Special Interest Group Meeting III: Prevention Research and Positive Youth Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Nearly nine in 10 of the world’s adolescents live in LMICs, where they experience greater early life adversities, reduced educational opportunities and a heavier burden of disease during adolescence and across the life course as compared to youth in high-income countries. Prevention research in LMICs can have high impact because of the youthfulness of the populations and level of risk exposure they face. Cross-sectional studies in LMICs have found correlations between positive youth development constructs and better literacy, numeracy, and the availability of human, social, financial and physical capital to generate income. Youth with greater skills, stronger agency, and supportive environments are more likely to do well in school, be civically engaged, and value diversity. The purpose of this brown bag is to bring together researchers who are interested in doing evaluation or epidemiological research in LMICs related to positive approaches to prevention during adolescence and young adulthood so we can learn about each other's work and foster potential collaborations. The facilitators will briefly discuss USAID efforts to support positive prevention for youth in LMICs and resources available from YouthPower (www.youthpower.org). A facilitated discussion on gaps in global research efforts and potential synergies and collaborations to fill those gaps will follow.