Interest in the value of Positive Youth Development in the US focuses on the longitudinal “4-H” study hosted at Tufts University, Massachusetts and led by developmental psychologists Richard and Jacqueline Lerner.

Their study is following the progress of about 4,000 adolescents with varying levels of involvement in community-based programs, such as clubs, YMCA, and Scouting. Researchers are examining how positive influences protect young people against "problem behaviors" such as substance abuse, unsafe sex, school underachievement and failure, and delinquency and violence. The purpose of the research is to identify characteristics that are related to positive youth development.