A National Evaluation of Community-Based Youth Cessation Programs: End of Program and Twelve-Month Outcomes

Most youth cessation treatment research consists of efficacy studies in which treatments are evaluated under optimal conditions of delivery. Less is known about the effectiveness of youth cessation treatments delivered in real-world, community based settings. A national sample of 41 community-based youth cessation programs participated in a longitudinal evaluation to identify site, program, and participant characteristics associated with successful cessation. Validated quit rates were comparable to those in randomized controlled trials; 7-day abstinence at the end of program averaged 14% and 30-day abstinence at 12 months averaged 12%. Multivariate GEE models explored predictors of smoking cessation at the end of the programs and at 12 months. Results showed correlates of both short- and long-term cessation. Findings point to the importance of both individual and community-level variables, including motivation, opportunities for and encouragement to engage in activities outside of academics, having youth participate in treatment before they become highly dependent smokers, and community norms and ordinances that discourage youth purchase, use and possession of tobacco. Providing evidence-based treatment to youth in community-based settings results in successful cessation.     

Mobilizing Communities and Building Capacity for Youth Violence Prevention: The National Academic Centers of Excellence for Youth Violence Prevention

Violence, including its occurrence among youth, results in considerable physical, emotional, social, and economic consequences in the US. Youth violence prevention work at the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes preventing youth violence-related behaviors, injuries, and deaths by collaborating with academic and community partners and stakeholders. In 2000 and 2005, DVP funded the National Academic Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Youth Violence Prevention. Most ACE Centers focus on building community capacity and competence so that evidence-based programs for youth violence prevention can be successfully implemented through effective and supportive research-community partnerships. This commentary provides historical information about the ACE Program, including the development, goals, accomplishments of the Centers, and the utilization of a community-based participatory research approach to prevent youth violence.     

Inside the Black Box: College Graduation and Civic Engagement

Scholars agree that college graduation is positively associated with civic engagement. They are less certain about why. College graduates are more likely to grow up in advantaged households and have higher household income and access to social capital after graduation than non-graduates. These pre and post college factors are positively related to civic engagement. However, some suggest that college itself encourages graduates to be more involved. The goal of this study was to compare the pre college, college, and post college predictors of civic engagement using data from surveys of over 5,000 alumni of a large U.S. public university. Results show that college extracurricular activities and discipline studied in college, and post college social capital are the most important predictors of graduates' civic engagement. These findings help explain why college graduates are more involved, advance social capital theory, and suggest strategies for increasing civic engagement.     

Youth belonging and cognitive engagement in organized activities: A large-scale field study

Numerous studies of organized activities have found that participation is associated with a range of positive outcomes; however, findings from recent randomized trials have been more mixed. Understanding youth's psychological experiences of program involvement – their cognitive and emotional reaction to and participation in activities – may be key to understanding the influence of organized activities. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate correlates of youth belonging and cognitive engagement in a sample of 1160 youth in 123 program offerings in 66 sites. Results revealed that intensity (frequency) of exposure positively predicted belonging and cognitive engagement; however, duration was negatively associated with cognitive engagement. The staff practice of providing a welcoming atmosphere predicted belonging; whereas provision of active skill-building predicted cognitive engagement. These relations were found to vary across content type.     

Examining the Potential of Community-Based After-School Programs for Latino Youth

Results are presented from two pilot studies examining the potential influence of community-based after-school programs (ASPs) on regionally diverse Latino youth of varying ages. Study 1 examined relations between dimensions of ASP attendance and content, and ethnic identity development, and self-worth in urban Latino adolescents. In this study, higher ratings of the ASP’s emphasis on ethnic socialization were associated with a more developed ethnic identity, while greater intensity of ASP participation and perceptions of ASP quality were associated with higher levels of self-worth. Study 2 examined relations between ASP participation and development of concentration and emotion regulation skills in rural Latino grade-school youth. In this study, youth who regularly attended the ASP demonstrated significantly better concentration and regulation skills than those who did not regularly attend, if they exhibited preexisting concentration and regulation problems. Findings illustrate how ASPs with varying strategies, activities, and assessment tools can be evaluated in the interest of designing future large-scale investigations into ASPs and Latino positive youth development.     

Step Three: Assessing Readiness for OAM (Older Adult Ministry)

SUMMARY

Assessing existing programs as well as the readiness of the congregation to receive new programs in the area of older adult ministry is an essential building block. An assessment of existing ministries is essential to discovering what needs to be developed. At the same time, the strengths and challenges of a congregation to develop and maintain an expanded older adult ministry is also important to assess so that starting points can be identified and needs filled. Often, the secondary gain of any congregational assessment is the ability to hear all of the voices within the congregation, help congregants to feel like they have participated in the process and to prepare them to expect something new. Tools for assessing existing programs as well as the readiness of the congregation are shared and explained.     

Youth Risk and Mentoring Relationship Quality: The Moderating Effect of Program Experiences

Because program experiences are more amendable than mentor or mentee characteristics, they may be important factors to consider in buffering the negative impact of youth risk on the quality of the mentor–mentee bond. Data from 455 mentees (ages 11–18; 57% male) and their undergraduate student mentors (82.3% female) from the Campus Connections mentoring program were used to assess whether youth risk and mentors’ program experiences (i.e., program structure, supportive relationships with staff, opportunities for skill building, support for efficacy and mattering, and opportunities to belong) were associated with mentoring relationship quality and whether mentors’ experience within the program moderated the association between youth risk and mentoring relationship quality. Results indicated that environmental, but not individual, risk was negatively associated with relationship quality. Mentors’ experiences with the program were positively associated with mentoring relationship quality, and in many cases, above and beyond youth level of risk. Finally, mentors’ perception of program structure, supportive relationships, and opportunities for skill building attenuated the negative relationship between environmental, but not individual, risk and relationship quality. Mentors’ experiences of program support for efficacy and mattering and opportunities to belong were not significant moderators in any model. Implications for programs and future research directions are presented.     

Implementation Quality and Positive Experiences in After-School Programs

Data collected during an evaluation of a multi-site trial of an enhanced after-school program were used to relate quality of program implementation to student experiences after school. The enhanced after-school program incorporated a drug use and violence prevention component that was shown to be effective in previous research. Building on Durlak and Dupre’s (Am J Community Psychol 41:327–350, 2008) dimensions of implementation, we assessed the level of dosage, quality of management and climate, participant responsiveness, and staffing quality achieved at the five program sites. We evaluated how these characteristics co-varied with self-reported positive experiences after-school. The study illustrates how multiple dimensions of program implementation can be measured, and shows that some but not all dimensions of implementation are related to the quality of student after-school experiences. Measures of quality of management and climate, participant responsiveness, and staffing stability were most clearly associated with youth experiences. The importance of measuring multiple dimensions of program implementation in intervention research is discussed.     

Building Opportunity: Developing City Systems to Expand and Improve After School Programs

A growing body of research is examining the strengths and weaknesses of specific after school programs and their effect on youth outcomes. Few reviews, however, have sought to examine the components of citywide system-building—to understand intentional efforts to develop, support and sustain high quality after school programming across a community. Beginning in the mid-1990s and continuing through the present, private funders, public officials and program practitioners in cities across America have joined together to build systems to support the expansion and improvement of after school programs at the city-level. This paper presents the community context and underlying principles that drove the development of Baltimore’s After-School Strategy; articulates a set of system components derived from this experience and the available literature; and lays out future work to expand high quality after-school opportunities for youth in Baltimore and in other distressed urban environments.     

Dilemmas of Practice: Challenges to Program Quality Encountered by Youth Program Leaders

To create and sustain high quality youth development programs it is important to understand the challenging situations and dilemmas that emerge in program leaders’ daily work with youth. In this research the experiences of leaders in 12 programs were followed over a 2–9 month period, which led to the identification of 250 dilemma situations. Qualitative analyses identified 5 categories and 12 subcategories of dilemmas that reflected distinct types of considerations (e.g., youth’s personalities, relationships with the community). The analyses also found that the experienced leaders in the study typically responded to these dilemmas in ways that were youth-centered and that balanced multiple considerations. It is argued that researchers need to go beyond identifying features of high quality programs, and more fully examine how effective leaders create and sustain high quality in response to the challenging situations of practice.     

Methods for Assessing Quality of Life and Well-Being in Frail Older People

The appropriateness, reliability and convergence of differing methods and associated instruments for the assessment of quality of life and well-being in frail older people was examined in 60 ( S 65 years of age) nursing home residents. The feasibility of measuring quality of life and well-being via a variety of instruments was explored through observation (an adaptation of Dementia Care Mapping), structured interview (Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life - Direct Weighting), and proxy questionnaire (Pleasant Events Schedule - Alzheimer Disease; Apparent Emotion Rating Scale). The observational assessment and Pleasant Events Schedule demonstrated good reliability. Significant associations were found between well-being as assessed by observation, and active social interaction and engagement in recreation as assessed by observation, quality of life as assessed by structured interview, and enjoyment of activities as assessed by proxy questionnaire. These findings indicate the importance of social activity in later life, and the potential of different approaches for the appropriate assessment of key aspects of quality of life in frail older people.     

After-School Youth Development Programs: A Developmental-Ecological Model of Current Research

Although there has been a rapid increase in funding and attention to after-school programs, there is little understanding of how after-school programs impact children's developmental trajectories. The heterogeneity of American children makes it very unlikely that all children need after-school programming or that there is but one brand of after-school programming suitable for all youth. We discuss the numerous developmental and contextual factors that may influence which children benefit most from after-school programs as well as the nature of the after-school programs most beneficial to children's needs. The value of utilizing an ecological and developmental perspective to after-school program evaluation are presented, including the need for improved research designs and more detailed analyses of program type and services as well as a more complete determination of which children benefit the most from after-school participation.     

Cross-Validation of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 Youth Version: An Exploration of Strength-Based Latent Traits

High-quality measurement is a necessary requirement to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of programs that use strength-based principles and strategies. Using independent cross-validation samples, we report two studies that explored the construct validity of the BERS-2 Youth Report, a popular measure designed to assess youth strengths, whose conceptual structure has not yet been examined. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis found a four-factor solution with conceptual support, which included both internal assets associated with (a) the management of emotions and positive social interaction skills and (b) engagement in the important social contexts of family and school. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses found reasonable model fit for the BERS-2 five-factor structure and superior model fit for the more parsimonious four-factor solution found in Study 1. In future studies, parallel reporting of the four-factor model may provide additional insight to the nature and structure of the BERS-2 Youth Version’s clinical validity and utility when compared with the five-factor model, thus potentially contributing to a broader objective to develop a better understanding of important strength-based latent traits.     

Quality at the Point of Service: Profiles of Practice in After-School Settings

A unique observational data set was used to explore quality at the point of service in after-school programs. Staff practices in after-school settings were represented on a series of unidimensional scales closely indexed to staff behavior. In order to account for heterogeneity of staff performances, pattern-centered methods were used to construct profiles of common staff practices. Results revealed six pedagogy profiles that were classified in terms of three broad types of performances delivered by after-school staff: (1) positive youth development, (2) staff-centered, and (3) low-quality. Staff membership in these profiles was not related to youth-staff ratio. However, results revealed significant differences between the profiles on the content of the offering and the age of youth in the setting.     

The After-School Needs and Resources of a Low-Income Urban Community: Surveying Youth and Parents for Community Change

Using a collaborative research approach, this project describes a partnership between community residents and university researchers to develop a comprehensive survey of the after-school needs of a low-income urban community in a large Midwestern city. Surveying parents and children was considered particularly important because the current literature on after-school does not include much input from them, the key stakeholders in programming. By surveying pre- and young adolescent youth (N = 416) and parents (N = 225) in the community, information was gathered to document the need for after-school programming, tap program preferences, and uncover barriers to participation and enrollment. Survey findings revealed significant differences between youth and parent perspectives. Disagreements between youth and parent survey responses suggest that after-school programs in the community should offer a balance of academic, recreational, and social activities, as well as a tutoring or homework component. Further, in order to increase participation and attendance rates, community after-school programs need to address the following barriers to participation: safety, transportation, family responsibilities (e.g., care for siblings, household chores), and access to information about available programs. These findings guided the planning of future after-school programs. The survey results and comparisons between youth and parent data will be presented.     

Measuring Collective Efficacy Among Children in Community-based Afterschool Programs: Exploring Pathways toward Prevention and Positive Youth Development

Collective efficacy refers to a perceived sense of connectedness and willingness to intervene among youth, and is a potential aspect of positive youth development (Larson in Am Psychol 55:170–183, 2000; Lerner et al. in Child Dev 71:11–20, 2000; Sampson et al. in Science 277:918–924, 1997). Theoretically, those who feel connected to a group that is empowered to positively influence the behavior of their peers may demonstrate fewer problem behaviors. Few studies, however, have measured the impact of youth perceptions of collective efficacy. As a relatively new child-related research topic, there is much to be learned. One contribution to the foundation of this research agenda begins by evaluating the reliability and validity of a measure of collective efficacy with elementary children attending community-based afterschool programs. This paper describes the internal consistency reliability and various indicators of construct and concurrent validity of the Collective Efficacy Among Children Scale. The measure was found to have high internal consistency reliability. Construct validity was tested using exploratory factor analyses of collective efficacy including the dimensions of willingness to intervene and cohesion found in previous research (Sampson et al. in Science 277:918–924, 1997). Concurrent validity assessed relations between the scale and other measures in theoretically congruent ways. Using Hierarchical Linear Models to account for children's nestedness in after-school programs, connectedness was found to be more related to emotional adjustment, particularly children’s prosocial attitudes (caring about others and sharing). Children’s perception of the willingness of the group to intervene was found to be related to less problem behavior, (i.e. smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, vandalism, and stealing). The implications suggest that future research should further explore children’s collective efficacy, and ways to foster its development in youth-serving afterschool settings.     

Assessing Differences in Athlete-Reported Outcomes Between High and Low-Quality Youth Sport Programs

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in athlete-reported outcomes based on sport program quality. Twenty-four sport programs were observed using the Program Quality Assessment in Youth Sport (PQAYS) observation tool. A two-step cluster analysis based on total PQAYS scores revealed two groups (low quality = 16, high quality = 8). Athletes (N = 324) completed 3 questionnaires related to basic needs support, needs satisfaction, and developmental experiences. Results indicated that athletes in high-quality programs perceived significantly greater opportunities for autonomy, relatedness, and choice, as well as higher perceptions of goal setting and lower negative experiences compared to youth in lower quality programs.     

The Program Environment Scale: Assessing Client Perceptions of Community-Based Programs for the Severely Mentally Ill

The Program Environment Scale (PES) was developed for use with clients of community-based programs for the severely mentally ill. It is intended to fill the gap in available tools for assessing clients' perceptions of program functioning as it affects their quality of life in a program. Formal pretests were conducted with 121 clients at 12 randomly selected programs near Washington, DC. The final field test used a revised form (29 domains; 129 items) with 221 clients in 22 programs selected randomly throughout the U.S., including Clubhouse, day treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation, and social club programs. Twenty-three subscales met at least five of eight psychometric criteria for internal consistency and discriminant validity. A 24th subscale was retained because of its substantive importance. Successful subscales cover program atmosphere and interactions (program cares about me, energy level, friendliness, openness, staff-client and client-client respect, reasonable rules, availability of positive physical contact, protection from bad touch, staff investment in their jobs, and confidentiality), client empowerment/staff-client equality (program and treatment empowerment, egalitarian space use), and service components (support for paid work, work importance, emergency access, family activities, housing, public benefits, community activities, medications, substance abuse, and continuity). Subscale validity is indicated by associations of specific service offerings with scores on scales measuring client perceptions of those services, and by an ability to differentiate among program models (i.e., Clubhouses, day treatment programs, and psychosocial rehabilitation programs look different from each other). Subscale scores were not influenced by client characteristics (gender, race, age, diagnosis, number of hospitalizations, length of time in program). The final scale has 97 items and takes about 25 minutes to complete. The PES succeeds in measuring different aspects of programs as clients perceive them. In the programs we visited, directors felt the PES covers the important things they want to know about how clients perceive their program. The PES should become a useful tool both for researchers interested in how client responses to programs may influence their therapeutic outcomes, and for practitioners interested in improving their clients' program experiences and/or increasing convergence of staff and client views of their program.     

Youth Functioning and Experiences in Inner-City After-School Programs Among Age, Gender, and Race Groups

Many dangers and challenges face inner-city minority children during their after-school hours. Youth development programs provide an alternative to spending this time unsupervised. We examined the relationship between children's experiences in selected urban Boys and Girls Clubs and child functioning. Because the sample (N = 296) consisted of African American and Hispanic boys and girls, aged 10–18, we were able to compare these relationships across race, gender, and age groups. There was no relationship between simple participation levels and child functioning, but significant linkages were identified between specific elements of the club experience and functioning. Relationships with club staff members and participation in club activities were associated with better functioning for older boys, a subgroup that is at considerable risk for delinquency. In addition, enjoyment of the club and not feeling badly treated there were associated with better functioning for all groups of children.