Developmental assets among young people in three European contexts: Italy, Norway and Turkey

Abstract

Background: Within the positive youth development (PYD) perspective, internal assets (e.g., social competencies and positive identity) and external assets (e.g., support and empowerment) constitute developmental assets that can facilitate positive youth outcomes. This assertion has been studied mainly in the US context and to a lesser degree in European samples. Objective: We extend the scope of PYD research by assessing developmental assets among young people in three contexts that differ economically, culturally and politically: Italy, Norway and Turkey. Interactions with gender and parents’ educational level are also examined. Method: A cross-sectional data on developmental assets was collected from Italian (n = 526, 41% girls), Norwegian (n = 592, 56% girls) and Turkish (n = 116, 63% girls) secondary school students during the 2015/2016 academic year. Results: In all three countries, most participants had experienced several of the developmental assets although internal assets were reported more often than external assets. Country differences were observed, where young people in Norway and Turkey reported more assets than their Italian counterparts did. An interaction between country and gender revealed that girls in Norway reported the highest number of developmental assets. In addition, participants in Italy who had fathers with higher educational level reported most of the constructive use of time assets. Conclusion: Differences in the experience of the assets among young people appear to be a reflection of the economic, social, cultural and political structures of the respective countries.