Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities for Today's Youth: Toward an Integrative Model and its Implications for Research and Intervention

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
The Journal of Primary Prevention Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This article calls for, and proposes some tenets of, model building in adolescent psychosocial development. Specifically, it is suggested that there is a need for a model that draws from the risk-protection approach, from which many prevention science approaches are drawn, and the applied developmental science perspective, from which many positive youth development approaches are drawn. The model to be built, and the integration it proposes, is based in the overlap between protective factors and developmental assets (drawn from the applied developmental science and positive youth development perspectives), as well as on the complementarity of the intrapersonal mechanisms proposed within the two perspectives. The article also poses important questions for future research and presents an empirical agenda for addressing these questions in the service of building and testing a model of adolescent psychosocial development and of integrating the prevention and positive youth development approaches to intervention and policy.

Editors’ Strategic Implications: The authors propose an innovative, integrative model that will be useful to preventionists in areas beyond the adolescent development example described in the article. This kind of developmental focus in prevention research is long overdue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For a more in-depth review of these funding constraints and reactions from leaders of the primary prevention field, readers are directed to National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup on Mental Disorders Prevention Research (2001) and to responses by Greenberg and Weissberg (2001) and by Seligman (2001).

REFERENCES

  • Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albee, G. W. (1996). Revolutions and counter-revolutions in prevention. American Psychologist, 51, 1130–1133.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Albee, G. W. (1999). Prevention, not treatment, is the only hope. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 12, 133–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albee, G. W., & Ryan-Finn, K. D. (1993). An overview of primary prevention. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 72, 115–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, J. P., Porter, M. R., McFarland, F. C., Marsh, P., & McElhaney, K. B. (2005). The two faces of adolescents’ success with peers: Adolescent popularity, social adaptation, and deviant behavior. Child Development, 76, 747–760.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ardelt, M., & Eccles, J. S. (2001). Effects of mothers’ parental efficacy beliefs and promotive parenting strategies on inner-city youth. Journal of Family Issues, 22, 944–972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In P. B. Baltes & M. M. Baltes (Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44, 1175–1184.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barkin, S., Smith, K., & Durant, R. (2002). Social skills and attitudes associated with substance use behaviors among young adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30, 448–454.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benson, P. L. (2003). Developmental assets and asset-building community: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In R. M. Lerner & P. L. Benson (Eds.), Developmental assets and asset-building communities: Implications for research, policy, and practice (pp. 19–43). New York: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., Hamilton, S. F., & Sesma, A. (in press). Positive youth development: Theory, research and application. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., Vol. 1). New York: Wiley.

  • Berman, A. M., Schwartz, S. J., Kurtines, W. M., & Berman, S. L. (2001). The process of exploration in identity formation: The role of style and competence. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 513–528.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Botvin, G. J., & Griffin, K. W. (2004). Life skills training: Empirical findings and future directions. Journal of Primary Prevention, 25, 211–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Botvin, G. J., Griffin, K. W., Diaz, T., & Ifill-Williams, M. (2001). Drug abuse prevention among minority adolescents: Posttest and one-year follow-up of a school-based preventive intervention. Prevention Science, 2, 1–13.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy, L. M., Nagin, D. S., Tremblay, R. E., Bates, J. E., Brame, B., Dodge, K. A., et al. (2003). Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six-site, cross-national study. Developmental Psychology, 39, 222–245.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brook, J. S., Brook, D. W., De la Rosa, M., Whiteman, M., Johnson, E., & Montoya, I. (2000). Adolescent illegal drug use: The impact of personality, family, and environmental factors. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 24, 183–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. B. (2005). Moving forward with research on adolescence: Some reflections on the state of JRA and the state of the field. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15, 657–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. A., Mott, M. A., & Myers, M. G. (1990). Adolescent alcohol and drug treatment outcome. In R. R. Watson (Ed.), Drug and alcohol abuse prevention (pp. 373–403). New York: Humana Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, A. L., Schulenberg, J. E., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Johnston, L. D. (2003). How academic achievement, attitudes, and behaviors relate to the course of substance use during adolescence: A 6-year, multiwave national longitudinal study. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 361–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bumbarger, B., & Greenberg, M. T. (2002). Next steps in advancing research on positive youth development. Prevention and Treatment, 5(Article 16).

  • Catalano, R. F., Berglund, M. L., Ryan, J. A. M., Lonczak, H. S., & Hawkins, J. D. (2004). Positive youth development in the United States: Research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 98–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catalano, R. F., Hawkins, J. D., Berglund, L., Pollard, J. A., & Arthur, M. W. (2002). Prevention science and positive youth development: Competitive or cooperative frameworks? Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(Suppl. 6), 230–239.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2004). HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, vol. 15: Cases of HIV infection and AIDS in the United States, 2003. Atlanta, GA: Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review, 13, 471–502.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2002). A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 6–20.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Claes, M., Lacourse, E., Ercolani, A.-P., Pierro, A., Leone, L., & Presaghi, F. (2005). Parenting, peer orientation, drug use, and antisocial behavior in late adolescence: A cross-national study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 401–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, L. M., Murphy, S. A., & Bierman, K. (2004). A conceptual framework for adaptive preventive interventions. Prevention Science, 5, 185–206.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Côté, J. E. (2000). Arrested adulthood: The changing nature of maturity and identity. New York: New York University Press.

  • Côté, J. E., & Levine, C. G. (2002). Identity formation, agency, and culture: A social psychological synthesis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

  • Crosnoe, R., Erickson, K. G., & Dornbusch, S. M. (2002). Protective functions of family relationships and school factors on the deviant behavior of adolescent boys and girls. Youth and Society, 33, 515–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damon, W. (2004). What is positive youth development? Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 13–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1998). Multiple risk factors in the development of externalizing behavior problems: Group and individual differences. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 469–493.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of self-determination research. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demuth, S., & Brown, S. L. (2004). Family structure, family processes, and adolescent delinquency: The significance of parental absence versus parental gender. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41, 58–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dishion, T. J., & Kavanagh, K. (2000). A multilevel approach to family-centered prevention in schools: Process and outcome. Addictive Behaviors, 25, 899–911.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dishion, T. J., Kavanagh, K., Schneiger, A., Nelson, S., & Kaufman, N. K. (2002). Preventing early adolescent substance use: A family-centered strategy for the public middle school. Prevention Science, 3, 191–201.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dishion, T. J., & Patterson, G. R. (1999). Model building in developmental psychopathology: Approaches to understanding and intervention. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 502–512.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dmitrieva, J., Chen, C., Greenberger, E., & Gil-Rivas, V. (2004). Family relationships and adolescent psychosocial outcomes: Converging findings from Eastern and Western cultures. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14, 425–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 39, 349–371.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, S. C., Duncan, T. E., & Strycker, L. A. (2002). A multilevel analysis of neighborhood context and youth alcohol and drug problems. Prevention Science, 3, 125–133.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dwairy, M. (1999). Toward psycho-cultural approach in Middle Eastern societies. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 909–915.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwairy, M. (2002). Foundations of psychosocial dynamic personality theory of collective people. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 343–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eke, A. N., Mezoff, J. S., Duncan, T., & Sogolow, E. D. (2006). Reputationally strong HIV prevention programs: Lessons from the front line. AIDS Education and Prevention, 18(2), 163–175.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, M. J., Gager, P., & Leon, S. (1997). Spreading a warm blanket of prevention over all children: Guidelines for selecting substance abuse and related prevention criteria for use in the schools. Journal of Primary Prevention, 18, 41–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flay, B. R., Biglan, A., Boruch, R. F., Castro, F. G., Gottfredson, D., Kellam, S., et al. (2005). Standards of evidence: Criteria for efficacy, effectiveness, and dissemination. Prevention Science, 6, 151–175.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, M. W., Galinsky, M. J., Smokowski, P. R., Day, S. H., Terzian, M. A., Rose, R. A., et al. (2005). Social information-processing skills training to promote social competence and prevent aggressive behavior in the third grade. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 1045–1055.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Formoso, D., Gonzales, N. A., & Aiken, L. S. (2000). Family conflict and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior: Protective factors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 175–199.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fredricks, J. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2005). Developmental benefits of extracurricular involvement: Do peer characteristics mediate the link between activities and youth outcomes? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 507–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gable, S. L., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology? Review of General Psychology, 9, 103–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, S. E., Davis-Kean, P. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2005). Parents, peers, and problem behavior: A longitudinal investigation of the impact of relationship perceptions and characteristics on the development of adolescent problem behavior. Developmental Psychology, 41, 401–413.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., & Henry, D. B. (2000). A developmental-ecological model of the relation of family functioning to patterns of delinquency. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 16, 169–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M. T., & Weissberg, R. (2001). Commentary on “Priorities for Prevention Research at NIMH.” Prevention and Treatment, 4(in press).

  • Greenwood, G. L., Woods, W. J., Guydish, J., & Bein, E. (2001). Relapse outcomes in a randomized trial of adolescent residential and day drug treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 20, 15–23.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grunbaum, J. A., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Ross, J., Hawkins, J., Lowry, R., et al. (2004). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2003. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 53(SS-2), 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guay, F., Marsh, H. W., & Boivin, M. (2003). Academic self-concept and academic achievement: Perspectives on their causal ordering. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 124–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64–105.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, J. D., Guo, J., Hill, K. G., Battin-Pearson, S., & Abbott, R. D. (2001). Long-term effects of the Seattle Social Development Intervention on school bonding trajectories. Applied Developmental Science, 5(4), 225–236.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Henggeler, S. W., & Sheidow, A. J. (2003). Conduct disorder and delinquency. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 29, 505–522.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, J. E., Vernon, M. K., & Eccles, J. S. (2004). Relations between social self-perceptions, time use, and prosocial or problem behaviors during adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 45–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeličić, H., Bobek, D. L., Phelps, E., Lerner, R. M., & Lerner, J. V. (in press). Using positive youth development (PYD) to predict positive and negative outcomes in adolescence: Findings from the first two waves of the 4-H Study of PYD. International Journal of Behavioral Development.

  • Jemmott, J. B., Jemmott, L. S., & Fong, G. T. (1998). Abstinence and safer sex HIV risk reduction interventions for African-American adolescents: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of American Medical Association, 279, 1529–1536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., Turbin, M. S., Costa, F. M., Dong, Q., Zhang, H., & Wang, C. (2003). Adolescent problem behavior in China and the United States: A cross-national study of psychosocial protective factors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 329–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2004). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2003. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

  • Jones, R. M., & Hartmann, B. R. (1988). Ego identity: Developmental differences and experimental substance use among adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 11, 347–360.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kazdin, A. E., Kraemer, H. C., Kessler, R. C., Kupfer, D. J., & Offord, D. R. (1997). The contribution of risk factor research to developmental psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 17, 375–406.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kraemer, H. C., Yesavage, J. A., Taylor, J. L., & Kupfer, D. (2000). How can we learn about developmental processes from cross-sectional studies, or can we? American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 163–171.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kulis, S., Marsiglia, F. F., Elek, E., Dustman, P., Wagstaff, D. A., & Hecht, M. L. (2005). Mexican/Mexican American adolescents and Keepin’ it REAL: An evidence-based substance abuse prevention program. Children and Schools, 27(3), 133–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurtines, W. M., & Silverman, W. K. (1999). Emerging views of the role of theory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 558–562.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M. (1984). On the nature of human plasticity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M. (1991). Changing organism-context relations as the basic process of development: A developmental contextual perspective. Developmental Psychology, 27, 27–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M. (2001). Promoting promotion in the development of prevention science. Applied Developmental Science, 5(4), 254–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., Dowling, E. M., & Anderson, P. M. (2003). Positive youth development: Personhood as the basis of thriving and civil society. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 172–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., Fisher, C. B., & Weinberg, R. A. (2000a). Toward a science for and of the people: Promoting civil society through the application of developmental science. Child Development, 71, 11–20.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., Fisher, C. B., & Weinberg, R. A. (2000b). Applying developmental science in the 21st century: International scholarship for our times. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 24, 24–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., Freund, A., DeStefanis, I., & Habermas, T. (2001). Understanding developmental regulation in adolescence: The use of the selection, optimization, and compensation model. Human Development, 44, 29–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., & Galambos, N. L. (1998). Adolescent development: Challenges and opportunities for research, programs, and policies. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 413–446.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J., Almerigi, J. B., Theokas, C., Phelps, E., Gestsdottir, S., et al. (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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liddle, H. A., Dakof, G. A., Parker, K., Diamond, G. S., Barrett, K., & Tejeda, M. (2001). Multidimensional family therapy for adolescent drug abuse: Results of a randomized clinical trial. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 27, 651–688.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lochman, J. E. (2000). Theory and empiricism in intervention research: A dialectic to be avoided. Journal of School Psychology, 38, 359–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lochman, J. E., & Van Den Steenhoven, A. (2002). Family-based approaches to substance abuse prevention. Journal of Primary Prevention, 23, 49–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2002). Contextual social-cognitive mediators and child outcome: A test of the theoretical model in the Coping Power program. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 945–967.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2004). The Coping Power program for preadolescent aggressive boys and their parents: Outcome effects at the 1-year follow-up. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 571–578.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, S. J., Snyder, C. R., & Rasmussen, H. N. (2003). Striking a vital balance: Developing a complementary focus on human weakness and strength through positive psychological assessment. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Positive psychological assessment (pp. 3–20). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig, K. B., & Pittman, J. F. (1999). Adolescent prosocial values and self-efficacy in relation to delinquency, risky sexual behavior, and drug use. Youth and Society, 30, 461–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology, vol. 3: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (2nd ed., pp. 739–795). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsiglia, F. F., Kulis, S., & Hecht, M. L. (2001). Ethnic labels and ethnic identity as predictors of drug use among middle school students in the southwest. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 21–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S., Burt, K. B., Roisman, G. I., Obradović, J., Long, J. D., & Tellegen, A. (2004). Resources and resilience in the transition to adulthood: Continuity and change. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 1071–1094.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, M. J. (2005). Psychosocial intimacy and identity: From early adolescence to emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 346–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, B., & Muthén, L. K. (2000). Integrating person-centered and variable-centered analyses: Growth mixture modeling with latent trajectory classes. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 24, 882–891.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, M. G., Stewart, D. G., & Brown, S. A. (1998). Progression from conduct disorder to antisocial personality disorder following treatment for adolescent substance abuse. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 479–485.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagin, D. S. (1999). Analyzing developmental trajectories: A semi-parametric group-based approach. Psychological Methods, 4, 139–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup on Mental Disorders Prevention Research. (2001). Priorities for prevention research at NIMH. Prevention and Treatment, 4(Article 17).

  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2003). Why does NIAAA care about adolescent decision making? Retrieved July 15, 2005, from http://www.bocyf.org/goldman_presentation.pdf.

  • Norman, G. (2005). From theory to application and back again: Implications of research on medical expertise for psychological theory. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 35–40.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nurmi, J.-E. (1991). How do adolescents see their future? A review of the development of future orientation and planning. Developmental Review, 11, 1–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pantin, H., Prado, G., Schwartz, S. J., & Sullivan, S. (2005). Methodological challenges in designing efficacious drug abuse and HIV preventive interventions for Hispanic adolescent subgroups. Journal of Urban Health, 82, iii92–iii102.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pantin, H., Schwartz, S. J., Sullivan, S., Coatsworth, J. D., & Szapocznik, J. (2003). Preventing substance abuse in Hispanic immigrant adolescents: An ecodevelopmental, parent-centered approach. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25, 469–500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pantin, H., Schwartz, S. J., Sullivan, S., Prado, G., & Szapocznik, J. (2004). Ecodevelopmental HIV prevention programs for Hispanic immigrant adolescents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74, 545–558.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, E., Balsano, A. B., Fay, K., Peltz, J. S., Zimmerman, S. M., Lerner, R. M., et al. (in press). Nuances in early adolescent developmental trajectories of positive and of problematic/risk behaviors: Findings from the 4-H study of positive youth development. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America.

  • Piaget, J. (1972). Intellectual evolution from adolescence to adulthood. Human Development, 15, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piko, B. F., Fitzpatrick, K. M., & Wright, D. R. (2005). A risk and protective factors framework for understanding youth's externalizing problem behavior in two cultural settings. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 14, 95–103.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, J. A., Hawkins, J. D., & Arthur, M. W. (1999). Risk and protection: Are both necessary to understand diverse behavioral outcomes in adolescence? Social Work Research, 23(3), 145–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prado, G., Schwartz, S. J., Pattatucci-Aragon, A., Clatts, M., Pantin, H., Amaro, H., et al. (2006). Preventing HIV transmission in Hispanic adolescents. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 84S, S43–S53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ripple, C. H., & Luthar, S. S. (2000). Academic risk among inner-city adolescents: The role of personal attributes. Journal of School Psychology, 38, 277–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer, D. (Ed.) (2003). Reducing adolescent risk. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, J. L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). What exactly is a youth development program? Answers from research and practice. Applied Developmental Science, 7(2), 94–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale, E., Sambrano, S., Springer, J. F., Peña, C., Pan, W., & Kasim, R. (2005). Family protection and prevention of alcohol use among Hispanic youth at high risk. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36, 195–205.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, B., Colon, Y., & Esparza, P. (2005). The role of sense of belonging and gender on the academic adjustment of Latino adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 619–628.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., & Blyth, D. (2000). Contribution of developmental assets to the prediction of thriving among adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 4(1), 27–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Roehlkepartain, E. C, Sesma, A., Jr., & van Dulmen, M. (2006). The role of developmental assets in predicting academic achievement: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 691–708.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scales, P. C., Foster, K. C., Mannes, M., Horst, M. A., Pinto, K. C., & Rutherford, A. (2005). School-business partnerships, developmental assets, and positive outcomes among urban high school students: A mixed-methods study. Urban Education, 40, 144–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Coatsworth, J. D., Pantin, H., Prado, G., Sharp, E. H., & Szapocznik, J. (2006). The role of ecodevelopmental context and self-concept in depressive and externalizing symptoms in Hispanic adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30, 359–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Côté, J. E., & Arnett, J. J. (2005). Identity and agency in emerging adulthood: Two developmental routes in the individualization process. Youth and Society, 37, 201–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Kurtines, W. M., & Montgomery, M. J. (2005). A comparison of two strategies for facilitating identity formation processes in emerging adults: An exploratory study. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 309–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Montgomery, M. J., & Briones, E. (2006). The role of identity in acculturation among immigrant people: Theoretical propositions, empirical questions, and applied recommendations. Human Development, 49, 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Pantin, H., Prado, G., Sullivan, S., & Szapocznik, J. (2005). Family functioning, identity, and problem behavior in Hispanic immigrant early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25, 392–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2001). Comment on “Priorities for prevention research at NIMH.” Prevention and Treatment, 4(Article 24).

  • Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, H. N. (2005). Juvenile arrests 2003. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

    Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J., Baumer, E. P., & Lutz, A. (2003). Interpreting community effects on youth educational attainment. Youth and Society, 35, 3–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Silverberg, S. B. (1986). The vicissitudes of autonomy in early adolescence. Child Development, 57, 841–851.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Szapocznik, J., & Coatsworth, J. D. (1999). An ecodevelopmental framework for organizing the influences on drug abuse: A developmental model of risk and protection. In M. Glantz & C. Hartel (Eds.), Drug abuse: Origins & interventions (pp. 331–366). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. S., Lerner, R. M., von Eye, A., Bobek, D. L., Balsano, A. B., Dowling, E. M., et al. (2003). Positive individual and social behavior among gang and nongang African American male adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18, 548–574.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theokas, C., Almerigi, J. B., Lerner, R. M., Dowling, E. M., Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., et al. (2005). Conceptualizing and modeling individual and ecological asset components of thriving in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25, 113–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theokas, C., & Lerner, R. M. (2006). Observed ecological assets in families, schools, and neighborhoods: Conceptualization, measurement, and relations with positive and negative developmental outcomes. Applied Developmental Science, 10(2), 61–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vakalahi, H. F. (2002). Family-based predictors of adolescent substance use. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Use, 11(3), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (2001). Personality in cultural context: Methodological issues. Journal of Personality, 69, 1007–1031.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vazsonyi, A. T., Hibbert, J. R., & Snider, J. B. (2003). Exotic enterprise no more? Reports of family and parenting processes from youth in four countries. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 129–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeiren, R., Schwab-Stone, M., Ruchkin, V., De Clippelle, A., & Deboutte, D. (2002). Predicting recidivism in delinquent adolescents from psychological and psychiatric assessment. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 43(2), 142–149.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagenaar, A. C., Murray, D. M., & Toomey, J. L. (2000). Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA): Effects of a randomized trial on arrests and traffic crashes. Addiction, 95, 209–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, A. S., Schwartz, S. J., Goldbacher, E., Green, H., Miller, C., & Philip, S. (2003). Predicting the subjective experience of intrinsic motivation: The roles of self-determination, the balance of challenges and skills, and self-realization values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1447–1458.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weissberg, R. P., Kumpfer, K. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2003). Prevention that works for children and youth. American Psychologist, 58, 425–432.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Y., Fiedler, M. L., & Flaming, K. H. (2005). Discovering the impact of community policing: The broken windows thesis, collective efficacy, and citizens’ judgment. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42, 147–186.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Preparation of this article was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grants 19409 (S. Schwartz, PI) and 17262 (H. Pantin, PI), and by National Institute on Mental Health grant 63042 (J. Szapocznik, PI). We gratefully acknowledge Richard M. Lerner and Mark T. Greenberg for their helpful and insightful feedback.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Family Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1425 N.W. 10th Avenue, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Seth J. Schwartz Ph.D., Hilda Pantin & José Szapocznik

  2. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, 211F South Henderson, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    J. Douglas Coatsworth

  3. Center for Family Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Seth J. Schwartz Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Seth J. Schwartz Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hilda Pantin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Douglas Coatsworth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. José Szapocznik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seth J. Schwartz Ph.D..

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schwartz, S., Pantin, H., Coatsworth, J. et al. Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities for Today's Youth: Toward an Integrative Model and its Implications for Research and Intervention. J Primary Prevent 28, 117–144 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0084-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0084-x

KEY WORDS:

Search

Navigation