Date of Award
5-2021
Document Type
Campus Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Clinical Psychology
First Advisor
Jean E. Rhodes
Second Advisor
Sara K. Johnson
Third Advisor
Abbey Eisenhower
Abstract
Residential (i.e., overnight) summer camps are one of the most popular organized programs for children in the United States. Drawing from a positive youth development (PYD) perspective, camp researchers have delineated the positive influences of camp on the lives of youth, including increasing communication skills, teamwork, social skills, skill building, and spirituality. Camp counselors, who often forge close relationships with youth, may account for some of these positive outcomes. Surprisingly, few studies have examined the nature or measurement of these relationships, instead focusing on youth outcome measures. Specifically, although there are validated measures of youth-adult relationship quality in similar relationships (e.g., student-teacher, mentee-mentor), there currently are no validated measures of camper-counselor relationship quality. As the camper-counselor relationship specifically is theorized to be an “active ingredient” leading to positive developmental outcomes for youth, and strong youth-adult relationships more generally have been found to be a central tenant of PYD, accurate measurement and assessment of the quality of the camper-counselor relationship is essential. The current study was designed to develop and begin to validate a camper-reported camper-counselor relationship quality scale. In Study 1, scale items were created and/or adapted based on camp and youth development literature. Expert raters were used for content validation of the scales and cognitive interviews were conducted to revise the item pool. Data from 318 campers (ages 7-15) were then tested and refined using Exploratory Factor Analysis which showed a three-factor structure of the scale. In Study 2, data were collected from a second group of 324 campers (ages 7-15) and Confirmatory Factor Analyses of these data were conducted and confirmed the three-factor structure. The scale showed promise of validity using convergent and predictive validity tests. Finally, higher camper Jewish identity scores and older age were found to be significantly associated with higher camper-counselor relationship quality scores. This new measure is a promising addition to the summer camp and youth development literature that can be used in both research and practice.
Recommended Citation
Rubin, Rachel, "Measuring Camper-Counselor Relationship Quality: Development and Initial Validation of Camper-Reported Scale" (2021). Graduate Doctoral Dissertations. 1013.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/1013
Comments
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