Work

Transitions of School-Family-Community assets profiles and their associations with adolescent positive development and adjustment

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: External assets as a support system on adolescents' development are particularly crucial. The present study aims to explore whether and how profiles of school-, family-, and community-based assets within adolescents' daily contextual settings function as catalysts for enhancing positive youth development (PYD) and mitigating internalizing/externalizing problems. Adolescents ( N = 683, 43.8% male; baseline M age = 14.51) reported their levels of school-family-community assets, PYD, and internalizing/externalizing problems at baseline and a 6-month follow-up. Using machine learning, the asset profiles associated with the most significant changes in PYD constructs and internalizing/externalizing problems were identified. Latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis were employed to characterize the asset profiles and their longitudinal transitions for PYD and internalizing/externalizing problems. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the pathways linking these profiles, PYD levels and internalizing/externalizing problems. A predictive model incorporating nine contextual assets explained 41% of the variance in PYD, whereas a maximum of 23% of the variance in internalizing/externalizing problems was explained, with no evidence of asset boundary effects. Three distinct convergent asset profiles emerged: high-, moderate-, and low-asset profiles. Significant increases in PYD levels were observed across sequential transitions from the low- to moderate-asset profile, and from the moderate- to high-asset profile, which in turn predicted reductions in internalizing/externalizing problems. Notably, asset accumulation exhibited threshold effects in PYD, with diminishing returns beyond a critical threshold. Family climate and high-quality school-based relationships are equally pivotal to adolescent development in Chinese cultural settings, whereas community relationships function as complementary social resources.

Source: Acta Psychologica

DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106753

Authors: Shijie Wei, Huanhuan Li, Fang Sun

Institution: Renmin University of China

Language: English

Topic: Youth Development and Social Support

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,670