Youth Survey

The CTC Youth Survey was developed as a tool to provide community-based partnerships with reliable information about the prevalence of youth behaviour problems as well as the prevalence of underlying factors risk and protective factors. This assessment enables communities
- to select top-priority risk and protective factors based on an individual community profile and
- to match the most elevated risk factors and / or most depressed protective factors with preventive strategies.

Currently little is known about the generalizability of the risk and protection approach in Europe. The CTC Youth Survey was adapted in several European countries individually.

The CTC – EU – Network aims to develop the European knowledge base about the risk and protective factor approach in prevention. Hence we work on cross-national standardized methods to measure these factors.

Within the EU-funded project “Making CTC work at the European level” (1/2013 – 12/2015) we started with a cross-national analysis of existing CTC Youth Survey data. This analysis will help to distinguish risk and protective processes that are country specific from those that are consistent across nations. Different epidemiological patterns of risk and protection may account for differences in levels of problem behaviours. The study improves the generalizability of etiology and impact of regional and national context across the participating countries.

Responsible partner for this part of the project was the Verwey-Jonker Institute in the Netherlands.

Cross-national analyses on delinquency, drug use, risk factors and protective factors

The CTC-EU-Collaborative investigated the development and the contextual influences of family, school, friends and neighbourhood by risk factors and protective factors on different problem behaviours of youngsters. This research is the empirical basis for effective policies and intervention to reduce violence, delinquency and alcohol use, but also to build up effective prevention and social policies.

A brief report about the project results and the forthcoming book "Delinquency and Substance Use in Europe:Understanding Risk and Protective Factors" can be found here.