Abstract
The Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs) is a positive youth development program implemented in school settings utilizing a curricular-based approach. In the third year of the Full Implementation Phase, 19 experimental schools (n = 3,006 students) and 24 control schools (n = 3,727 students) participated in a randomized group trial. Analyses based on linear mixed models via SPSS showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools based on different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including positive self-identity, prosocial behavior, and general positive youth development attributes. Differences between experimental and control participants were also found when students who joined the Tier 1 Program and perceived the program to be beneficial were employed as participants of the experimental schools. The present findings strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is making an important positive impact for junior secondary school students in Hong Kong.
Highlights
The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs) is a youth enhancement program that attempts to promote holistic youth development in Hong Kong[1,2]
Qualitative Evaluation (Focus Groups Based on Students): Focus groups involving students based on schools randomly selected from the participating schools were conducted
The findings suggest that the project is effective in promoting positive youth development among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong[4,5,6,7,8]
Summary
The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs) is a youth enhancement program that attempts to promote holistic youth development in Hong Kong[1,2]. The Tier 1 Program is a universal positive youth development program where students in Secondary 1 to 3 normally participate in a 20-h program in the school year at each grade. According to Catalano et al.[3], several positive youth development aspects are important. These include promotion of bonding, cultivation of resilience, promotion of social competence, promotion of emotional competence, promotion of cognitive competence, promotion of behavioral. To help adolescents develop in a holistic manner, these 15 adolescent developmental constructs are covered in the project, in the Tier 1 Program. One unique characteristic of the Project P.A.T.H.S. is the use of a systematic and ongoing evaluation approach that monitors various aspects of the program. Utilizing the principle of triangulation, a wide range of evaluation strategies is used to evaluate the Tier 1 Program as follows:
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