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As I mentioned in my post this morning —

+RESILIENCY: LOOKING AT PROTECTIVE FACTORS

I am beginning to look at the positive influences in my insanely abusive home of origin.  It is really hard for me to even put those two phrases together in one sentence, let alone in one thought.

But in order to answer in my book questions like those I mentioned in my last post (above) I cannot spare this stage in my research.  So, here goes with MORE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

For blog readers here who were abused as infant-children please join me in looking at information presented below in new and creative ways.  WE DID SURVIVE hell and become terrific people!

How, exactly, did this happen??

I will be spending time with my proverbial fine-tooth comb going through the information presented here to discover what I need to know about my childhood so I can reasonably answer this question!

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How Are Your Community’s Young People Doing?

Search Institute’s research on Developmental Assets is conducted one community at a time. To see how your young people are doing, commission an asset-based portrait of your community’s young people

• Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes & Behaviors, a survey for young people in grades 6–12.
• Me and My World, a survey for young people in grades 4–6 (ages 9–11).

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Below you can find several different lists of Developmental Assets®. Each is tailored for a specific age group or language:

40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents (ages 12-18) – – (see below in this post) –
View   Download   Download in Spanish

40 Developmental Assets for Middle Childhood (ages 8-12)
View   Download   Download in Spanish

NEW! 40 Developmental Assets for Grades K–3 (ages 5-9)
View   Download   Download in Spanish

40 Developmental Assets for Early Childhood (ages 3-5)
View   Download   Download in Spanish

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40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents

What are Developmental Assets?

The Developmental Assets® are 40 common sense, positive experiences and qualities that help influence choices young people make and help them become caring, responsible, successful adults.  Because of its basis in youth development, resiliency, and prevention research and its proven effectiveness, the Developmental Assets framework has become one of the most widely used approach to positive youth development in the United States.
Read the list of assets
Watch the Introduction to Developmental Assets video
Download a web-based introduction to Developmental Assets

Background on the Developmental Assets

Since its creation in 1990, Search Institute’s framework of Developmental Assets has become the most widely used approach to positive youth development in the United States. The assets are grounded in extensive research in youth development, resiliency, and prevention. They represent the relationships, opportunities, and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive.

The Power of Assets

The 40 Developmental Assets represent everyday wisdom about positive experiences and characteristics for young people. Search Institute research has found that these assets are powerful influences on adolescent behavior—both protecting young people from many different risky behaviors, and promoting positive attitudes and actions.

Who needs them? Why are they important?

Over time, studies of more than 2.2 million young people consistently show that the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to thrive.  Research has proven that youth with the most assets are least likely to engage in four different patterns of high-risk behavior, including problem alcohol use, violence, illicit drug use, and sexual activity. The same kind of impact is evident with many other problem behaviors, including tobacco use, depression and attempted suicide, antisocial behavior, school problems, driving and alcohol, and gambling.  Read the study and the results.

The positive power of assets is evident across all cultural and socioeconomic groups of youth, and there is also evidence that assets have the same kind of power for younger children. Furthermore, levels of assets are better predictors of high-risk involvement and thriving than poverty or being from a single-parent family.

The average young person experiences fewer than half of the 40 assets, and boys experience an average of three fewer assets than girls.

How to get started building assets

There are many ways you can start building assets for the children and youth around you. Whether they’re in your family, school, or community, Search Institute has resources you can use to create a better world for kids.

• Developmental Assets Lists —Read and download lists of the 40 assets for different age groups.
• We Can Help —Find resources for parents, educators, youth-serving organizations, and other groups.
• Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth —Search for asset-building initiatives in your area.
• Developmental Assets Tools —Download free asset resources.
• Developmental Assets Research —See the research assets are based on.
• Search Institute Store —Browse asset-building books, posters, and other materials.

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Search Institute has identified the following building blocks of healthy development—known as Developmental Assets—that help young children grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

This particular list is intended for adolescents (age 12-18). If you’d like to see the lists for other age groups, you can find them on the Developmental Assets Lists page.

For more information on the assets and the research behind them, see the Developmental Assets or Developmental Assets Research page (same as links presented above).

EXTERNAL ASSETS

Support

• Family Support | Family life provides high levels of love and support.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Positive Family Communication | Young person and her or his parent(s) communicate positively, and young person is willing to seek advice and counsel from parents.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Other Adult Relationships | Young person receives support from three or more nonparent adults.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Caring Neighborhood | Young person experiences caring neighbors.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Caring School Climate | School provides a caring, encouraging environment.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Parent Involvement in Schooling | Parent(s) are actively involved in helping the child succeed in school.

Empowerment

• Community Values Youth | Young person perceives that adults in the community value youth.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Youth as Resources | Young people are given useful roles in the community.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Service to Others | Young person serves in the community one hour or more per week.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Safety | Young person feels safe at home, school, and in the neighborhood.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Boundaries and Expectations

• Family Boundaries | Family has clear rules and consequences and monitors the young person’s whereabouts.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• School Boundaries | School provides clear rules and consequences.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Neighborhood Boundaries | Neighbors take responsibility for monitoring young people’s behavior.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Adult Role Models | Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible behavior.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Positive Peer Influence | Young person’s best friends model responsible behavior.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• High Expectations | Both parent(s) and teachers encourage the young person to do well.

Constructive Use of Time

• Creative Activities | Young person spends three or more hours per week in lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Youth Programs | Young person spends three or more hours per week in sports, clubs, or organizations at school and/or in community organizations.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Religious Community | Young person spends one hour or more per week in activities in a religious institution.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Time at Home | Young person is out with friends “with nothing special to do” two or fewer nights per week.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION

INTERNAL ASSETS

Commitment to Learning

• Achievement Motivation | Young person is motivated to do well in school.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• School Engagement | Young person is actively engaged in learning.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Homework | Young person reports doing at least one hour of homework every school day.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Bonding to School | Young person cares about her or his school.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Reading for Pleasure | Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Positive Values

• Caring | Young Person places high value on helping other people.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Equality and Social Justice | Young person places high value on promoting equality and reducing hunger and poverty.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Integrity | Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Honesty | Young person “tells the truth even when it is not easy.”   SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Responsibility | Young person accepts and takes personal responsibility.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Restraint | Young person believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Social Competencies

• Planning and Decision Making | Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Interpersonal Competence | Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Cultural Competence | Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Resistance Skills | Young person can resist negative peer pressure and dangerous situations.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Peaceful Conflict Resolution | Young person seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently.  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Positive Identity

• Personal Power | Young person feels he or she has control over “things that happen to me.”
  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Self-Esteem | Young person reports having a high self-esteem.
  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Sense of Purpose | Young person reports that “my life has a purpose.”
  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION
• Positive View of Personal Future | Young person is optimistic about her or his personal future.
  SHOW ME HOW TO TAKE ACTION

This list is an educational tool. It is not intended to be nor is it appropriate as a scientific measure of the developmental assets of individuals.
Copyright © 1997, 2007 by Search Institute. All rights reserved. This chart may be reproduced for educational, noncommercial use only (with this copyright line). No other use is permitted without prior permission from Search Institute, 615 First Avenue N.E., Suite 125, Minneapolis, MN 55413; 800-888-7828. See Search Institute’s Permissions Guidelines and Request Form.

The following are registered trademarks of Search Institute: Search Institute®, Developmental Assets® and Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth®.

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Free Asset Resources –

• Developmental Asset lists, downloads, podcasts, and more. Get assets now!
• Our 2012 Spring catalog is here–sign up to get yours!
• Did you know Search has three fantastic newsletters? Sign up to have one or all of them delivered to your inbox today!

Watch this great primer on the Assets and their power to make a difference.

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Developmental Assets Research

The framework of Developmental Assets is grounded in extensive research on what kids need to succeed. Since 1989, Search Institute has been studying the assets in the lives of young people. To date, about three million young people have been surveyed in thousands of communities across North America. Read more about the research behind this framework.

The Current State of Assets Among U. S. Adolescents

• Where do the Developmental Assets come from?
• How many young people (grades 6–12) experience each asset?
• How do assets make a difference in young people’s lives?
• How many assets do U. S. young people experience?

The Asset Approach provides an easy-to-use overview of the assets to help you introduce this approach to other leaders, parents, youth, and other stakeholders in your community. Also available in Spanish.

Assets in Real Life

Beginning in 1997, Search Institute launched a revolutionary longitudinal study of asset building in the St. Louis Park School District of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

• Signs of Progress in Putting Children First (2003)

What is Successful Development?

Developmental Assets help youth develop successfully . . . but what does that mean? This study took a look at different methods of defining successful development and relevant indicators.

• Successful Young Adult Development (2004)

Developmental Assets: Not Just for Adolescents

Search Institute’s framework of Developmental Assets was developed based on the research on adolescents in the United States. However, the basic strength-based approach and framework is consistent with research on what kids need to succeed throughout childhood—and probably into adulthood. Search Institute continues to deepen its research and framework to be relevant for all ages of young people.

• Developmental Assets in Early Childhood, ages 3–5
• Developmental Assets in Middle Childhood, ages 9–11 (grades 4–6)

The Applicability of Assets

Many people wonder if the research on assets is applicable to young people from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Research shows that the assets are beneficial to all youth, regardless of these factors.

• Unique Strengths, Shared Strengths: Developmental Assets among Youth of Color (One-page summary – 2003)
• Unique Strengths, Shared Strengths: Developmental Assets among Yuouth of Color (Complete report – 2003)

Other Research Publications on Developmental Assets

• Search Institute Insights & Evidenceis a free online periodical that interprets Search Institute’s research for policy and practice. Download these issues for more assets research
  • Boosting Student Achievement: New Research on the Power of Developmental Assets
  • Unique Strengths, Shared Strengths: Developmental Assets Among Youth of Color
• All Kids Are Our Kids: What Communities Must Do to Raise Caring and Responsible Children and Adolescents (2nd Edition), presents a comprehensive overview of the Developmental Assets and the change strategies needed to create asset-rich communities.
• Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific Research on Adolescent Development, which examines more than 800 scientific articles and reports on adolescent development that tie to each of the 40 Developmental Assets
• Developmental Assets and Asset-Building Communities: Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice, offers the insights and perspectives of leading U.S. scholars on the contributions and implications of Developmental Assets for adolescent development.
• A Fragile Foundation: The State of Developmental Assets among American Youth provides useful research captured from a sample of almost 100,000 youth around the country.
• Promoting Positive Development in Early Childhood: Building Blocks for a Successful Start presents strategies for building assets with kids in this important formative time, based on current theory and intervention design.
• Coming into Their Own: How Developmental Assets Promote Positive Growth in Middle Childhood provides current research supporting the importance of Developmental Assets for children and establishes guidelines for building assets with children and designing programs and policies to further this purpose.
• A bibliography of peer-reviewed articles and dissertations on Developmental Assets

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Click here to read or to Leave a Comment »

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endnote:

How Many Assets Do Young People Have?

While the assets are powerful shapers of young people’s lives and choices, too few young people experience many of these assets, based on surveys of almost 150,000 6th- to 12th-grade youth in 202 communities across the Unites States in calendar year 2003.

The Gap in Assets Among Youth

While there is no “magic number” of assets young people should have, our data indicate that 31 is a worthy, though challenging, benchmark for experiencing their positive effects most strongly. Yet, as this chart shows, only 8 percent of youth have 31 or more assets. More than half have 20 or fewer assets.  Click here: http://www.search-institute.org/research/assets/asset-levels

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Developmental Assets Research

The framework of Developmental Assets is grounded in extensive research on what kids need to succeed. Since 1989, Search Institute has been studying the assets in the lives of young people. To date, about three million young people have been surveyed in thousands of communities across North America. Read more about the research behind this framework.

The Current State of Assets Among U. S. Adolescents

• Where do the Developmental Assets come from?
• How many young people (grades 6–12) experience each asset?
• How do assets make a difference in young people’s lives?
• How many assets do U. S. young people experience?

The Asset Approach provides an easy-to-use overview of the assets to help you introduce this approach to other leaders, parents, youth, and other stakeholders in your community. Also available in Spanish.