Lynch Alicia Doyle, Ferris Kaitlyn A, Burkhard Brian, Wang Jun, Hershberg Rachel M, Lerner Richard M
Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
Am J Community Psychol. 2016 Mar;57(1-2):73-86. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12035. Epub 2016 Mar 28.
We examined links among three dimensions of youth involvement (intensity, duration, and engagement) in Boy Scouts of America (BSA), an international out-of-school time (OST) youth development program designed to promote moral and performance character in boys. Using data from 737 youth and their parents who participated in one of 40 BSA program sites (commonly referred to as "packs"), we first considered how individual- and pack-level measures of program involvement were differentially linked with character development. Next, we examined whether pack-level involvement characteristics moderate individual-level involvement characteristics, hypothesizing that highly involved packs would serve to further enhance the positive effects of high levels of individual involvement. Results indicated engagement was the strongest, most frequent predictor of increases in both moral and performance character. Although there were no direct effects of pack-level intensity, duration, or engagement, the effects of individual-level engagement were moderated by pack-level engagement, suggesting that the largest increases in moral and performance character occurred among highly engaged youth who were enrolled in highly engaged packs. These results highlight the need to examine multiple dimensions of OST program involvement simultaneously, and suggest that strengthening youth engagement in programming may provide a means for enhancing the positive effects of high-quality youth programming.
我们研究了美国童子军（BSA）这一国际校外时间（OST）青年发展项目中青少年参与的三个维度（强度、持续时间和参与度）之间的联系，该项目旨在培养男孩的道德和行为品质。我们使用了来自参与40个BSA项目地点（通常称为“小队”）之一的737名青少年及其父母的数据，首先考察了项目参与的个体层面和小队层面的测量指标与品质发展之间的差异联系。接下来，我们检验了小队层面的参与特征是否调节个体层面的参与特征，假设高度参与的小队将进一步增强高水平个体参与的积极影响。结果表明，参与度是道德和行为品质提升的最强、最常见的预测因素。虽然小队层面的强度、持续时间或参与度没有直接影响，但个体层面的参与度受到小队层面参与度的调节，这表明道德和行为品质提升幅度最大的是那些参与高度活跃小队的高度活跃的青少年。这些结果凸显了同时考察OST项目参与多个维度的必要性，并表明加强青少年在项目中的参与度可能是增强高质量青少年项目积极影响的一种方式。
