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Ooms () points to the importance of having a conceptual framework that would enable family policy scholars to resolve past tensions in the field and create an opportunity to advance research and its applications. We discuss that a now‐predominant metatheoretical orientation in the study of human development, relational developmental systems metatheory, provides concepts that enable issues in the field of family policy (e.g., individualism vs. familism) to be resolved and also to point to theory‐predicated methodological innovations advancing research pertinent to family policy. This linkage among metatheory, theory, and method may enable family policy scholars to generate an evidence base about how to enhance the quality of life of diverse families.

There are significant nomothetic, differential, and idiographic domains of human development. We suggest the usefulness of efforts to understand human development in regard to specific facets of development—for instance, relationships within families with adolescent children—beginning with a focus on the specific, idiographic attributes of individuals. Using these relationships as a sample case, we provide a brief history of the study of the development of these relationships, and we explain the role of models derived from relational developmental systems metatheory in framing contemporary research about this development. We describe some of the nomothetic, differential, and idiographic features of adolescents and families, and we explain the methodological features of a truly developmental approach to measuring the development of mutually influential adolescent↔family relationships. Finally, we discuss the importance of including idiographic‐based information along with nomothetic or differential information in efforts to optimize adolescent–family relationships.

Research and practice in youth development converge in an interest in positive development, or thriving. They converge also in seeking to promote among youth an orientation to act in support of their own and others' well-being through contributions to self, family, and community. Based on the results of both qualitative (open and axial coding of parents' and students' answers to several open-ended questions) and quantitative analyses of data from Wave 2 (Sixth Grade; 2003-2004) of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), we found that adolescents and parents define a thriving youth in different ways and, as well, that the groups differ in the salience of contribution as part of their respective conceptions of thriving. We discuss the implications for research and practice of the two generational groups' contrasting views of thriving and contribution.

As part of a longitudinal, mixed-method study with Boy Scouts of America, we conducted five focus groups with a diverse group of 46 program leaders in order to better understand their perceptions of how they influence youth. Drawing from grounded theory analysis methods, we found that leaders believed they promoted positive youth outcomes, including character and self-confidence, through caring youth-leader relationships and facilitating opportunities for youth to participate in and lead skill-building activities and apply skills in different contexts. Leaders differed in the particular outcomes that they emphasized. Implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.

In contemporary developmental science, relational development systems models have been used to frame the positive youth development (PYD) perspective, which posits that youth will thrive when there is alignment between their strengths and ecological resources in their context. Evidence from the 4‐H Study of PYD indicates that out‐of‐school‐time youth development programs are key ecological resources enhancing youth thriving. This chapter discusses the particular facets of youth development programs (the "Big Three"—positive and sustained adult–youth relationships, skill‐building activities, and youth leadership opportunities) involved in promoting youth thriving. The importance of using theory to design and implement programs is also discussed, and challenges of reaching the diversity of American youth with effective programs are noted.

This article provides initial data about the reliability and validity of tools aimed at promoting youth intentional self regulation (ISR) within mentoring programs. Based on the translation of the theory-based research about ISR and youth thriving conducted within the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), the GPS to Success tools use the metaphor of a car's GPS navigational system to enhance goal-directed behaviors among youth. The core GPS tools are "growth grids," designed to help mentors appraise ISR skill development and to link these skills to other grids assessing the Five Cs of PYD and Contribution. Data from 152 mentor and youth pairs from 4-H program sites in Oregon and North Carolina indicated that the growth grids were generally reliable. Although validity evidence was mixed, rubrics for "G" and "P" and for a global GPS score were related to a well-validated measure of ISR.

Youth development programs seek to promote positive development through mentoring and engaging youth in opportunities for individual growth and community connectedness. We present findings from the initial phase of a mixed-methods, longitudinal study aimed at assessing the impact of one such program, Cub Scouts, on character development. We assessed if Scouting, and a recent innovation in Scouting focused on program quality, are associated with the development of character and other positive youth outcomes. Participants were 1,083 Scouts and non-Scouts, aged 5-12 years. At the start of the study, there was no difference in indicators of character between Scouts and non-Scouts, once matched through propensity score analyses. Through content analyses of interviews and short- answer questionnaires administered to leaders, we found that leaders' views of character and of their roles corresponded to those envisioned by Cub Scouts. Implications for character development, and for the role of program components in character development, are discussed.