Early researchers on adolescent development started out with the wrong set of assumptions (Lerner & Steinberg, 2004). Most, including the founder of the field, G. Stanley Hall (1844–1924), viewed adolescents in terms of what they lacked when compared to mature adults (Hall, 1904). For decades this perspective subtly influenced how researchers, teachers, parents, youth workers, and public policy makers looked at this period of development. It influenced what they thought they could expect from teenagers, and how they would interpret what teenagers said and did. Researchers and clinicians viewed adolescence as a time of “sturm und drang”—storm and stress— when emotional turmoil was a necessary step toward maturity. Hall drew upon Darwin’s writings on evolution for perspective (Hall, 1904). Hall interpreted each person’s maturation as a retelling of how mankind evolved from primitive beasts to civilized social animals, with the teenage years reflecting a critical point in that story of transformation. Anna Freud (1969) wrote of emotional upheavals within adolescents and their close relationships with family and friends. Erik Erikson (1959) described the adolescent’s identity crisis as he or she struggled to achieve a more mature state. In short, early researchers and clinicians based their observations and theories on the underlying assumption that adolescents are inherently “at risk” for behaving in uncivilized or problematic ways; they were “broken” in some way and needed repair. Given that premise, that is largely what they saw.

About 4-H research:
http://4-h.org/about/research/
Proven Results
For more than 10 years, 4‑H has partnered with Tufts University to study the effectiveness of its youth development programs.
This first of its kind research study found that 4‑H’s unique hands-on approach gives kids the opportunity to learn by doing and build life skills.
4‑H Study of Positive Youth Development is a longitudinal study that began in 2002 and was repeated annually for eight years, surveying more than 7,000 adolescents from diverse backgrounds across 42 U.S. states.