Enhancing Adolescent Self-Concept, Life Effectiveness and Locus of Control: The Immediate and Lasting Effects of Outdoor Adventure Education

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) is embedded in the educational policy of countries around the world, with the objective of enhancing self-development in teenagers. Despite the apparent effectiveness of OAE, the research literature is criticised as being somewhat fragmented and as lacking methodological rigour. This has implications for undermining the position of OAE in the Australian curriculum. Accordingly, this investigation provides a critical review of outdoor education literature, conducts psychometric validation of the research instrumentation and reports on a longitudinal, controlled trial investigation of an OAE program. Research indicates that OAE generally has a positive impact on the most widely studied psychological outcomes (e.g. self-concept, locus of control; ES ~ .32). Despite this, limitations of the existing quantitative literature include insufficient methodological rigour and the lack of a unified theory identifying the underlying mechanisms of change. Thus, the promising results are often described to be anecdotal. To address these shortcomings, this research surveyed 346 male students enrolled in a single-sex Australian high school who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: either attending a five-month OAE program, or continuing with their regular schooling i.e. the waitlist-control condition. The quantitative survey tool used contained 32 scales from nine established psychological instruments. Self Determination Theory (SDT) provided the framework through which changes in students’ self-concept, life effectiveness, locus of control and other key psychological resources are inferred. Study 1 investigated the psychometric properties of the survey instrument. Structural equation modelling supported the combined instruments’ a priori factor structure (TLI = .93; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .02). Strong measurement invariance was observed and multitrait-multimethod analysis found good support for convergent and discriminant validity. Study 2 conducted a longitudinal investigation of the OAE outcomes. Short-term gains were observed on 19 of 32 outcomes (standardised ES = .18 to .71), with the greatest benefits found in social-emotional functioning, wellbeing, parent relations self-concept and locus of control. Six-month follow-up revealed maintenance of effects on 10 outcomes and the emergence of new gains on 7 outcomes (standardised ES = .17 to .39). The greatest benefits were found in social-emotional functioning, wellbeing, resilience, and academic engagement (persistence, planning and task management). Study 2 further investigated the impact of students’ baseline aptitude on treatment effectiveness, finding no systematic effects. Thus, the benefits from the outdoor experience appeared to be comparably available to all students regardless of whether they exhibited strength, or weakness against a particular outcome at the beginning of the program. Investigation into the mediating role of SDT’s basic psychological needs revealed that from the 19 short-term effects, psychological needs satisfaction primarily mediated 10 outcomes and partially mediated 8 outcomes. The findings from this research demonstrate the potential for OAE to benefit students’ long-term psychosocial development that compliments traditional schooling. Furthermore, the principals of SDT appear to be largely applicable in OAE settings and it is suggested that basic psychological needs may be manipulated to foster greater program engagement and transference of health outcomes. These promising results, along with the research strengths and limitations, are discussed within the context of existing OAE literature. The implications for policy and practice, as well as directions for future research are further explored. It is hoped that this methodologically rigorous investigation will provide a strong basis for future studies to build on, while informing a more unified framework for OAE program design and implementation so that the most effective educational experiences can be provided