Afterword: On the Contributions of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development

Abstract

The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development has contributed mightily to putting positive youth development on the map in the research community. In a search of the key words "positive youth development" in Google Scholar that I conducted at the time of this writing, there were only 1,150 results before 2001. Since 2002, the start of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, the same search yielded 14,500 results. Similarly, a search in the Journal of Extension for "Five Cs of Positive Youth Development" resulted in 42 articles. As observed in the chapter by Geldhof and colleagues in this volume and by many others, there has been a significant shift in both the research and practice community toward the promotion of positive youth development rather than a deficit-oriented focus to youth programming. The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development has provided a strong baseline from which positive youth development research can continue to grow as youth development professionals strive to exemplify the 4-H motto: To Make the Best Better. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)