Short-term and long-term impacts of adolescent positive youth development

Background: Historically, adolescence has been viewed from a deficit-based perspective with regard to participation in risky behaviors. Alternatively, the Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework views adolescence as a positive period of psychological, emotional, social, and intellectual growth; generating behavior change through increased positive development. The purpose of this study was to explore the short and long term relationships between PYD developmental outcomes and health risk/promoting behaviors. Methods: Using 42 items from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, PYD developmental outcomes (competence, confidence, connections, character, and caring) were built as a continuous scale at Wave 1 (cronbach's alpha = .88). Short-term outcomes were assessed at Wave 2 (one year later) and long-term outcomes were assessed at Wave 4 (13 years later; n=9,478). Behavioral outcomes included smoking, alcohol abuse, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and suicidal ideation. Results: Regression models controlled for gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, and parental smoking and drinking behavior. At Wave 2, higher levels of PYD in adolescents was positively correlated with MVPA, and negatively correlated with regular smoking, alcohol use, and suicidal ideation (all p<.001). At Wave 4, higher levels of positive development was negatively correlated with regular smoking (p<.05), alcohol abuse (p<.001), and suicidal ideation (p<.001) in adulthood; but was no longer associated with MVPA. Conclusion: To meet Healthy People 2020 objectives, results support the need for expanded development of positive youth development programs in middle and high school. However, other approaches should be explored to influence long-term physical activity behavior.