Experiential Learning Strategies for Promoting Adolescents’ Voluntarism in Hong Kong

Helping adolescents with greater psychosocial needs: subjective outcome evaluation based on different cohorts

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is designed to help students with greater psychosocial needs. This paper examines nine sets of subjective outcome evaluation data collected from 2005 to 2009 (n = 60, 241 participants). Based on the consolidated data with schools as units, results showed that participants generally had positive perceptions of the program, implementers, and benefits of the program. The subjective outcome evaluation instrument was found to be internally consistent. Multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived qualities of the program and the program implementers predicted perceived effectiveness of the program. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.

Positive youth development program targeting students with greater psychosocial needs: Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. targets adolescents with greater psychosocial needs. Based on subjective outcome evaluation data collected from 2173 participants recruited in 52 schools, 257 conclusions were reported by the program implementers in the evaluation reports. These conclusions were further analyzed via secondary data analyses. Although most of the conclusions concerning perceptions of the Tier 2 Program, instructors, and program effectiveness were positive in nature, there were also conclusions on the difficulties encountered and suggestions for improvements. Consistent with the previous evaluation findings, the present study suggests that the Tier 2 Program was well received by different stakeholders and the program was beneficial to the development of the program participants in the first year of the Experimental Implementation Phase.

The role of adolescents' morality and identity in volunteering. Age and gender differences in a process model

The aim of this study was to explain adolescents' volunteering in terms of their morality and identity and to examine the moderation effect of gender and age in this process. Data were collected among 698 Dutch adolescents aged 12 to 20 (M = 15.19; SD = 1.43). Adolescents' moral reasoning was positively associated with understanding moral issues and thinking about public responsibility towards these issues. In turn, moral understanding, along with being personally committed to act upon moral issues, were positively associated with identity. Extending the number of identity contexts tended to be related to being more likely to volunteer and to more volunteering involvement. Adolescents' identity integration was not related to how likely they were to volunteer, and was negatively related to their volunteering involvement. Clearer effects were found when differentiating between adolescent gender and age groups. Future research could examine this process over time, along with additional factors that may further explain adolescents' volunteering, and examine their age and gender specific effects.