Family leisure involvement may provide the first and most essential context for positive youth development in today's society. Similar to the broader ecological perspective used in the youth development literature, family systems theory suggests that each individual in the family influences the whole, while the whole family also influences each individual. From a systems perspective, examination of family variables is likely to provide valuable insight into both family and individual outcomes. This logic suggests it may be useful to examine family leisure and related family outcomes particularly from the perspective of an adolescent family member. Such an approach provides valuable insight and direction when considering family leisure as a context for positive youth development. When considering family leisure from a youth perspective, the core and balance model provides a useful framework. The model, grounded in family systems theory, indicates that involvement in different patterns of family leisure contributes to family functioning in different ways. It identifies two basic categories or patterns of family leisure, core and balance, that families use to meet needs for both stability and change, and ultimately facilitate outcomes of family cohesion and adaptability which are primary components of family functioning. The core and balance model has provided a useful theoretical framework for examining family leisure among diverse family samples. The authors cite results from studies that examine the quality of family leisure involvement. They discuss youth perspectives of family leisure outcomes and present implications for families and youth programs when considering positive youth development within a family leisure context. (Contains 1 figure and 32 notes.)