The contribution of the developmental assets framework to positive youth development theory and practice

Ugandan youth face a number of threats to their healthy development including poverty, high rates of disease, civil conflict, and environmental degradation. Cultivating developmental competencies is critical, not only for youth, but also for the future of Ugandan communities and civil society. In this article, we highlight contextual challenges facing Ugandan youth, report exploratory results on “standard” measures of developmental assets, and discuss the utility of a positive youth development (PYD) framework in Uganda. Despite difficult circumstances, our results indicated high levels of internal and external assets as assessed with the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP). The DAP demonstrated acceptable internal consistencies and was correlated with two other measures of youth assets, self-efficacy, and civic action. Although researchers should proceed with caution when using psychometric measures in new cultural contexts, our results provide preliminary support for the use of the DAP and a PYD framework for advancing adolescent research and programming in Uganda.

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Youth Social Entrepreneurship as Youth Development for All Youth

Making Change ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190849795.003.0006 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 37-48

Author(s):

Tina P. Kruse

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Social Entrepreneurship ◽

Developmental Psychology ◽

Primary Source ◽

Development Theory ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Relational Development ◽

Healthy Development ◽

Adolescent Brain Development

This chapter reviews the universal elements of positive youth development; that is, explicating the basic foundations of healthy development that are important for all youth, regardless of context or background. Developmental psychology serves as a primary source for the perspectives presented here. Among the key components of this discussion are the principles of the field, a review of relational development theory, and an overview of adolescent brain development. Specific frameworks are included, such as the Five C’s of youth development, social-emotional learning (SEL), and youth interests (sparks). While all of these components are influenced by the broader contexts and environments of the youth, the set of ideas included in this chapter applies to a somewhat decontextualized form of youth development theory as applied to the promise of youth social entrepreneurship.

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Positive youth development interventions: Advancing evaluation theory and practice

Applied Developmental Science ◽

10.1080/10888691.2015.1014485 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 147-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Patrick Tolan

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Evaluation Theory ◽

Development Interventions

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The Kids are Alright

Journal of Youth and Theology ◽

10.1163/24055093-01401008 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 91-110

Author(s):

Almeda M. Wright

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Spiritual Maturity ◽

Development Theory ◽

Youth Workers ◽

Youth Engagement ◽

Contemporary Research ◽

Religious Lives

Discussions of adolescence and youth spirituality often focus primarily on the problems that need to be fixed in youth or their context. This essay draws upon positive youth development theory, which asserts that youth are much more than problems or at-risk. It affirms that all youth have resources that can be developed and contributions to make to their communities. This essay reviews the pervasiveness of problem-based approaches in the larger society and contemporary research on the religious lives of youth. It also calls theologians and youth workers to contribute to the shifting perspective of youth by re-imaging youth spiritual maturity as more than “adult like” and to offer a theology of adolescence which explicitly affirms youth engagement as partners with God, right now.

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