NCJ Number
222745
Journal
Residential Treatment for Children & Youth Volume: 23 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 2005 Pages: 5-26
Date Published
2005
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effect of a recreation activity staged according to self-determination theory principles on situational vitality and affinity for nature of male high school students in a residential treatment facility.
Abstract
Results reveal a significant treatment-by-treatment order interaction for both outcomes. When the self-determination theory (SDT)-staged tour was experienced before the traditional tour, vitality and affinity toward nature were high. When the SDT-staged tour was experienced after having previously participated in a traditional tour, however, the means were dramatically lower. For the group that experienced the SDT-staged tour first, the traditional tour produced higher means than the SDT-staged tour. The results strongly suggest that, despite the presence of numerous social and contextual factors that may influence reactions of youth to interventions, significant learning tends to occur from one experience to the next. A major challenge in working with youth who have behavioral, emotional, and learning disabilities is staging environments and activities that fully engage participants in tasks at hand, rather than leaving them detached and disaffected. Little is known of specific techniques that reliably elicit engagement. Self-determination theory suggests a number of principles that might be used by adult activity leaders to elicit target emotional and motivational states among youth. This study examined the effects of a recreation activity staged according to self-determination theory principles on in-situ vitality and in-situ affinity toward nature of 21 teenage male students (aged 14-17) enrolled in a residential treatment program. Tables, figures, and references