40 Developmental Assets

Search Institute* has identified 40 factors in young people's lives that make them more likely to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible. Created to encourage communication and understanding, an adult and a teenager can assess—and discuss— the assets that each experiences or feels is lacking.

You may complete the checklist separately, then talk about similarities, differences and ways to build new strengths; or, go through the questionnaire together and discuss the reasons that each of you answers the question(s) in a particular way. There are no right or wrong answers. Recognition of each individual's perception of these factors is important for creating a healthy, nurturing environment for growth.

To complete the on-line questionnaire, simply click your cursor inside the box(es) to the right of each statement if you agree. This will place a check mark in the box. There are four (4) pages of statements. At the bottom of each page, you will find a "Clear Form" button which will allow you to start your responses over; a "Go to Next Page" button which will bring up the next set of statements to consider; and, a "Previous Page" button which allows you to view your previous responses. You will want to print out each page when you complete it.

When you have completed the questionnaire, you must press the "See Results " button at the bottom of Page 4. After a few seconds, a Results List will be automatically displayed. Each ASSET will be listed, followed by a number indicating the number of statements that have been selected as a percentage of the total possible responses for each participant.

For Example: The EXTERNAL ASSET of SUPPORT has a total of 6 questions or statements which are considered important indicators of the amount of external support that a child/youth is receiving. If the youth checks (3) of these, a result of 50% will be reflected—indicating that the youth feels that he/she receives about 1/2 of the external support needed to grow up healthy, caring and responsible according to Search Institute*. If the adult filled out the questionnaire at the same time, and the adult selected two (2) of the statements, their results of 33.3% will also be displayed.

*Search Institute: Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth is a national initiative to bring Search Institute's new paradigm for positive youth development to communities across the country. The initiative, rooted in the institute's framework of developmental assets, provides communities, schools, organizations and families with resources, technical assistance and training to launch and sustain long-term efforts to promote the positive development of youth.

Lutheran Brotherhood: Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth Initiative is underwritten by Lutheran Brotherhood, a not-for-profit organization providing financial services and community service opportunities for Lutherans nationwide.

NOTE: This checklist is not intended nor appropriate as a scientific or accurate measurement of developmental assets. Permission to reproduce this chart is granted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. Copyright ©1997 by Search Institute, 700 S. Third Street, Suite 210, Minneapolis, MN 55415.