title: A New Measure for Assessing Youth Program Participation.
abstract: Participation in after-school programs is an important lever to improve adolescents' health and well-being; however, well-defined measurement of the quality of participation in these programs is limited. The present study validated a newly designed measure of participation in a sample of urban youth enrolled in community-based after-school programs. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the structure of the 20-item Tiffany-Eckenrode Program Participation Scale (TEPPS). Results suggest that the scale is comprised of four subscales (Personal Development, Voice/Influence, Safety/Support and Community Engagement). The TEPPS was also correlated with several commonly used measures of program participation. Findings from this paper provide support for the use of the newly designed scale as a valid and reliable measure of quality program participation by youth.
authors.affiliation: Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (Dr Tiffany) and the Department of Human Development and the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (Ms Exner-Cortens and Dr Eckenrode).
authors.forename: Jennifer Sarah
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Tiffany
authors.forename: Deinera
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Exner-Cortens
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eckenrode
keywords: HIV risk reduction; adolescent sexual health; factor analysis; participation; positive youth development