Influences on Adolescents in an Ecosystem: Uniformed Groups

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether participating in a uniformed group such as Boy Scouts, which can be seen as a meso-ecosystem, is likely to be beneficial for adolescents' psychosocial competence. The psychosocial competence of a representative sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents who were members of uniformed groups (N = 559) was compared with that of a corresponding sample of adolescents who were not members of uniformed groups (N = 834). Measures of psychosocial competence included social skills, helping attitudes, and leadership. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine how well participation in uniformed groups predicted the 3 measures of psychosocial competence concurrently. Results indicated that participation in uniformed groups was associated with higher levels of social skills, helping attitudes, and leadership. Results are discussed in relation to benefits of uniformed group participation.