Positive Youth Development Revisited: A Contextual–Theoretical Approach for Disadvantaged Youth in Singapore

This study, aimed at producing a contextualised positive youth development framework for socially and economically disadvantaged youths in Singapore, is an initial youth project phase for profiling this population through explanatory mixed-methods research. The online survey was conducted for 843 secondary school students. The questionnaire was guided by two PYD models—5/6 Cs and 40 developmental assets—based on Buenconsejo and Datu’s integrative ecological perspective. After data collection, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted to find the underlying factors by using the Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) extraction method and Promax with Kaiser Normalisation rotation. A 31-item survey questionnaire was finalised after the EFA, identifying an underlying seven-factor structure to establish the Integrated Positive Youth Development (IPYD) framework. This study provided groundbreaking application of PYD in a non-Western context and strategic insights into how the strengths of disadvantaged youths in Singapore could be encouraged in a manner that is culturally knowledgeable.