Community prevention and health promotion face a permanent challenge: finding approaches that do more than avert problems. The concept of (PYD) offers a promising framework. Unlike traditional prevention, which concentrates on reducing risk behaviour, PYD takes a whole-person view that builds on young people’s strengths and supports their healthy development.
The chapter by Toumbourou et al. (2023) gives a comprehensive account of the history, global expansion and growing effectiveness of PYD programmes. Of particular interest to practitioners in community prevention is the spread of these programmes internationally, and the evidence that they promote positive developmental outcomes while reducing problem behaviour.
What the research on positive youth development shows
The core constructs
Research has identified 18 core constructs that characterise successful PYD programmes. They fall into five broad categories:
- Competence (social, emotional, cognitive, behavioural and moral)
- Confidence and direction in life (self-efficacy, self-determination, a clear and positive identity, belief in the future)
- Bonding (opportunities for prosocial involvement, recognition for positive behaviour, the fostering of bonds)
- Prosocial norms, beliefs and character (fostering prosocial norms, character strength and spirituality)
- Adjustment and resilience (fostering life satisfaction, positive emotions and resilience)
The research shows that PYD programmes which target competence, bonding and prosocial norms contribute most consistently to reducing problem behaviour and promoting positive developmental outcomes.
The five key domains of positive youth development
- Competence
- Social competence (communication, conflict resolution)
- Emotional competence (emotion regulation, empathy)
- Cognitive competence (problem-solving, creativity)
- Behavioural competence (self-control)
- Moral competence (ethical judgement)
- Confidence and direction in life
- Self-efficacy (belief in one’s own abilities)
- Self-determination (autonomy)
- Positive identity (self-awareness)
- Belief in the future (goals, optimism)
- A sense of purpose in one’s own actions
- Bonding
- Opportunities for prosocial involvement
- Recognition for positive behaviour
- Secure bonds to adults
- Positive relationships with peers
- A sense of belonging to the community
- Prosocial norms and character
- Fostering prosocial norms
- Fostering character strength
- Fostering spirituality
- Sense of responsibility
- Integrity and honesty
- Adjustment and resilience
- Fostering life satisfaction
- Fostering positive emotions
- Fostering resilience
- Strategies for coping with stress
- Adaptability to change
The Social Development Model as the theoretical foundation
The (SDM) provides a theoretical foundation for PYD (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996, 2002). It explains how positive development is fostered through four central processes:
- perceived opportunities for involvement and interaction
- the actual degree of involvement and interaction
- the skills to take part in those activities
- the reinforcement perceived from those interactions
When these processes are consistent, a social bond forms between the individual and the socialising network, and that bond in turn encourages the adoption of the network’s norms and values. Crucially, the same processes can foster prosocial or antisocial behaviour, depending on which norms and values prevail in the network concerned.
PYD logic model: how positive youth development leads to positive outcomes
- PYD programmes
- Building competence
- Fostering self-efficacy
- Empowering young people
- Fostering bonds
- Shaping supportive environments
- Proximal mediators
- Knowledge, skills and competence
- Opportunities for involvement
- Safety and support in the community
- Healthy relationships
- Positive norms and values
- Behaviour change
- Reduced substance use
- Greater engagement in family, school and community
- Less violent behaviour
- Less sexual risk behaviour
- Greater uptake of services
- Positive outcomes
- Better mental and physical health
- Better educational and employment outcomes
- Safer communities
- A more inclusive and equitable society
Global evidence for PYD programmes
The research shows that PYD programmes work internationally. Studies from different countries and cultural contexts confirm that PYD concepts can be applied globally and can produce positive effects.
The PATHS curriculum (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies), which fosters social and emotional competence, has been shown to be effective in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Turkey (Humphrey et al., 2016; Malti et al., 2012; Arda & Ocak, 2012). In Italy, the Life Skills Training programme produced positive effects on social competence and on norms about substance use, which went hand in hand with lower substance use (Velasco et al., 2017).
The implementation of the Communities That Care model in Australia led to significant improvements in , to lower substance use and antisocial behaviour, and to reductions in police-recorded youth offending and violent offences (Toumbourou et al., 2019; Rowland et al., 2021).
Practical implications for community prevention and health promotion
Features of effective PYD programmes
Anyone implementing PYD programmes in community prevention should bear the following findings in mind:
- Duration and intensity. Effective programmes run over a longer period, usually nine months or more.
- Implementation quality. The quality and consistency of delivery are decisive. Professional support and guidance from the programme developers help.
- Target groups. PYD programmes should be inclusive and should deliberately reach vulnerable young people, such as sexual minorities or young people with disabilities.
- Cultural adaptation. When programmes developed elsewhere are implemented, cultural adaptation matters, without losing the core components.
System-level implementation
For community practice, system-level approaches such as the Communities That Care model are particularly relevant. CTC offers a structured framework for identifying local risk and protective factors and for implementing evidence-based programmes in a targeted way.
The research – above all the randomised, long-term US trial, the – shows that CTC has significant effects on a range of outcomes:
- lower substance use and antisocial behaviour
- better educational outcomes
- a strong economic return (12.88 dollars per dollar invested in the CYDS; Kuklinski et al., 2021)
For community prevention and health promotion, CTC offers a promising model for the coordinated implementation of PYD approaches. The evidence page sets out the findings, including the more cautious verdicts from Europe.
A contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
PYD programmes can make a real contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in these areas:
- SDG 3 – Good health and wellbeing: ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.
- SDG 4 – Quality education: ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
- SDG 5 – Gender equality: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
- SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth: promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
This opens up opportunities for practitioners in community prevention and health promotion to link their work to broader societal goals and to mobilise additional support.
Positive youth development as the way forward for community prevention
The research on positive youth development offers convincing evidence for the effectiveness of this approach in prevention and health promotion. Its global expansion and the growing body of empirical evidence underline the potential of PYD programmes to promote positive developmental outcomes and reduce problem behaviour.
For practitioners in community prevention and health promotion, the PYD approach offers a valuable framework. By focusing on young people’s strengths and creating supportive environments, lasting positive change can be achieved.
Practitioners should consider:
- integrating the core PYD constructs into existing programmes
- using system-level approaches such as CTC
- ensuring the local adaptation of evidence-based programmes
- linking PYD approaches to broader development goals
Integrating PYD approaches into community prevention and health promotion is a promising strategy for supporting the health and wellbeing of young people in a lasting way, while reducing problems for society as a whole.
References
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