Approximately one out of every six individuals globally are adolescents, between the ages of 10 to 19. Promoting health and reducing risks for this age group has life-long health and societal benefits. Research suggests the physical maturity of adolescents is accelerating. However, the psychological and behavioral development of this age group is slowing in comparison to former decades, creating new challenges for promoting health and minimizing risk. Evidence suggests positive and negative risk-taking behaviors cluster in this population. Pittman’s four categories of Competence, Connectedness, Confidence, & Character have been widely applied to organize health-promoting and risk-reducing strategies targeting youth. Meta-analyses conducted on adolescent moral development have described morally relevant behavior as being either pro or antisocial. Prosocial behavior is broadly defined as engaging in behavior that benefits others; in contrast, antisocial behavior is that which causes physical or psychological harm to others. Positive youth development programs and policy research recommendations suggest targeting strategies which facilitate adolescent competence in prosocial behaviors including social, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and moral dimensions. While considerable research has been conducted on strategies to promote the physical determinants of adolescent health, limited research exists investigating strategies to positively impact youth moral development and prosocial behaviors linked to well-being. The purpose of this project therefore, is to report the effectiveness of a High School Youth Theology Institute, designed to engage adolescents in the critical appraisal of theological content on moral development as a strategy to promote positive youth development.
Methods:
This study used a longitudinal, mixed-methods qualitative approach. A cohort of (n = 27) youth, 14 – 18 years of age from 3 southwestern states, volunteered to participate in a week-long summer intensive followed by a monthly online discussion as a part of participation in Vocati, a High School Youth Theology Institute in 2016-2017. The program was designed to engage high school youth in the discussion and critical appraisal of theological content and spiritual development. Core program content included the reading, critical appraisal and discussion of seminal works from a wide-range of theologians and philosophers including Aristotle, Plato, Augustine, C. S. Lewis, and other notable intellectuals who address human morality. Institutional Review Board approval and informed adolescent assent and parental consent was obtained. The Defining Issues Test, Version 2 (DIT-2) and Vocati Instrument Questionnaire (VIQ) were administered in-person at time 1 before the program began and online using Qualtrics at time 2, six months after the week-long intensive. The reliability and validity of the DIT-2 with adolescent populations is widely established and has been reported elsewhere. The VIQ has six Likert-type questions and seven open-ended questions requiring a written, narrative response. The content validity index for the VIQ was determined to be .94. Initial reliability of the Likert-style questions in the VIQ had a Cronbach’s alpha of .86 and has been reported to the Lilly Endowment, Inc., responsible for funding this project.
Results:
Study data were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Demographic, descriptive data and frequency distributions, and Q-Q plots were analyzed and determined to meet assumptions of normality. Sixteen (57%) were male and 12 (43%) were female. Data from the DIT-2 were scored by the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Ethical Development. The results of the DIT-2 mean scores at time one and at six months were compared to the aggregated national normative (NN) scores (Stage 2/3: T1: 29.08 - T2: 29.29 compared to NN: 27.7; Stage 4: T1 32.46 - T2: 32.94 compared to NN: 35.3; P Score: T1: 33.46 – T2: 35.06 compared to NN: 31.64; and N2 Score: T1: 30.71 – T2: 36.14 compared to NN: 30.97. The N2 score indicates the acquisition of more sophisticated moral thinking and the extent to which individuals reject ideas because they are simplistic or biased rose from T1, 30.71 to T2, 36.14 as compared to the national norm, 30.97. The VIQ data was analyzed using a paired t-test. Data supported a statistically significant difference in mean scores between T1 and T2 in four of six areas: 1) increased ability to engage in culture (t (18) = 2.926, p < .009), 2) increased familiarity with primary theological thinkers and wisdom from the Christian tradition (t (18) = 2.935, p < .009), 3) increased ability to practice spiritual disciplines (t (18) = 2.357, p < .030), and 4) increased ability to intentionally engage with issues of morality, ethics, justice and broader vision of the world (t (18) = 2.731, p < .014). Qualitative data was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim from a focus group conducted at the end of the week-long summer intensive. Focus-group participants were asked seven open-ended questions derived from the VIQ. Three members of the research team independently read and reflected on the data using a qualitative interpretive approach. Similar ideas were noted, clustered, coded and categorized thematically. Eleven themes emerged from the narrative, focus-group data. “Awareness of self” and “Awareness of others”, “Be Present”, “Use Talents”, “Erase Boundaries”, “Break Barriers”, “Listen”, “Empathy”, “Eye Contact”, “Accepting”, and “Trusting”. The qualitative themes were examined in relationship to Pittman’s categories. Four of the qualitative themes reflected the concepts found in the category of “Competence”, three mirrored “Connectedness”, two paralleled “Confidence” and two were determined to align with “Character”.
Conclusion:
The findings from this small, longitudinal study suggest engagement of youth in the critical appraisal of theological content may promote increased adolescent moral development and prosocial concepts linked to positive youth behaviors and well-being. Future research is needed to determine the potential mediating effect increased moral development may have overall on adolescent health.