2 PREVENTING PROBLEM BEHAVIORS AND PROMOTING POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT

In this chapter, we present a brief review of the developmental literature linking healthy adjustment to five core competencies: (1) positive sense of self, (2) self-control, (3) decision-making skills, (4) a moral system of belief, and (5) proso-cial connectedness. A central premise of this chapter and the rest of the volume is that promoting mastery of social and emotional core competencies provides a connection between positive youth development and risk prevention program-ming. In subsequent chapters, empirical evidence linking these core competen-cies with prevention of specific risk behaviors is reviewed, and examples of integrated promotion and prevention efforts in the United States and interna-tionally are discussed. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc