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What is positive youth development and how might it reduce substance use and violence? A systematic review and synthesis of theoretical literature

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Bonell, Chris, Hinds, Kate, Dickson, Kelly, Thomas, James, Fletcher, Adam, Murphy, Simon, Melendez-Torres, G. J., Bonell, Carys and Campbell, Rona (2016) What is positive youth development and how might it reduce substance use and violence? A systematic review and synthesis of theoretical literature. BMC Public Health, 16 (1). doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2817-3 ISSN 1471-2458.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2817-3

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Abstract

Background:
Preventing adolescent substance use and youth violence are public health priorities. Positive youth development interventions are widely deployed often with the aim of preventing both. However, the theorised mechanisms by which PYD is intended to reduce substance use and violence are not clear and existing evaluated interventions are under-theorised. Using innovative methods, we systematically searched for and synthesised published theoretical literature describing what is meant by positive youth development and how it might reduce substance use and violence, as part of a broader systematic review examining process and outcomes of PYD interventions.

Methods:
We searched 19 electronic databases, review topic websites, and contacted experts between October 2013 and January 2014. We included studies written in English, published since 1985 that reported a theory of change for positive youth development focused on prevention of smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use or violence in out-of-school settings. Studies were independently coded and quality-assessed by two reviewers.

Results:
We identified 16 studies that met our inclusion criteria. Our synthesis suggests that positive youth development aims to provide youth with affective relationships and diverse experiences which enable their development of intentional self-regulation and multiple positive assets. These in turn buffer against or compensate for involvement in substance use and violence. Existing literature is not clear on how intentional self-regulation is developed and which specific positive assets buffer against substance use or violence.

Conclusions:
Our synthesis provides: an example of a rigorous systematic synthesis of theory literature innovatively applying methods of qualitative synthesis to theoretical literature; a clearer understanding of how PYD might reduce substance use and violence to inform future interventions and empirical evaluations.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Population, Evidence & Technologies (PET)
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Problem youth -- Behavior modification -- Great Britain, Smoking, Youth -- Alcohol use, Youth -- Drug use, Youth and violence, Systematic reviews (Medical research)
Journal or Publication Title: BMC Public Health
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
ISSN: 1471-2458
Official Date: 10 February 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
10 February 2016Published
3 February 2016Accepted
4 June 2015Submitted
Volume: 16
Number: 1
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-2817-3
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit: 5 October 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access: 5 October 2016
Funder: National Institute for Health research (Great Britain). Public Health Research programme, National Institute for Health Research (Great Britain) (NIHR), British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC), Medical Research Council (Canada) (MRC), Wales. Welsh Assembly Government, Wellcome Trust (London, England)
Grant number: PHR 12/153/19 (Public Health Research), MR/KO232331/1 (Others)

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