Handbook of Positive Youth Development

This handbook examines positive youth development (PYD) in youth and emerging adults from an international perspective. It focuses on large and underrepresented cultural groups across six continents within a strengths-based conception of adolescence that considers all youth as having assets. The volume explores the ways in which developmental assets, when effectively harnessed, empower youth to transition into a productive and resourceful adulthood. The book focuses on PYD across vast geographical regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Latin America as well as on strengths and resources for optimal well-being. The handbook addresses the positive development of young people across various cultural contexts to advance research, policy, and practice and inform interventions that foster continued thriving and reduce the chances of compromised youth development. It presents theoretical perspectives and supporting empirical findings to promote a more comprehensive understanding of PYD from an integrated, multidisciplinary, and multinational perspective.

“The Handbook of Positive Youth Development represents a milestone in research on PYD. By combining theoretical advancements, empirical evidence … this Handbook constitutes a must-have for any scientist or practitioner in the field of youth development. Social scientists from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds such as positive psychology, well-being studies … will find this Handbook useful. The editors have made a tremendous job in providing a groundwork from which future work on minimizing the impact of adversity will be built.” (‪Stefanos Mastrotheodoros, Adolescent Research Review, Vol. 7 (4), 2022)



“The Handbook of Positive Youth Development: Advancing Research, Policy and Practice in Global Contexts is a potentially ground-breaking work … . The text provides a truly international perspective on the latest research in the field of PYD, featuring new scholarship from underrepresented and understudied geographic locations. … The Handbook will undoubtedly serve as an important resource for a broad audience of youth researchers, practitioners and policy makers for many years to come.” (Steven Eric Krauss, Applied Research in Quality of Life, Vol. 16, 2021)



“The book sets itself apart as pioneering in PYD research, nowadays … . Besides summarizing a number of unique features and relevant conceptual and methodological contributions of the book at hand, the foreword written by Shek stands itself as a testament to the book’s ethos of increasing visibility of non-WEIRD PYD research and scholars. The Handbook is a tremendous ambitious collective product that raises the voice and advances the research in PYD in both WEIRD and non-WEIRD societies.” (Delia Stefenel and  Mădălina Mirea, Research and Science Journal, Vol. 22 (2), 2021) “The cross-cultural examination of any behavioral domain benefits our understanding of them by expanding our knowledge base and thus by providing the possibility of discovering some general, general principles of human development and activity. This volume achieves these goals by examining positive youth development in numerous societies, and synthesizing the evidence into novel theoretical frames, and empirical generalizations.” (John Berry, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Queen’s University, Canada, Research Professor Higher School of Economics Russian Federation)

“At the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), we have been monitoring prevention for over 25 years and are promoting evidence-based prevention interventions in Europe and its neighborhood countries. I very much welcome this Handbook as an important step towards a further approximation and field integration between health promotion and prevention. Here, on the one hand, we need a more positive framing for prevention: the classical association of “prevent something bad from happening” is difficult to communicate to the public as a motivational message. On the other hand, we need a more concrete, measurable and operational concept than “health promotion”. Positive Youth Development is a promising term and approach for these conceptual challenges and it is good to see in this handbook that it is applicable across all cultures and contexts.” (Gregor Burkhart, MD, MPH, Principal Scientific Analyst European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Portugal)           

“This is an exciting collection of studies that make a great contribution to the field of child and adolescent development. It surmounts one of the main criticisms of our science: the preponderance of studies conducted with WEIRD populations. It is not only important in increasing our understanding of how to promote positive developmental outcomes in very diverse populations, but it documents the mechanisms in many understudied populations.  I congratulate the editors and contributors on opening our eyes on how developmental science should operate!” (Cynthia García Coll, PhD, Adjunct Professor University of Puerto Rico Medical Science Campus, Charles Pitts Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor Emerita, Brown University, USA) 

“The Handbook of Positive Youth Development explores psychosocial, individual and contextual factors associated with Positive Youth Development (PYD) using a broad, global, cultural lens. The contributions are based on diverse samples and are innovative in regard to theory and methodology. The comprehensive Handbook of PYD provides a solid foundation for future research, and has implications for prevention and intervention programs, policy, and clinical practice. It is an essential resource for scholars, educators, health professionals, policy makers, and clinicians devoted to improving the health of youth worldwide!” (Christine McCauley Ohannessian, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, USA) 

“This groundbreaking volume, with 37 chapters including data from 38 countries globally, presents an expanded conceptual model for positive youth development, 7Cs that captures strengths of young people in many different geographic contexts globally, with an emphasis on low and middle income countries. Radosveta Dimitrova, editor of the volume with Nora Wiium, has developed research collaborations with most of the authors presenting data and other authors working in this field with similar concepts. This outstanding volume, with authors and data as well as deep cultural knowledge from all six populated continents, provides an outstanding platform for subsequent research globally.” (Anne C. Petersen, PhD Research Professor (Adjunct) University of Michigan, USA)

“In several respects this Handbook sets a standard for research in an exciting phase of life, young adulthood. Most striking is that the reported research is inclusive, not being limited to affluent countries and groups. Other commendable features include emphasis on positive developmental assets; empirical studies organized around a common framework with attention to methodological and psychometric issues of cross-cultural comparison; and the simultaneous probing of a set of dimensions important for psychosocial functioning everywhere.” (Ype H. Poortinga, Emeritus Professor of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Tilburg University, Netherlands, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) 

“This Handbook focuses upon a critical and timely issue: positive youth development in international context. The editors have carefully crafted a well-written and informative selection of chapters on this theme, sensibly organizing and integrating quality research from diverse perspectives, with representation from many less examined nations in psychology, from Belize and Jamaica, to Albania, Peru and South Africa. In sum, the 37 chapters impressively represent responses from over 22,000 youth and adolescents around the globe, making a significant contribution to psychological knowledge relevant for researchers, educators, policy makers and all interested in the well-being of young people.” (Grant J. Rich, PhD, Senior Contributing Faculty, Walden University, USA) 

 “This volume brings together international scholarship on positive youth development across a variety of disciplines. Chapters explore the structure of positive youth development; its embeddedness within family, peer, and community contexts; and interventions to promote positive youth development within a variety of national and regional contexts. The volume is indispensable for anyone seeking to understand and utilize positive youth development from a global perspective.” (Seth J. Schwartz, PhD, Professor of Public Health Sciences, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, USA) 

“By and large, research on positive youth development has focused on young people from Western, developed nations and, especially from the United States, England, and Australia. This handbook, which gathers research from leading scientists around the world, including those from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America, is a much needed corrective. The volume is an invaluable resource for scholars interested in how to facilitate positive development during this critical developmental period.” (Laurence Steinberg, PhD, Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, Temple University, USA) 

“The Handbook of Positive Youth Development not only provides the most comprehensive knowledge of innovative research and practice on optimal youth development across the globe, but it also stimulates us—researchers, practitioners, and policymakers—to further make commitments to young people in respective cultures and societies. This handbook is full of resources for making youth thrive in their social world, and many of these resources developed by scholars in one country can be applicable for scholars in other countries—regardless Western and non-Western cultures.” (Kazumi Sugimura, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Hiroshima University, Japan) 

“This unique volume will substantially advance our understanding of development in a multicultural world. It is the first handbook that presents a truly global perspective on Positive Youth Development with scientific views from all continents. As development always takes place in continuous exchange between the developing individual and the surrounding cultural context, scientists and practitioners have to take these views into consideration when conducting research or planning interventions – for country comparisons, but also within increasinglymulticultural societies.” (Peter F. Titzmann, Professor for Developmental Psychology, Leibniz University Hanover, Germany) 

“This handbook includes multi-disciplinary contributions of Positive Youth Development (PYD) research and practice across the globe. The wide range of international contributors enables constructs and applications to be assessed across diverse cultural contexts. The handbook will provide a firm basis to encourage PYD in the aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic.”  (John Toumbourou, PhD, Professor and Chair in Health Psychology, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Australia) 

“This landmark handbook shatters prevailing assumptions that youth development research is based in risk, pathology, and Western values. By presenting rich data and implications for practice and policy from 38 countries around the world, this volume forms a collective blueprint for how the positive development of youth, grounded in culture and local contexts, can form the foundation of sustainable societies.” (Hirokazu Yoshikawa, PhD, Courtney Sale Ross Professor of Globalization and Education, Co-Director, Global TIES for Children (Transforming Intervention Effectiveness and Scale) Center, New York University, USA)

“The Handbook of Positive Youth Development marks a transformative moment in burgeoning field of positive youth development. Contributions from almost 40 countries around the world, bring a rich and diverse tapestry of theoretical, empirical, policy, and practice insight that both reflect and reinforce the core, guiding principles of PYD while also dramatically expanding and deepening our understanding of youth development and thriving. What started as a small group of practitioner-scholars challenging deficit-focused interventions has grown—as this volume documents—into an international movement that is now foundational to how we understandadolescence in the 21st century. So the deep commitment of the scholars behind this handbook is a tremendous contribution that fills critical gaps, and I certainly hope that this volume unleashes another generation of significant and groundbreaking scholarship and practice that enhances PYD work around the world.” (Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, PhD, Senior Scholar, Search Institute Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)

Radosveta Dimitrova holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology (University of Trieste, Italy received the best dissertation award of the Italian Association of Psychology) and a PhD in Cross-Cultural Psychology (Tilburg University, the Netherlands received the best dissertation award of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD). She is the recipient of the 2016 Scientist Award of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD) for distinguished theoretical contribution and programmatic research to the study of behavioral development and dissemination of developmental science. Her main research interests regard positive development, acculturation, migration, identity, indigenous and vulnerable ethnic minority communities, and adaptation of measures for use in different cultures. She has research and teaching experience in leading universities in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Norway, Sweden and international collaborations and projects in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America. She has widely published in developmental science, cross-cultural and international psychology, human development, emerging adulthood, child and family studies and assessment fields by also serving governing councils of major organizations and editorial boards of leading journals in these fields. 

Nora Wiium is an Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway where she obtained her PhD in Health Promotion. Her teaching and research activities regard developmental psychology, health behaviors and youth development. Since 2014 she leads an international project on Positive Youth Development (PYD) representing collaborations from over 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America and expertise from diverse scientific fields including health psychology, developmental psychology, human development, intervention and implementation science. She has co-edited a special issue on PYD across cultures in Child & Youth Care Forum and has served as a reviewer or guest editor for several journals, including Frontiers in Psychology and International Journal of Public Health.