Session: Invited Symposium: Positive Youth Development Approaches and Prevention Science: Implications of Alignments and Distinctions for Moving Forward (Society for Prevention Research 25th Annual Meeting)

Although recognized and incorporated with greater frequency into prevention research, positive youth development models and prevention science have developed in parallel without adequate ongoing cross-informing. This symposium provides conceptual and empirical reports that describe the current positive development framework, leading models, and illustrative examples that suggest important differences from prevention approaches that accompany use of these frameworks. In some cases, these differences are fundamental but in the large part they represent more subtle but important distinctions. These include focus on strength and resource support for competency rather than risk reduction, consideration of heterogeneity of needs among those engaged in intervention, and expectations about the relation of demonstration studies to practice. Presentations will focus on comparison of four prominent positive development frameworks (Tolan), the implications of a dynamic systems approach for positive development intervention study and evaluation (Lerner), and two examples of shifting to a positive youth development approach in preventive efforts (McBride Murry and Gonzales). Substantial time will be reserved for discussion of these presentation for research, practice, and policy implications of greater reliance on positive development in prevention science.