ABSTRACT
This chapter explores descriptive evaluations to conceptually driven investigations of life skills programs focused on positive youth development (PYD). Accordingly, it outlines a comprehensive conceptual framework for life skills interventions developed by Hodge. The chapter gives some preliminary findings regarding the usefulness of the model for PYD. Life Development Intervention (LDI) focuses on self-directed change, being goal-directed, and focusing on the future, with an understanding of what needs to be done in the present to reach one's best possible future. One of the key challenges in developing a conceptual framework for life skills is that there are multiple definitions of life skills. The range of life skills taught and the definitions used in interventions limits our ability to make comparisons about the relative effectiveness of these intervention programs. A key aspect of Basic Needs Theory (BNT) is the proposition that adaptive psychological outcomes will result the more that an individual internalizes the basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
