After School Programs: Resiliency Through Recreation

The purpose of this study was to examine a resiliency based after school intervention program and its effects on the development of at risk youth in a public middle school. A middle school was chosen from the Norfolk Public School System in Norfolk, Virginia. Undergraduate college students led multiple resiliency-based activities during the immediate after school hours, concluding with an educational session. Data were collected by administers via pre test and post test. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine the uni-dimensionality of the resiliency traits. The CF A provided for six traits. Results did not confirm an increase in resiliency scores from pre to post test. Of the six dimensions, only the "relationship" dimension showed a significant difference between boys and girls. The results of the present study were discussed in reference to the previous research on after school programs and their benefits. Conclusions on the effects of a resiliency based after school program were then reported and possible areas of future research were proposed.