Evaluating the Effects of the Teen Outreach Program on Positive Youth Development Constructs

Authors

Rita DeBate, University of South FloridaFollow
Helen Mahony, University of South FloridaFollow
Ellen Daley, University of South FloridaFollow
Wei Wang, University of South FloridaFollow
Stephanie Marhefka, University of South FloridaFollow
Sarah B. Maness, University of OklahomaFollow
Markku Malmi, University of South FloridaFollow
Robert Ziemba, University of South FloridaFollow
Charlotte Noble, University of South FloridaFollow
Eric R. Walsh-Buhi, San Diego State UniversityFollow

Abstract

Introduction: The Teen Outreach Program (TOP) is a positive youth development (PYD) program that seeks to reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy, school dropout, and course failure. As TOP has not been evaluated for its impact on PYD constructs, our purpose was to assess this potential.

Methods: A pair-matched, cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate TOP among youth in 26 high schools was conducted in 2013-2014. Youth (N=3740) were surveyed at baseline and immediately following program completion. A linear mixed effects model compared scores of the Lerner’s Five Cs measure of PYD between treatment and control youth and by race/ethnicity and gender subgroups.

Results: After a multiple comparison adjustment, no statistically significant results were observed.

Conclusions: Despite the lack of statistically significant findings, the current study can provide insight for future evaluations of TOP regarding adaptation and evaluation of core components, implementation, PYD impacts, and sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Recommended Citation

DeBate, Rita; Mahony, Helen; Daley, Ellen; Wang, Wei; Marhefka, Stephanie; Maness, Sarah B.; Malmi, Markku; Ziemba, Robert; Noble, Charlotte; and Walsh-Buhi, Eric R. (2018) "Evaluating the Effects of the Teen Outreach Program on Positive Youth Development Constructs," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 1: No. 2. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1010