Positive Youth Development and Alcohol Drinking: The Separate Role of the 5Cs in a Sample of Spanish Emerging Adults

The Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework provides a strengths-based perspective, paying greater attention to positive indicators of youth health. This article aimed to examine the relationship between the 5Cs of PYD (i.e., Character, Competence, Confidence, Connection and Caring) and three indicators of alcohol consumption in youth (use, drunkenness and drunken driving). A cross-sectional design was employed with a convenience sample of 1779 undergraduates aged 18 to 29 years (Mean = 20.32, SD = 1.84), recruited from ten universities across Andalusia (Spain). Data was collected during Spring 2023 through an online self-report questionnaire composed of PYD-SF, three questions to assess alcohol consumption, and demographics. Results underlined the protective association of Character and the paradoxical associations of Competence and Connection with alcohol consumption. The higher alcohol consumption scores in men (especially in the indicator of drunken driving) were associated with their lower scores in Character and their higher perceived Competence. These results underlined the importance of promoting positive contexts for developing both Competence and Connection, and the need to foster Character to increase awareness about the risk of alcohol consumption.