Service Participation, Hardiness and Developmental Outcomes among Low-Income Young People in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This study examines the ways in which service participation and hardiness interact to affect youth development in such areas as academic success, work achievement, mental health, behavioral adjustment and overall accomplishment. The basic premise is that these two factors may have main effects and an interaction effect on the outcomes. To test this, the present study employed survey data collected from 405 low-income young people recruited from 13 secondary schools and 18 community-based youth-service centers in Hong Kong. The results support the hypothesis that service participation and hardiness work jointly in affecting outcomes, although the individual effects differ across variables. On the other hand, no support is found for the possibility that hardiness might moderate the effect of services participation on the outcomes. Implications of the findings for further research and servicer provision are discussed.