[Construction of a development index for young people aged 14 - 26 in Medellín, Colombia]

To construct and validate a Medellín youth development index (IDJM, for its Spanish acronym) covering young people aged 14 - 26 residing in the city's comunas and corregimientos, thus contributing scientific evidence for the development of intervention strategies.

A cross-sectional study of a random representative sample of 8 001 young people residing in Medellín, Colombia, was conducted, to whom a validated instrument was applied whose dimensions provide information on youth development. The Prinqual method for processing qualitative variables through optimal quantification was used. The first main component, the IDJM, was selected by means of a categorical analysis of the main components. The index was validated and disaggregated by sex, age group, and each dimension studied.

The average IDJM score was 74.4 (SD=9.8; CI95%: 74.2 - 74.6). The 14 - 17-year-old age group had the highest score, with females exhibiting slightly higher scores than their male counterparts. The analysis likewise showed that scores increased with socioeconomic level and decreased as the age of the study population increased. Education was the dimension that contributed the most to the index, followed by Goods and Services, while Democracy and Participation and Labor contributed the least across all age groups.

A Medellín youth development index was constructed and validated. It should prove to be a very useful tool, especially for decision-making regarding public policies that target young people. It is essential that the IDJM be updated regularly to ensure accurate assessment of the interventions' impact, especially in the dimensions that contributed lower scores.