Start Date

24-6-2022 2:40 PM

End Date

24-6-2022 1:50 PM

Keywords:

texas

Description

Background: Approximately one out of every six individuals are adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19. Promoting health and reducing risks for this age group has life-long health and societal consequences. Evidence suggests positive and negative risk-taking behaviors cluster in this population. Models for the promotion of positive youth development have shifted in focus from avoidance of risk-taking behaviors to emphasis on psychosocial competence and holistic well-being. Evidence suggests spiritual wellbeing, regardless of conceptual definition, is more often than not associated with positive health outcomes and development in youth. However, few studies have included spiritual and moral constructs in program interventions and outcome metrics in this population.

Purpose/Aims: The purpose of this project is to discuss the impact of Vocati, a youth theological institute intervention on adolescent moral and spiritual formation as a component of holistic health promotion.

Methods/Approach: This study used a mixed-methods design. In 2016-2020, 4 cohorts of adolescents (n=57), age 15 - 18 years, from 3 states participated in a week-long theological summer intensive followed by a year-long monthly online discussion culminating in the implementation of a service/missional project. The Defining Issues Test, Version 2 (DIT-2) based on Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development and the Vocati Instrument Questionnaire (VIQ) a Likert-type questionnaire with open-ended questions were administered at baseline and program endpoints.

Results: Data were analyzed using a mixed-model approach. The DIT2 mean scores between baseline and program endpoint were analyzed from matched pairs using a paired sample t-test for statistical analysis. The results supported N2 mean scores differences to be significantly higher, medium effect size at program end as compared to baseline (M = -5.85, SD = 10.95), t (36) = -3.25, p = .002, d = -.535). N2 score represents the most sophisticated level of moral judgment and corresponds to Kohlberg's stage 5-6. The Vocati N2 mean scores were significantly higher (M=33.17. SD=11.51), t (1.14) compared to National Normative scores (M=30.97), t (.89), F(1.660), (p=.02). Statistically significant changes from empirical data from VIQ scores also supported significant differences in mean scores in five of six areas of spiritual development. Narrative themes were analyzed using a descriptive interpretive approach and were linked to positive prosocial competence skills reported in the literature.

Conclusions: Youth participating in Vocati experienced a statistically significant increase in spiritual and moral development from baseline to program endpoint and national norms. Moral reasoning increased in N2 scores, reflecting, according to Kohlberg's stages of moral development, the most sophisticated shift in moral reasoning and in the measures associated with spiritual formation. This finding is of particular importance as the N2 mean scores significantly changed from baseline to program end and were also statistically higher than the national norm of this measurement in youth.

Clinical Implications: Findings from Vocati suggest the positive role exposure to theological content and spiritual formation practices may play in accelerating the development of moral reasoning and social competence skills associated with youth well-being. Further incorporation of these constructs within nursing interventions aimed at holistic health promotion activities targeting youth should be considered.

Comments

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). Child Development: Adolescence (15-17 Years Old). Retrieved from childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.html.

Malti, T., & Krettenauer, T. (2013). The Relation of Moral Emotion Attributions to Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior: A Meta-Analysis. Child Development, 84(2), 397–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01851.x

Lucente, R. L. (2016). Character formation and identity in adolescence: Clinical and developmental issues. Chicago: Lyceum Books, 16-20.

Stams, G. J., Brugman, D., Deković, M., van Rosmalen, L., van der Laan, P., & Gibbs, J. C. (2006). The moral judgment of juvenile delinquents: a meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(5), 697–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9056-5

World Health Organization. (2021). WHO And United Nations Definition Of Adolescents. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/adolescent-health#tab=tab_1

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Jun 24th, 2:40 PM Jun 24th, 1:50 PM

Podium Presentation: Promoting Holistic Health: Impact of Vocati on the Spiritual and Moral Development in Youth

Background: Approximately one out of every six individuals are adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19. Promoting health and reducing risks for this age group has life-long health and societal consequences. Evidence suggests positive and negative risk-taking behaviors cluster in this population. Models for the promotion of positive youth development have shifted in focus from avoidance of risk-taking behaviors to emphasis on psychosocial competence and holistic well-being. Evidence suggests spiritual wellbeing, regardless of conceptual definition, is more often than not associated with positive health outcomes and development in youth. However, few studies have included spiritual and moral constructs in program interventions and outcome metrics in this population.

Purpose/Aims: The purpose of this project is to discuss the impact of Vocati, a youth theological institute intervention on adolescent moral and spiritual formation as a component of holistic health promotion.

Methods/Approach: This study used a mixed-methods design. In 2016-2020, 4 cohorts of adolescents (n=57), age 15 - 18 years, from 3 states participated in a week-long theological summer intensive followed by a year-long monthly online discussion culminating in the implementation of a service/missional project. The Defining Issues Test, Version 2 (DIT-2) based on Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development and the Vocati Instrument Questionnaire (VIQ) a Likert-type questionnaire with open-ended questions were administered at baseline and program endpoints.

Results: Data were analyzed using a mixed-model approach. The DIT2 mean scores between baseline and program endpoint were analyzed from matched pairs using a paired sample t-test for statistical analysis. The results supported N2 mean scores differences to be significantly higher, medium effect size at program end as compared to baseline (M = -5.85, SD = 10.95), t (36) = -3.25, p = .002, d = -.535). N2 score represents the most sophisticated level of moral judgment and corresponds to Kohlberg's stage 5-6. The Vocati N2 mean scores were significantly higher (M=33.17. SD=11.51), t (1.14) compared to National Normative scores (M=30.97), t (.89), F(1.660), (p=.02). Statistically significant changes from empirical data from VIQ scores also supported significant differences in mean scores in five of six areas of spiritual development. Narrative themes were analyzed using a descriptive interpretive approach and were linked to positive prosocial competence skills reported in the literature.

Conclusions: Youth participating in Vocati experienced a statistically significant increase in spiritual and moral development from baseline to program endpoint and national norms. Moral reasoning increased in N2 scores, reflecting, according to Kohlberg's stages of moral development, the most sophisticated shift in moral reasoning and in the measures associated with spiritual formation. This finding is of particular importance as the N2 mean scores significantly changed from baseline to program end and were also statistically higher than the national norm of this measurement in youth.

Clinical Implications: Findings from Vocati suggest the positive role exposure to theological content and spiritual formation practices may play in accelerating the development of moral reasoning and social competence skills associated with youth well-being. Further incorporation of these constructs within nursing interventions aimed at holistic health promotion activities targeting youth should be considered.