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Mentoring is often utilised to support youth who have low levels of protective assets. This study explored 300 NZ youth (16-18 years old) who were involved in mentoring relationships to better understand how developmental assets influence depressive symptoms and misconduct behaviours. Results suggest that most participants possessed low to fair levels of internal (77.3%) and external (72.6%) assets with high levels of major depressive symptoms (40.7%) and moderate to high levels of misconduct behaviours (29.4%). There were demographic differences in developmental assets (e.g. Pacific youth reported higher assets and non-student participants reported lower assets than others), depressive symptoms (e.g. higher ranks for females than males) and misconduct behaviours (e.g. higher misconduct behaviours among Māori youth, non-student and full-time employed participants). Importantly, lower levels of external assets (β =  – .90, S.E = .20, p = <.001; 95% CI [−1.30, – .50]) and internal assets (β =  – .76, S.E = 29 .28, p = <.001; 95% CI [−1.31, – .20]) predicted depressive symptoms and low levels of external assets significantly contribute to youth misconduct behaviours (β =  – .40, S.E = .08, p = 31 < .001; 95% CI [-.56, – .23]). These findings suggest strategies, programmes and policies to improve developmental assets which may decrease emotional and behavioural distress among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between Positive Youth Development (PYD) Internal and External assets and life satisfaction among Albanian adolescents. Data were collected from a sample of 409 Albanian students aged 14-19 years using the Developmental Assets Profile and the Life Satisfaction Scale. The sample included the majority group (51%) and various minority groups in Albania. Statistical analyses were conducted to explore the association between PYD assets, demographic variables, and perceived life satisfaction. The results revealed significant differences in Internal and External assets across all groups, with life satisfaction reported at a moderate positive level. Gender and minority group differences were observed in the relationship between assets and life satisfaction. The findings of this study reveal that the ten Positive Youth Development (PYD) assets serve as predictors for life satisfaction. Additionally, it was observed that the same set of ten PYD assets acts as a predictor for life satisfaction. These results provide valuable insights into the implementation of PYD strategies and the impact they have on life satisfaction within an under-researched community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With China's fast-growing economy, family dinners are often overlooked. However, family dinner, as an important routine family activity, provides an opportunity for interaction between adolescents and their parents, which promotes adolescents' happiness. Guided by the positive youth development perspective, the character strength theory of happiness and the family investment model, the current study simultaneously investigated the mediating role of adolescents' internal assets and the moderating role of parental educational level in the influence of family dinner on adolescents' happiness in Chinese families. A three-wave longitudinal study spanning approximately three years was conducted among 817 Chinese seventh graders (52.4% male; Mage = 12.62 years). The frequency of family dinner at the first year was significantly positively correlated with adolescents' happiness in the first and third years. The cross-sectional and longitudinal results showed that adolescents' internal assets mediated the relationship between family dinner frequency and happiness. Specifically, family dinner with higher-educated parents was a stronger predictor of internal assets than family dinner with lower-educated parents after one year. These findings from the Chinese cultural context complement the research in this field and inform practical endeavors to promote adolescents' happiness worldwide based on the strengths of different cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Adolescents are in a unique developmental stage, ideal for initiating healthy behaviors and benefiting from health promotion interventions. In this study, we used positive youth development and resilience frameworks, to investigate the role of internal assets as a protective factor for bullying and emotional distress among early adolescents, with attention to whether those associations vary by sex. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey, a cross‐sectional, population‐based survey of Minnesota youth. Participating eighth grade students (N = 42,841) reported on internal assets, physical, relational and cyberbullying involvement, and emotional distress. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses, stratified by sex and controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, revealed that students with higher internal assets had lower odds of all forms of bullying victimization and perpetration than those with lower internal assets. Higher levels of internal assets were also associated with lower odds of emotional distress. All associations were significant for boys and girls, but appeared stronger for girls. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that internal assets may buffer young teens from bullying and from the emotional distress that may result from bullying involvement. Approaches bolstering internal assets may be beneficial for combating bullying and emotional distress during early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Early adolescence is a critical risk period for initiation of substance use. Internal assets (IAs), which are individual qualities guiding positive choices, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are important protective and risk factors, respectively, against substance use. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether IAs modify associations between ACEs and early initiation of alcohol and marijuana use. Method: Data were from 9th and 11th graders who completed the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey (n = 79,339). Students reported on experiences of abuse, household dysfunction, and substance use. Multivariable logistic regressions examined associations between different types of ACEs and substance use. Interactions between IAs and ACEs were added to models to test effect modification. For significant interactions, main effects models were re-estimated at different percentiles of IAs. Result: IAs moderated associations of both abuse and household dysfunction with early initiation of marijuana (p <.003) and alcohol (p =.007) for females but not for males. For females with low IAs, odds of early initiation of marijuana were approximately twice as high as students without any ACEs. A similar pattern was detected for females' initiation of alcohol use. No effect modification was detected for IAs and experiencing only abuse or household dysfunction on initiation. Conclusion: Special attention should be paid to improving IAs among girls who have already experienced ACEs. Future research should examine protective factors that buffer the effects of ACEs for boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Bullying and prejudice-based harassment frequently occur in school settings and have significant consequences for the health and wellbeing of young people. Yet far fewer studies have examined the role of the school environment in peer harassment than individual factors. This multilevel study examined associations between a variety of school-level risk and protective factors and student-level reports of bullying and prejudice-based harassment during adolescence. Methods Data come from 8th, 9th, and 11th graders who completed the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey ( N = 122,180 students nested in 505 schools). School-level variables were created by aggregating student report data in five areas: academic orientation to school, internal assets, teacher–student relationship quality, feelings of safety at school, and receipt of disciplinary action. Results Results indicated that youth attending schools with a higher proportion of students with strong internal assets had lower odds of nearly every type of bullying and prejudice-based harassment assessed when compared to youth attending schools with a lower proportion of students with strong internal assets. Additionally, the proportion of students feeling unsafe at school was a fairly consistent risk factor for most types of peer harassment. Conclusion Findings support the idea that prevention programs aimed at improving school-wide internal assets and feelings of safety at school may be key prevention points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measures of developmental assets were created as a new self-report to assess positive attitudes and behaviour among at-risk youth. The measure was examined in a sample of 744 at-risk youth aged between 13 and 25 who dwell in public housing projects in Malaysia. The Malaysian version of the developmental assets measures 23 dimensions of the participants in respect of their positive attitude and behaviour towards society, significant others and self. The results show that this measure has good psychometric properties, and is significantly associated with other constructs. This measure is useful in basic and applied research, and for intervention programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored factors related to risk, resilience and health amongst South African teenagers. Grade nine students (N = 472; males -- 210, females = 262, age range = 12 to 18 years) at seven schools in the Western Cape participated in the study. The California Healthy Kids Survey, which includes risk and resilience modules, was utilized. Focus group interviews were also conducted with the students to determine their needs and support at school. Questionnaires relating to the health promoting schools framework were administered to teachers. Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were employed. The results indicated that the students were engaged in a variety of risk behaviors that threatened their well-being and that their external and internal assets were limited. A multi-faceted approach to reducing risk and enhancing resilience, involving family, peer, school and community support within a health promoting schools framework, is advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]