Internal assets in low-income urban adolescents from 12 to 17 years: Gender variation

Abstract

Utilizing a birth cohort of primarily Black, low-income urban adolescents (N = 371), the present study investigated how internal assets might change over time with sex/gender as a moderator. Internal assets (commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, positive identity) were assessed at ages 12, 15, and 17 via the Developmental Assets Profile. All internal asset domains decreased from 12 to 15 years in both boys and girls, except positive identity in boys. For girls, these decreases, except in social competencies, remained unchanged from 15 to 17 years, whereas boys improved in all domains during the same period except commitment to learning. Across all three assessments, girls reported greater commitment to learning than boys. Boys reported higher positive identity than girls at age 17. Greater parental attachment was associated with higher scores in all domains of internal assets.