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Trajectories of Positive and Negative Behaviors from Early- to Middle-Adolescence

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Abstract

Although the positive youth development (PYD) model initially assumed inverse links between indicators of PYD and of risk/problem behaviors, empirical work in adolescence has suggested that more complex associations exist between trajectories of the two domains of functioning. To clarify the PYD model, this study assessed intraindividual change in positive and problematic indicators across Grades 5–10, and the links between these trajectories of development, among 2,516 participants from the 4-H Study of PYD (58.1% females; 64.9% European American, 7.0% African American, 12.3% Latino/a American, 2.6% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 1.8% Native American, 3.0% multiethnic-racial, and 8.4% with inconsistent race/ethnicity across waves). Results from person-centered analyses indicated that most youth clustered in the high trajectories of positive indicators and in the low trajectories of the negative ones. Consistent with past research, overlap between trajectories of positive and negative behaviors was found. These results suggest that theory and application need to accommodate to variation in the links between positive and problematic developmental trajectories.

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Acknowledgements

This article was supported in part by a grant from the National 4-H Council. The authors thank Dr. Bobby Jones for his invaluable contributions to the research reported in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, 301 Lincoln-Filene, Medford, MA, 02155, USA

    Selva Lewin-Bizan, Alicia Doyle Lynch, Kristen Fay, Kristina Schmid & Richard M. Lerner

  2. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Caitlin McPherran & Jacqueline V. Lerner

Authors
  1. Selva Lewin-Bizan
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  2. Alicia Doyle Lynch
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  3. Kristen Fay
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  4. Kristina Schmid
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  6. Jacqueline V. Lerner
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  7. Richard M. Lerner
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Correspondence to Selva Lewin-Bizan.

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Lewin-Bizan, S., Lynch, A.D., Fay, K. et al. Trajectories of Positive and Negative Behaviors from Early- to Middle-Adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 39, 751–763 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9532-7

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