On the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development

The research reported in this issue advances our understanding of the multiple interactive influences on young people’s development. The study invokes Relational Developmental Systems Theory to show, among other findings, how the impact of out-of-school time depends on the number and range of different types of activities young people engage in. The study also demonstrates that developmental assets (the 5 Cs) can co-exist with problem behavior, an important contribution to the positive youth development perspective. Readers will also find in these articles diverse strategies of data analysis and exemplars of research that informs practice as well as theory.