Positive Youth Development Programs Targeting Students with Greater Psychosocial Needs: A Replication

Abstract

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) targets adolescents with greater psychosocial needs, and the related programs were designed and implemented by school social workers. After completion of the Tier 2 Program (Secondary 1 Level), 9,931 participants in 212 schools responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form C) in order to assess their views of the program, workers, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Based on the consolidated reports submitted by the agencies to the funding body, the research team aggregated the consolidated data to form a “reconstructed” overall profile on the perceptions of the program participants. Four major types of program were identified, including programs based on the adventure-based counseling approach (n = 58), programs concentrating on volunteer training and services (n = 31), programs offering both adventure-based counseling and volunteer training activities (n = 91), and other programs with different foci (n = 32). Results showed that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the programs and the workers, and over four-fifths of the respondents regarded the program as helpful to them. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong for the Full Implementation Phase.

Editorial: Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong: Are the Findings Replicable Across Different Populations?

“…In this special issue, several evaluation papers on the effectiveness of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 Programs, including subjective outcome evaluation based on program participants and implementers, evaluation based on secondary data evaluation, and objective outcome evaluation, are included [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Generally speaking, the findings arising from these papers are consistent with those reported previously, thus providing evidence for the replication of related research findings.…”

Subjective outcome evaluation of a positive youth development program targeting students with greater psychosocial needs

“…In view of the diverse needs of the students and to create more fl exibility for the workers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) which assist with the overall coordination and implementation of the project have the choice of designing appropriate programs that target the needs of the students based on the positive youth development constructs, goals, and objectives proposed in this project. Several commonly-used prototypes of the Tier 2 Program include: (a) mentorship programs involving alumni of the schools, (b) mental health promotion programs, (c) adventure-based counseling, (d) parenting programs, (e) service learning programs, and (f) resilience enhancement programs (18) . Generally speaking, about 1 5 of the adolescents and/or their parents of the Tier 1 participants participate in the Tier 2 Program.…”

Subjective Well-Being and Family Structure During Early Adolescence: A Prospective Study

“…Finally, many previous studies have relied heavily on Western samples; the extent to which the results can be applied to Eastern subjects is unclear because of cultural differences. Lee and Shek (2010) also have noted the lack of studies using Eastern samples. Although there has been some research on various SWB issues in the East, such as Hong Kong (Kwan, 2010) and Taiwan (Chang, Yi, & Lin, 2008; Hwung, 2010), these studies suffered from the aforementioned limitations.…”