A review of adolescent prevention and positive youth development programs in non-English speaking European countries

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, adolescent prevention and positive youth development programs in non-English speaking European countries are reviewed. A survey of the literature published in English, Italian, German, French, and Spanish language between 1994 and 2014 reported a total of 61 programs which have been evaluated by studies using quasi- or true experimental designs. Several observations are highlighted from this review. First, prevention programs outnumber positive youth development programs in Europe. Second, some countries spend significantly more effort and financial support on preventive programs than others. Third, some countries/regions deal with some specific adolescent problems more than other regions. Fourth, there are variations in the use of international standards for implementing and assessing programs as well as disseminating results. Finally, while most of the existing school-based programs are conducted at the local level, there are very few cross-country projects.