We examined relations among select components of the 4-H Thriving Model, focusing on youth sparks and four presumed determinants: program quality, developmental relationships, situational engagement, and dosage. Based on our results and results of previous studies, we propose a formal theory of youth program sparks. Three hundred fifty-six Texas…

Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) programs are important developmental contexts for youth. Researchers have long sought to understand the lasting impacts of programs and what moments are linked to these impacts. However, little research has examined the types of events that occur during OAE programs are most impactful to a participant's identity.…

As research on summer camp continues to expand and both scholars and practitioners gain a better understanding of the impact of the experience, it has become important to explore how the experience of summer camp is connected to the larger ecology of youth development. This study explores strategies of Christian summer camps for impacting faith in…

Preparing youth, primarily as they become high school graduates, to be ready to enter college and careers, has been a primary driving force in primary and secondary education for over 20 years. However, there lacks consistency in the definition and of the true idea of college and career readiness in the twenty-first century. Additionally, there is…

Based on the purpose of improving the communication power of the computational intelligence short videos of China Communist Youth League, this paper takes six typical computational intelligence short video IDs and their popular computational intelligence short videos of the Communist Youth League at the provincial level as the research object…

Background: Summer camp is an experiential learning setting that supports youth development. Due to high fees, youth from low-income backgrounds often have fewer opportunities to attend. Subsequently, there is little literature about these youth's camp experiences. Purpose: This research examined growth and the characteristics supporting growth in…

In the context of an established research-practice partnership with the Hope Resource Center, we piloted The Stories Project, a narrative inquiry study alongside refugee-background youth workers and U.S.-born community members. Our inquiry explored the process by which storytelling could be used to humanize and advocate for refugee-background…

The University of Georgia (UGA) has a training requirement for adults working with youth. To meet this requirement for Georgia 4-H and Extension Master Gardener volunteers, a standardized online training module was created and delivered across program areas. Volunteers were surveyed to evaluate training effectiveness and experience. Understanding…

Background: Mentoring programs pair non-familial adults with children and adolescents for the purposes of promoting positive youth development. Although these programs are widely popular, evaluations tend to show that mentoring programs have, on average, modest effects on youth outcomes. Some researchers have suggested that mentoring programs…

Background: Internationally, the number of young people who experience significant mental health issues is increasing. It is argued that flexible, community-based initiatives can help support mental health services to address the mental health needs of young people. Youth mentoring is a community-based model, which has been found to act as a…

The benefit of participating in Out-of-School Time (OST) arts programs has been widely documented in studies that often reflect impact over short timeframes. Youth arts organisations often bear extraordinary claims about the impact of programs, and the value they hold especially in the lives of those who face difficult social circumstances. This…

Approximately 1.6 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, and 200,000 of them are under the age of 20. Self-management processes for these youth such as peer-based support are essential for quality of life. This pilot study partnered with university students and Lions Club International Foundation to pilot test a new diabetes camp model and…

The teens as teachers model is a promising approach to impact teen behavior. The current study evaluated dietary knowledge and behavior among teen teachers participating in a 4-H youth development program (N = 46; M[subscript age] = 15.5 years; 67% female; 48% Hispanic; 38% White Non-Hispanic, 14% Other). A paired sample t test was conducted on…

Innovations in medicine have allowed children with cancer to attend school more frequently by increasing survival rates and improving access to outpatient therapies. Children with cancer still miss a significant proportion of school attendance and participation during treatment, thereby disrupting their educational experiences. "Monkey in My…

Using a statewide sample of participants in 4-H programs, we tested associations among youth sparks, program quality, program dosage, and four types of involvement (breadth of participation in out-of-school-time beyond 4-H, scope of learning strategies, degree of specialization, and cumulative program immersion). Participants were 180 Texas 4-H…