title: Pathways to Youth Empowerment and Community Connectedness: A Study of Youth-Adult Partnership in Malaysian After-School, Co-Curricular Programs.
abstract: After-school programs are prevalent across the world, but there is a paucity of research that examines quality within the "black box" of programs at the point of service. Grounded in current theory, this research examined hypothesized pathways between the experience of youth-adult partnership (youth voice in decision-making; supportive adult relationships), the mediators of program safety and engagement, and the developmental outcomes of youth empowerment (leadership competence, policy control) and community connectedness (community connections, school attachment). Surveys were administered to 207 ethnically diverse (47.3 % female; 63.3 % Malay) youth, age 15-16, attending after-school co-curricular programs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Results showed that youth voice in program decision-making predicted both indicators of youth empowerment. Neither youth voice nor supportive adult relationships was directly associated with community connectedness, however. Program engagement mediated the associations between youth-adult partnership and empowerment. In contrast, program safety mediated the associations between youth-adult partnership and community connectedness. The findings indicate that the two core components of youth-adult partnership-youth voice and supportive adult relationships-may operate through different, yet complementary, pathways of program quality to predict developmental outcomes. Implications for future research are highlighted. For reasons of youth development and youth rights, the immediate challenge is to create opportunities for youth to speak on issues of program concern and to elevate those adults who are able and willing to help youth exercise their voice.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Shepherd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeldin
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Science Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. abd.lateef8528@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Steven Eric
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.affiliation: Kettering Foundation, Dayton, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Taehan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Collura
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Science Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Haslinda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdullah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007857:Leadership; D007899:Leisure Activities / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D011209:Power, Psychological; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012574:Schools; D058992:Social Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: After-school programs; Community connectedness; Empowerment; Malaysia; Supportive adult relationships; Youth civic development; Youth voice; Youth-adult partnership