This study explores the impact of a mentor-based wilderness program on positive youth development (PYD). The purpose of the study was to investigate how participation in a wilderness program promotes the development of internal and external assets for urban, under-resourced teens.
The population for this study consisted of 195 urban youth who had participated in all phases: pre-expedition, expedition, and post-expedition of the week-long Relate Expedition, a U.S. based wilderness program. The program was designed to combine nature-based experiences outdoors with positive, caring adult relationships. Usable data were collected from a convenience sample of 60 youth who completed pre, post, and 90-day post-assessments. Teens were primarily Hispanic (24.5%), African American (11.3%), Asian (8.8%) and Caucasian (2.5%) with other races, and mixed-raced individuals also represented. The average age of participants was 15.9 and the sample was 56.6 % male. Most were considered under-resourced in that they came from single-parent homes (71%) or lived below the poverty line (83%). PYD assets were measured using the 40-item quantitative Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) and t-tests were used to measure differences in assets developed between pre-, post-, and 90-day post-tests.
Steady, statistically significant changes were observed on all eight of the observed DAP assets between pre-, post-, and 90-day post-tests. The authors considered an important finding to be that the program demonstrated a positive impact across gender and race/ethnicity. Scales of Use of Time, Learning, and Positive Identity demonstrated the largest gains. Males showed greater improvement in PYD than females, and Hispanics showed the greatest improvement among the various racial groups, with African Americans showing the next largest improvements. Specific assets developed were both gender and race specific.
In discussion, the authors note that these findings are especially important given the relatively short, one-week wilderness- and mentor-based program. They also note that the positive changes related to external assets such as support systems, view of responsibility, and constructive use of time were striking. Support is defined as including “family support, positive family communication, other adult relationships, a caring neighborhood, a caring school climate, and parent involvement.” While the authors call for additional research and theory-building, their findings offer evidence in support of the beneficial effects of wilderness- and mentor-based outdoor experiential education on under-resourced teens.
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