriving in part from developmental systems or ecological systems theories, the PYD approach 

considers the person–context relationship—that is, the multilayered, ecological web of family, school, 

and community in which a youth is embedded (Development Services Group Inc. [DSG] 2013; Lerner 

et al. 2013). This web of interactions has been discussed by a number of theorists (e.g., Bronfenbrenner 

1979) and suggests that positive youth development can occur across time and across settings (Lerner 

et al. 2013). In a review of the scientific foundations of youth development, for instance, Benson and 

Saito (2000) describe four (not necessarily discrete) settings that provide opportunities for healthy youth 

development. They are programs, organizations, socializing systems, and community:

 Programs. Programs are semistructured processes, most often led by adults and designed to

address specific goals and youth outcomes. A program can be considered a youth development

program when it intentionally incorporates experiences and learnings to address and advance

the positive development of children and youth. This category incorporates a range of programs

from those that are highly structured, often in the form of curricula with step-by-step guidelines,

to those that may have a looser structure but incorporate a clear focus on one or more youth

development activities (e.g., service learning).

 Organizations. Organizations provide youth development opportunities in which a wide

variety of activities and relationships occur that are designed to improve the well-being of

children and youth. Examples include school-based afterschool recreation and co-curricular

activities, parks and recreation centers and leagues, community centers, amateur sports leagues,

faith-based youth development opportunities, and the myriad places and opportunities

developed by community-based and national youth organizations (e.g., Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,

Suggested Reference: Development Services Group, Inc. 2014. “Positive Youth Development.” Literature review. Washington, 

D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/PositiveYouthDevelopment.pdf

Prepared by Development Services Group, Inc., under cooperative agreement number 2013–JF–FX–K002. Points of view or

opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of 

OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 2

YMCA, YWCA). These kinds of settings can mobilize a wide range of formal and informal youth 

development inputs.

 Socializing Systems. Socializing systems are an array of complex and omnipresent systems 

intended to enhance processes and outcomes consonant with youth development principles. 

These include schools, families, neighborhoods, religious institutions, museums, and libraries.

 Community. Community is not only the geographic place within which programs, 

organizations, and systems intersect but also the social norms, resources, relationships, and 

informal settings that dramatically inform human development—both directly and indirectly.

One issue that has hampered the development of PYD as a field has been the lack of measures and 

indicators. However, that gap has started to be addressed more recently. For instance, PYD has been 

commonly operationalized by Lerner and colleagues (2005) and others (Pittman et al. 2001) to include 

elements of competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring or compassion (the “five Cs”), 

as well as contribution. Similarly, the Search Institute has developed a list of 40 external and internal 

developmental assets that form the building blocks for healthy development (http://www.searchinstitute.org/assets). 

Programs grounded on PYD constructs concentrate on developing these competencies and assets in the 

youths they serve, emphasizing the youths’ positive connections to their community and the juveniles’ 

ability to be productive and effective at tasks and activities that others value. This broad-based strategy 

includes any intervention that steers juveniles away from antisocial norms and toward conventional 

adulthood. It emphasizes (but is not limited to) interventions that concentrate on improvements in 

education, social competencies, employability, and civic and other life skills to change the capacity of a 

youth from a liability to an asset (Bazemore and Terry 1997). 

One source of evidence supporting positive youth development is the body of research on resiliency 

suggesting that many youths in high-risk environments manage to do well, even thrive, as a result of 

protective factors (DSG 2013; Rutter 1985; Werner 1986). For instance, one common protective influence 

that distinguishes at-risk youths who succeed in avoiding risk behaviors is their bonding to caring 

adults and to groups that facilitate successful maturation by providing opportunities for young people 

to gain a sense of legitimacy (Ahrens et al. 2008; Barnet et al. 2007; Black and Ford–Gilboe 2004; Farineau 

and McWey 2011; Kelsey, Johnson, and Maynard 2001; Nurius et al. 2009; Owen et al. 2009; Tajima et 

al. 2011). Additional research on positive youth development suggests that more assets lead to fewer 

risk behaviors and to additional positive outcomes such as school success and physical health (Catalano 

et al. 2004; Lerner et al. 2013; Scales 1999).

PYD’s strengths-based positive development approach represents a challenge for the juvenile justice 

system, for traditionally the system is grounded in the above mentioned deficit model and focuses on 

preventing, intervening in, and reducing negative behaviors (Bazemore and Terry 1997).

Theoretical Foundation

The theoretical basis for youth competency development borrows from work done on developmental 

systems theory. Lerner summarized the defining features of developmental systems theory, which 

include a rejection of the distinction between nature–nurture; a recognition of the interrelated 

integration of all levels of an ecology (e.g., the bidirectional nature of influence between individual, 

family, school, and community); a consideration of the individual in relation to his or her context; and 

an acceptance that development occurs over time because of the plasticity of humans. He notes that the 

recognition of plasticity (the capacity to grow, change, and adapt) promotes an “optimistic and 
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 3

proactive search for characteristics of individuals and of their ecologies that, together, can be arrayed 

to promote positive human development across life” (2005, 19).

Efforts in recent years have been made to integrate risk and protection models with PYD, since they 

share a common goal of supporting healthy youth development through the cultivation of individual 

and social competencies (Catalano et al. 2004; DSG 2013). These models recognize the critical impact of 

individual, social, and community resources and strengths on healthy development and support 

interventions that address the “whole person” and that address contextual factors beyond the 

individual (DSG 2013).

In summary, the PYD approach seeks to prepare young people to meet the challenges of adolescence 

through a series of structured, progressive activities and experiences that help them obtain social, 

emotional, ethical, physical, and cognitive competencies. This “asset based” approach views youths as 

resources and builds on their strengths and capabilities for development within their own community. 

It emphasizes the acquisition of adequate attitudes, behaviors, and skills (Bazemore and Terry 1997). 

This approach concentrates less on the prevention of delinquent behaviors, although that has been 

suggested in the empirical research to be an important result of PYD programs (Catalano et al. 2004; 

Lerner et al. 2013).

Outcome Evidence

A growing body of evidence suggests that positive youth development programs can nurture 

individual protective factors that both increase successes and positive outcomes and decrease problem 

behaviors (Benson and Saito 2000). 

Two of the first researchers (Conrad and Hedin 1981) in this area studied 4,000 adolescents in 30 

experiential education programs, using survey data. Six programs had comparison groups composed 

of students in nonexperiential programs. The researchers found that students in the treatment group 

demonstrated improvement in personal and social development, moral reasoning, self-esteem, and 

attitudes toward community service and involvement. Other early research on positive youth 

development demonstrated improved ego, moral development (Cognetta and Sprinthall 1978), and 

sense of social responsibility and competence (Newman and Rutter 1983).

A more recent series of studies have been published, based on findings from the 4-H Study of Positive 

Youth Development (PYD), which uses a longitudinal sequential design (Lerner et al., 2005). The first 

wave of data was collected in 2002–2003 from fifth graders and is designed to follow students through 

grade 12. As of 2013, the study included about 7,000 youths from 42 states. Findings from this study 

provide evidence for the 5 C’s constructs, as well as contribution (Lerner et al. 2013). 

Systematic reviews of studies on positive youth development have also indicated that PYD results in 

positive outcomes. Scales and Leffert (1999) reviewed several studies concerning the constructive use 

of time. The authors found that participation in these developmental activities produced several 

positive outcomes, including

 Increased safety

 Increased academic achievement

 Greater communication in the family 

 Fewer psychosocial problems, such as loneliness, shyness, and hopelessness 

 Decreased involvement in risky behaviors, such as drug use and juvenile delinquency 
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 4

 Increased self-esteem, increased popularity, increased sense of personal control, and enhanced 

identity development 

 Better development of life skills such as leadership and speaking in public, decision-making, 

dependability, and job responsibility 

Catalano and colleagues (2004) conducted an analysis of 25 program evaluations done by the Social 

Development Research Group at the University of Washington. The programs included in the analysis 

all concentrated on promoting competencies and social, emotional, or cognitive development and were 

evaluated using strong research designs. The analysis found that some of the programs improved many 

positive behaviors (self-control, assertiveness, problem solving, interpersonal skills, social acceptance, 

school achievement, completion of schoolwork, graduation rates, parental trust, self-efficacy, and selfesteem). In addition, the analysis found that these programs decreased negative behaviors (hitting, 

carrying weapons, vehicle theft, school failure, negative family events, teen pregnancy, skipping 

classes, school suspensions, and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use). They noted that the themes 

common to successful programs included methods to

 Strengthen social, emotional, behavioral cognitive, and moral competencies

 Build self-efficacy

 Shape messages from family and community about clear standards for youth behavior

 Increase healthy bonding with adults, peers, and younger children

 Expand opportunities and recognition for youth

 Provide structure and consistency in program delivery

 Intervene with youth for 9 months or longer [Catalano et al., 117]

Durlak and colleagues (2007) reviewed 526 studies that included universal competence-promotion 

outcomes. Based on the 24 percent of studies that provided sufficient quantitative data to calculate 

effect sizes, the analysis found that some effect sizes were statistically significant, ranging from modest 

to large in magnitude. Durlak, Weissberg, and Pachan (2010) conducted a meta-analysis of afterschool 

programs that promoted personal and social skills in children. Their findings confirm the positive 

outcomes of previous research. They found that, compared with controls, participants of the programs 

experienced significant reductions in their problem behaviors and significant increases in their selfperceptions and bonding to school, positive social behaviors, school grades, and levels of academic 

achievement.

In summary, the evidence concerning the impact of positive youth development programs is small but 

growing. This growing body of research suggests that youth development programs are a promising 

tool in the arsenal of programs designed to decrease problem behaviors.

For information on positive youth development programs on MPG, please click the links below. 

Positive Youth Development Program (Connecticut)

Families And Schools Together (FAST)

Positive Action

Additional Resources

Positive Youth Development Page, FindYouthInfo.gov.

http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/resources/Positive-Youth-Development
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 5

Oregon Commission on Children and Families’ Best Practices: Positive Youth Development

http://www.npcresearch.com/Files/Strengths%20Training%20Binder/44.%20Best%20Practices%20P

ositive%20Youth%20Development.pdf

National Clearinghouse on Family and Youth 

http://www.ncfy.com/youthdevlp.htm

Developmental Assets: Preparing Young People for Success Page, The Search Institute

http://www.search-institute.org/what-we-study/developmental-assets

References

Ahrens, Kym R., David Lane DuBois, Laura P. Richardson, Ming–Yu Fan, and Paula Lozano. 2008. 

“Youth in Foster Care With Adult Mentors During Adolescence Have Improved Adult 

Outcomes.” Pediatrics 121(2):e246–52.

Barnet, Beth, Jiexin Liu, Margo DeVoe, Kari Alperovitz–Bichell, and Anne K. Duggan. 2007. “Home 

Visitation or Adolescent Mothers: Effects on Parenting, Maternal Life Course, and Primary Care 

Linkage.” Annals of Family Medicine 5(3):224–32.

Bazemore, Gordon, and W. Clinton Terry. 1997. “Developing Delinquent Youths: A Reintegrative 

Model for Rehabilitation and a New Role for the Juvenile Justice Systems.” Child Welfare 76(5):665–

716.

Benson, Peter L., and Rebecca N. Saito. 2000. “The Scientific Foundations of Youth Development.” In 

Public/Private Ventures (ed.). Youth Development: Issues, Challenges, and Directions. Philadelphia, 

Pa.: Public/Private Ventures.

Black, Claire, and Marilyn Ford–Gilboe. 2004. “Adolescent Mothers: Resilience, Family Health Work 

and Health-Promoting Practices.” Journal of Advanced Nursing 48(4):351–60.

Bronfenbrenner, Urie. 1979. The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University 

Press.

Catalano, Richard F., M. Lisa Berglund, Jean A.M. Ryan, Heather S. Lonczak, and J. David Hawkins. 

2004. “Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of 

Positive Youth Development Programs.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 

Science 591:98–124.

Cognetta, Philip V., and Norman A. Sprinthall. 1978. “Students as Teachers: Role Taking as a Means 

of Promoting Psychological Development During Adolescence.” In Norman A. Sprinthall and 

Ralph L. Mosher (eds.). Value Development as the Aim of Education. Schenectady, N.Y.: Character 

Research Press.

Conrad, Daniel E., and Diane Hedin. 1981. National Assessment of Experiential Education: A Final Report. 

St. Paul, Minn.: University of Minnesota.

Development Services Group, Inc. 2013. Protective Factors for Populations Served by the Administration on 

Children, Youth and Families: A Literature Review and Theoretical Framework. 

http://www.dsgonline.com/acyf/DSG%20Protective%20Factors%20Literature%20Review%2020

13%20Exec%20Summary.pdf

Durlak, Joseph A., Rebecca D. Taylor, Kei Kawashima, Molly K. Pachan, Emily P. DuPre, Christine I. 

Celio, Sasha R. Berger, Allison B. Dymnicki, and Roger P. Weissberg. 2007. “Effects of positive 

youth development programs on school, family, and community systems.” American Journal of 

Community Psychology 39(3–4):269–86.

Durlak, Joseph A., Roger P. Weissberg, and Molly K. Pachan. 2010. “A Meta-Analysis of Afterschool 

Programs That Seek to Promote Personal and Social Skills in Children and Adolescents.” American 

Journal of Community Psychology 45(3–4):294–309.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 6

Edberg, Mark C. 2008. Development of UNICEF Latin America/Caribbean Adolescent Well-Being Indicators: 

Background and Proposed Indicators. Report for UNICEF–LAC region, Panama City, Panama.

Elliott, D. 1993. “Serious Violent Offenders: Onset, Developmental Course, and Termination.” 

American Society of Criminology 1993 Presidential Address.” Criminology 32:1–10.

Farineau, Heather M., and Lenore M. McWey. 2011. “The Relationship Between Extracurricular 

Activities and Delinquency of Adolescents in Foster Care.” Children and Youth Services Review, 

33(6):963–68.

Kelsey, Meredith, Amy Johnson, and Rebecca Maynard. 2001. The Potential of Home Visitor Services to 

Strengthen Welfare-to-Work Programs for Teenage Parents on Cash Assistance. University of 

Pennsylvania and Mathematica Policy Research.

Lerner, Richard M. 2005. Promoting Positive Youth Development: Theoretical and Empirical Bases. Paper 

prepared for the Workshop on the Science of Adolescent Health and Development, National 

Research Council, Washington, DC. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences.

Lerner, Richard M., Jacqueline V. Lerner, Jason B. Almerigi, Christina Theokas, Erin Phelps, Steinunn 

Gestsdottir, Sophie Naudeau, Helena Jeličić, Amy Alberts, Lang Ma, and others. 2005. “Positive 

Youth Development, Participation in Community Youth Development Programs, and 

Community Contributions of Fifth Grade Adolescents: Findings From the First Wave of the 4–H 

Study of Positive Youth Development.” Journal of Early Adolescence 25:17–71.

Lerner, Richard M., Christopher M. Napolitano, Michelle J. Boyd, Megan K. Mueller, and Kristina S. 

Callina. 2013. “Mentoring and Positive Youth Development.” In David Lane DuBois and Michael 

J. Karcher (eds.). Handbook of Youth Mentoring. Sage Publications, 17–27.

Newmann, Fred M., and Robert A. Rutter. 1983. The Effects of High School Community Service Programs 

on Students’ Social Development. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin.

Nurius, Paula S., Patricia L. Russell, Jerald R. Herting, Carole Hooven, and Elaine Adams Thompson. 

2009. “Risk and Protective Profiles Among Never-Exposed, Single-Form, and Multiple-Form 

Violence-Exposed Youth.” Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma 2(2):106–23.

Owen, Ashley E., Martie P. Thompson, Anne Shaffer, Emily B. Jackson, and Nadine J. Kaslow. 2009. 

“Family Variables That Mediate the Relation Between Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Child 

Adjustment.” Journal of Family Violence 24(7):433–45.

Pittman, Karen Johnson, Merita Irby, Joel Tolman, Nicole Yohalem, and Thaddeus Ferber. 2001. 

“Preventing Problems, Promoting Development, Encouraging Engagement: Competing Priorities 

or Inseparable Goals?” Based on Karen Johnson Pittman and Merita Irby. 1996. Preventing 

Problems or Promoting Development?” Washington, D.C.: Forum for Youth Investment, Impact 

Strategies, Inc. Available online at http://www.forumfyi.org.

Rutter, Michael. 1985. “Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Protective Factors and Resistance to 

Psychiatric Disorder.” British Journal of Psychiatry 147:598–611.

Scales, Peter C. 1999. “Reducing Risks and Building Developmental Assets: Essential Actions for 

Promoting Adolescent Health.” Journal of School Health 69(3):113–19.

Scales, Peter C., Karen C. Foster, Marc Mannes, Megan A. Horst, Kristina C. Pinto, and Rutherford, A. 

2005. “School–Business Partnerships, Developmental Assets, and Positive Outcomes Among 

Urban High School Students: A Mixed-Methods Study.” Urban Education 40:144–89.

Scales, Peter C., and Nancy Leffert. 1999. Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific Research on 

Adolescent Development. Minneapolis, Minn.: Search Institute.

Schwartz, Robert G. 2000. “Juvenile Justice and Positive Youth Development.” In Public/Private 

Ventures (ed.). Youth Development: Issues, Challenges, and Directions. Philadelphia, Pa.

Schwartz, Seth J., Hilda Pantin, J. Douglas Coatsworth, and José Szapocznik. 2007. “Addressing the 

Challenges and Opportunities for Today’s Youth: Toward an Integrative Model and Its 

Implications for Research and Intervention.” Journal of Primary Prevention 28(2):117–44.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 7

Tajima, Emiko A., Todd I. Herrenkohl, Carrie A. Moylan, and Amelia S. Derr. 2011. “Moderating the 

Effects of Childhood Exposure to Intimate-Partner Violence: The Roles of Parenting 

Characteristics and Adolescent Peer Support.” Journal of Research on Adolescence 21(2):376–94.

Theokas, Christina, Jason B. Almerigi, Richard M. Lerner, Elizabeth M. Dowling, Peter L. Benson, 

Peter C. Scales, and others. 2005. “Conceptualizing and Modeling Individual and Ecological Asset 

Components of Thriving in Early Adolescence.” Journal of Early Adolescence 25:113–43.

Werner, Emmy E. 1986. “Resilient Offspring of Alcoholics: A Longitudinal Study From Birth to Age 

18.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 47:34–40.