Studies of more than 4 million young people across the United States (as well as studies in other countries) consistently show that the more Developmental Assets young people have, the more likely they are to be prepared for the life and the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors. These charts illustrate some of this research.

Thousands of schools, organizations, and community coalitions have used Search Institute to assess these assets and their association with important youth outcomes. Learn more about how you can use one of these surveys to understand young people’s lives and monitor change and improvement based on your efforts.

Assets Matter for Youth from Many Backgrounds and Contexts

This research demonstrates the power of assets across different groups of youth in North America, including:

• gender
• age (documented from grades 4 to 12)
• socioeconomic status
• race/ethnicity (Download a research brief on Developmental Assets among youth of color)
• special needs status

In addition, asset-based studies of youth in developing countries are now documenting these associations for young people in those contexts.

More Information on the Power of Assets

• The Asset Approach: 40 Elements of Healthy Development, a user-friendly booklet that presents the basic research on the power of developmental assets.
• A Fragile Foundation: The State of Developmental Assets Among American Youth, a detailed report on Developmental Assets based on 89,000 U. S. youth who were surveyed in 2010.
• Boosting Student Achievement: New Research on the Power of Developmental Assets, a research brief that documents the links between Developmental Assets and student achievement.
• Do Developmental Assets Make a Difference in Majority-World Contexts? A report on a four-country study of the association between Developmental Assets and international youth development priorities.
• Review other Search Institute research and peer-reviewed articles on Developmental Assets.