Promoting character through developmental experiences in conservation service youth programs

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to understand the developmental experiences that unfold in youth development contexts, and why they matter for character development. Drawing on pre- and post-program data provided by 846 adolescents (47% female, 63% youth of color), this paper empirically investigated the role of three developmental experiences―developmental relationships, critical reflection, and intrinsic program engagement―in promoting civic, moral, intellectual, and performance character strengths in a conservation context in the United States. Results provide robust evidence of the pervasive power of all three developmental experiences, and especially youth-adult developmental relationships and critical reflection, in promoting key elements of character. Specific suggestions are described for organizational action to invest strategically and systematically in these program features to support young people’s character development.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescence
• relationships
• character development
• youth development
• conservation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2218331.

Notes

1. The CFAs for developmental relationships and working across differences fit acceptably well; factor loadings across all variables ranged from .48–.65 (all ps < .001; Supplemental Table S1). Configural, metric, and scalar invariance were established across time for the only construct with sufficient items and measured pre- and post-test: working across differences (available from authors).

2. Several competing models were tested to ensure that the selected analytic approach did not mask important nuances. This includes a model using multiple linear regression to model both the three developmental experiences and the seven character strengths as continuous; and, a model using multiple logistic regression to model the predictor variables as continuous and the character outcomes dichotomized as a median split. Results were robust across the different models (displayed in Supplemental Table S5), with few variations in the fundamental patterns based on whether variables were modeled as continuous or dichotomous, thus mitigating any concerns about our selected approach.

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Syvertsen and Dr. Sullivan were with Search Institute when the data were collected. This research was supported by The Kendeda Fund, Atlanta, GA.