The Importance of Developmental Assets to the Five Cs of Positive Youth Development among Norwegian Youth

Abstract

Positive youth development (PYD) focuses on the positive assets of young people. The PYD framework views young people as resources to be developed. PYD research in the US has reported relationship between developmental assets and the experience of positive developmental outcomes (i.e., the five Cs), where young people who report several developmental assets also report positive developmental outcomes such as academic achievements. The present study examines the importance of developmental assets in Norwegian youth and whether there is a relationship between the experienced levels of assets and the five Cs of PYD. 220 upper secondary school students (47.7% female) aged 16-20 (mean age = 17.3) were surveyed. Findings from the correlation analysis showed that all developmental assets correlated significantly with the five Cs. Further regression analysis revealed significant associations between the five Cs and some of the developmental assets but not all of them. The environment asset category School did not show any association with any one of the five Cs of PYD. Based on the findings developmental assets can provide good framework for promoting positive developmental outcomes in the Norwegian youth. Further research is needed to better understand the experience of developmental assets is the Norwegian context.