Engagement in Schools and Community Civic Activities Among Rural Adolescents

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270
DOI 10.1007/s10964-010-9536-3
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Engagement in School and Community Civic Activities

Among Rural Adolescents
Alison Bryant Ludden
Received: 24 November 2009 / Accepted: 5 April 2010 / Published online: 20 April 2010
! Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
Abstract Involvement in civic and community activities is

a core part of positive youth development. Adolescents
involved in voluntary civic activities have greater academic
engagement, enhanced well-being, less involvement in
problem behaviors, and they are more likely to value connections to their community than those who are not involved.
The current research examined involvement in school and
community civic activities as well as religious youth groups
among 8th and 9th graders (N = 679, 61.7% female, 85.9%
White) from small, rural schools in the Midwest U.S. and
linked involvement to religiosity, well-being, problem
behavior, academic engagement, and perceptions of parents
and peers. Half of the adolescents in the sample reported
involvement in civic activities or, more commonly, in religious youth groups. Adolescents who participated in religious youth groups reported more extracurriculars, less
problem behavior, higher grades and motivation, and more
support from parents and friends than adolescents who did
not. The most frequently reported school civic activities
were student council and Future Farmers of America, and
4-H was the most popular community civic activity. Those
who were involved in school- and community-based civic
activities reported more religiosity, academic engagement,
and positive perceptions of parents and peers than uninvolved youth. The results support and extend research on
rural youth by documenting civic activities across contexts
and examining how involvement is associated with positive
youth development.
A. B. Ludden (&)
Psychology Department, College of the Holy Cross,
1 College Street, Worcester, MA 01602, USA
e-mail: aludden@holycross.edu
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Keywords Civic engagement ! Rural adolescents ! 4-H !

Future Farmers of America ! Extracurricular activities
As older adolescents make choices that help them adjust
to the world of adults, they begin their progress toward
accomplishing the developmental tasks associated with
emerging adulthood. One of the key developmental tasks of
emerging adulthood that has its formative roots in adolescence is citizenship (Schulenberg et al. 2004; Stewart and
McDermott 2004). Community service and engagement in
civic activities help to promote citizenship and civic
identity during adolescence by connecting youth to their
communities, stimulating interests in the concerns of others, and enhancing a sense of social justice and responsibility (Youniss et al. 1997). Developing the motivation to
take civic action and engage in community service is a key
to positive youth development; contexts that provide a
supportive environment and help to establish connections
among families, schools, and communities may be most
effective in promoting this development (Larson 2000;
Mahoney et al. 2005). Opportunities for civic engagement
emerge from school, the community, and, in particular,
religious organizations (Elder and Conger 2000; Flanagan
2004; Hart and Atkins 2004; Hart et al. 2006; Pedersen and
Seidman 2005). In rural communities, it is likely that the
network of adults providing leadership in these various
settings of civic engagement are closely affiliated thus
providing a strong base of social support and social capital
for youth enhancing their development (Elder and Conger
2000).
Civic activities are just one of the many different types
of activities that are available to youth during adolescence.
Adolescents who are more involved in organized activities
in general have more positive developmental outcomes
(Busseri et al. 2006; Mahoney et al. 2005). Previous

research examining the benefits of youth involvement in
service and civic activities has grouped faith-based activities and service activities in communities and schools
together (e.g., Eccles and Barber 1999; Hansen et al. 2003).
By grouping participation in religious youth groups together with community and school service activities, it is
difficult to know how these experiences are associated with
different adolescent outcomes, and it is difficult to identify
what are the key aspects of involvement in community
and school activities that are most effective in terms of
the promotion of positive youth outcomes. This is a particularly important distinction in rural communities where
involvement in religious activities is a part of life for many
adolescents (Elder and Conger 2000; King et al. 1997;
Wallace et al. 2003). The two aims of current research
are to describe the different types of civic activities in
which rural adolescents from small schools are involved,
distinguishing school, community, and religious activity
involvement which have been grouped together in previous
research; and to compare youth who are involved in civic
activities with those who are not in terms of their
psychological well-being, problem behavior, academic
engagement, and perceptions of parents and peers. For
rural youth, civic activities, in particular, provide an
opportunity for youth to come together with other adolescents and to make connections with community members
in meaningful ways (Elder and Conger 2000).
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Little recent research has documented the civic activity

involvement of youth from rural communities. Elder and
Congers (2000) detailed research on farm and non-farm
families in rural Iowa is exceptedthey have provided an
extremely informative background on this topic. Elder and
Conger describe the importance of joint activities where
work time on the farm with family and community youth
group experiences also with family members help adolescents connect with a rural lifestyle. The joint activities and
the mesosystem connections across the different settings of
development (e.g., family, community institutions, school,
church, civic organizations like Future Farmers of America
or 4-H clubs) increase social capital and enhance positive
youth development through multiple layers of support and
modeling (Bronfenbrenner 2005; Elder and Conger 2000).
Elder and Conger found that adolescents who were more
involved in religious activities in 8th grade had higher
academic achievement at the end of high school. They also
found that the sum of adolescents school and civic activities over their 4 years in high school was associated with
greater academic competence, particularly in smaller rural
schools. Similar to research from more suburban/urban
contexts, Elder and Conger group together such school
activities as honor societies, yearbook, drama, and band
with more community-based activities such as 4-H or
Scouts. Distinguishing the context of the activity (i.e.,
community, school, religious) and separating civic activities from clubs that are not civic-oriented (e.g., orchestra)
will help us understand how involvement in specifically
civic activities across contexts is associated with various
outcomes.
Adolescents Engagement in Civic and Religious

Youth Group Activities
With regard to the first aim of the current research, adolescents civic engagement is expected to take many forms,
even among youth from small, rural communities. Civic
engagement may involve informal and formal voluntary
service work, which helps young people connect with
community members of all ages (Flanagan et al. 1998);
school-based extracurricular activities, such as school
government, which focus on leadership, political involvement, or social responsibility (Kerestes et al. 2004); and
community-based youth organizations, such as Boy Scouts
or 4-H, where adult mentorship and service projects are
integral components (Elder and Conger 2000; Flanagan
2004). Closely related to civic engagement and service is
adolescents participation in religious youth group activities, which like the previously mentioned activities, provides youth with a positive peer group, service activities,
adult mentorship, and opportunities for discussion about
social responsibility and public and personal issues (Hart
and Atkins 2004; Smith and Denton 2005).
Civic Engagement and Adolescents Involvement

in Other Activities
The second aim of the current research is to examine how
youth who participate in civic activities in different contexts differ from those who do not in terms of their experiences and beliefs. Broadly speaking, involved adolescents
are expected to show different profiles compared to those
who are not with regards to activity involvement, wellbeing, problem behavior, academics, and perceptions of
those around them. In terms of activity involvement, it is
likely that civic engagement affects adolescents development across the microsystem settings where they spend
most of their time, what Bronfenbrenner (2005) calls
mesosystem effects. Thus, adolescents civic engagement
is likely to be related to their engagement in school extracurriculars that are not focused on civic development
and their involvement in religious activities as well.
Through civic and service activities in different settings,
adolescents may be able to develop their sense of agency
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1256
and be responsible for their actions in a context outside of

school and family life (Yates and Youniss 1996). Research
indicates that busy adolescents are often involved in more
than one prosocial activity including extracurriculars,
community service, and religious activities (Duncan et al.
2002).
Hopefully, adolescents involvement in various civic
activities enhances their engagement in their other school
activities and helps to make their religious experiences
more meaningful. Because school activities have often
been grouped together with civic activities (as noted
above), links between adolescents civic involvement and
school extracurricular involvement has not been examined closely. Flanagan et al. (2007) have found civicschool connections, specifically the value that adolescents
place on their civic commitments, are related to their
own sense of community connectedness and also to their
perceptions of teachers as promoting a democratic environment of respect, tolerance, and fairness. Research
involving rural adolescents shows support for the links
between civic engagement and religious activitiesadolescents who are involved in school extracurricular
activities are more likely to be in religious activities as
well and those who are involved in community-based
clubs and activities are more likely to participate in
voluntary service activities across contexts (Linville and
Huebner 2005). In terms of religious beliefs, religious
adolescents are more likely than nonreligious adolescents
to engage in different kinds of helping behaviors, particularly those behaviors where they perceive that they
may not directly benefit from the helping experience
(Hardy and Carlo 2005). Religion provides the foundation
for meaningful relationships and opportunities to observe
prosocial behaviors in action (Hart and Atkins 2004);
civic activities can provide adolescents with opportunities
to actualize their religious beliefs themselves (Sherrod
and Spiewak 2008).
In the current research, it is expected that adolescents
who are involved in civic activities and religious youth
groups will report higher levels of involvement in school
extracurriculars as prosocial activities tend to be clustered
together (Duncan et al. 2002). In addition, adolescents who
are involved in school and community civic activities are
expected to report higher levels of both religious attendance and beliefs as civic involvement is likely both
influenced by and contributes to adolescents religiosity
(Hart and Atkins 2004; Sherrod and Spiewak 2008). In
small, rural communities, adolescents may have fewer
activities to select from, however, participating with the
same peers and adult mentors across different activities
may serve to increase meaningful connections and social
capital (Elder and Conger 2000).
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Civic Engagement and Psychological Well-Being

Less research has examined links between adolescents
civic engagement and their psychological well-being,
although it is likely that one of the mechanisms that
explains links between civic experiences and positive
youth development is an enhanced sense of self and
well-being. When adolescents participate specifically in
faith-based and service activities, they experience more
indicators of well-being (i.e., identity reflection, emotional
regulation) when compared to adolescents who participate
more in academic, sports, and arts activities (Hansen et al.
2003). These findings show support for separating civic
and religious youth group activities from other school
extracurriculars as we examine youth outcomes. Faithbased and service activities are likely to provide adolescents with a sense of satisfaction from making connections
with community members as well as with their peers as
they engage in meaningful, hands-on work. Markstrom
et al. (2005) found that adolescents particular involvement
in student government and issue groups at school as well as
community service, in contrast with religious attendance or
creative arts programs, was associated with the development of multiple ego strengths within the Erikson identity
frameworknamely hope, will, purpose, competence,
care, and wisdom. They argue that structured civic activities provide a supportive context for identity exploration
and an opportunity for adolescents to construct their own
experiences and values, which promotes well-being. Adolescents involved in sports who are also involved in youth
groups, and to a lesser extent school and community groups
and service, fare better in terms of well-being, self-concept,
internalizing problems, and connectedness as compared to
those who are only involved in sports (Linver et al. 2009).
Thus, the additional value of civic engagement for adolescents psychological well-being is worth distinguishing
from other extracurriculars.
In terms of research involving rural adolescents, Elder and
Conger (2000) found that the sum of school and civic group
activities over high school was not associated with self
confidence (their primary indicator of psychological wellbeing) among rural 12th graders. However, involvement in
religious activities in 8th grade was associated with higher
levels of 12th grade self-confidence among resilient youth
but not among the most vulnerable rural youth. In the current
research, which examines multiple indicators of psychological well-being, rural adolescents who are involved in
school and community civic activities as well as religious
youth groups are expected to report higher levels of psychological well-being as most research indicates that these
experiences are associated with additional psychological
benefits as compared to other types of extracurriculars.
Civic Engagement and Problem Behavior

From a positive youth development perspective, some of the
benefits associated with positive youth activities like civic
engagement include, in addition to enhanced well-being and
a sense of self, protection from engagement in other activities
such as problem behavior and substance use. Research
indicates that, compared to adolescents who do not participate in service and faith-based activities, adolescents who do
participate in these activities over time are less likely to drink
alcohol, get drunk, and use marijuana and hard drugs, and
they have higher grades (Eccles and Barber 1999). When
adolescents come together with community members from
different generations to solve neighborhood problems, they
learn critical social skills and come to appreciate the experiences and values of others as well as the interdependence of
different generations (Kaplan 1997). This appreciation may
buffer problem behavior and socialize a conventional value
system, which according to social control theory is associated with less problem behavior and more attention to the
consequences of such behavior (Hirschi 1969). Rural adolescents who exhibit profiles of problem behavior are the
least likely to be involved in religious youth groups and
extracurricular activities as compared to rural youth who
show more resilient and high-achieving profiles (Elder and
Conger 2000). The quantity of civic engagement (i.e., hours
per week) may not be as important for positive outcomes and
reduced problem behavior as the meaningfulness of the
experiences for adolescents in terms of their personal growth
and the inculcation of prosocial attitudes (Janoski et al. 1998;
McGuire and Gamble 2006). Research is necessary to
understand how types of civic activities are linked with
adolescents engagement in positive and negative behaviors.
Based on previous research that often does not distinguish among various extracurricular activities, it is
expected in the current research that when rural adolescents
are involved in school and community civic activities and
religious activities, they are less likely to report problem
behavior and substance use (Duncan et al. 2002; Eccles and
Barber 1999; Vieno et al. 2007). More research is needed
on rural adolescents, specifically, to identify protective
factors associated with less problem behavior and substance use (Spoth and Redmond 1996).
Parental and Peer Contexts and Civic Engagement

The family environment is where many children and adolescents develop their personal values, including an understanding of social responsibility, that serve as a base for the
development of civic commitments (Flanagan et al. 1998).
Adolescents who are involved in both faith-based and service activities report higher integration with their families
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(Hansen et al. 2003). Participating in civic activities may be

a way to connect with familial and cultural roots and to
promote the well-being of others from ones own family or
cultural community; this participation is often enthusiastically supported by parents who view civic engagement as a
way for communities to come together (Jensen 2008). Elder
and Conger (2000) find that, by supporting adolescents
involvement in civic activities, rural parents help adolescents to connect better with life on the farm. For rural youth,
it is common that parents, relatives, or neighbors are the
adult leaders for community and religious programs such as
the 4-H or youth groups (Elder and Conger 2000).
Friends also play an important role in the inculcation of
values among youth, particularly when it comes to examining the effects of adolescents involvement in various
activities. Longitudinal research by Simpkins et al. (2008)
indicates that adolescents perceptions of their friends
attitudes about school and prosocial behaviors helps to
explain the links between the breadth of their extracurricular involvement and their own well-being and problem
behavior. Part of the way that civic engagement affects
positive youth development is though the opportunities
adolescents have to make connections with well-adjusted
and involved peers.
When adolescents feel encouraged and supported by
family and friends to participate in civic activities, it is
likely that they will do so. Research on rural adolescents
supports this: rural youth who perceive that their friends
and parents endorse involvement in structured activities
in school and outside of school are more likely to be
involved in extracurricular activities in school, clubs and
activities in the community after school, religious youth
groups, and other religious-related activities (e.g., ushering, choir) and they report higher rates of volunteering
(Huebner and Mancini 2003). Huebner and Mancini
(2003) note that adolescents perceptions of others support and endorsement were more associated with their
own engagement in activities for the rural youth in their
study than their perceptions of peer pressure or having
one good friend. It is expected in the current research that
youth involved in civic activities and religious youth
groups will be more likely to have positive perceptions of
parents and peers. Specifically, they are expected to perceive more parental school and social support and that
they have more friends with positive attitudes who engage
in prosocial activities as compared to those who are not
involved.
Current Research
The current research builds upon the findings of Elder and
Conger (2000) to examine involvement in school- and
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community-based civic activities and religious youth

groups among youth from small, rural communities in the
Midwest U.S. The first aim of the current research is to
document the types of civic activities youth are involved in
and the frequency of their involvement in these activities.
A similar pattern of engagement is expected in the current
sample as among the youth in Elder and Congers
researchyouth are likely to be involved in community
and school activities that center on agriculture, namely
Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H clubs.
With regard to the second aim of the study, youth who
are involved in civic and religious activities will be compared to those who are not in terms of extracurriculars,
academic engagement, psychological well-being, problem
behaviors, and perceptions of parents and peers. Similar to
previous research involving youth from rural and nonrural
contexts, we hypothesize that youth involved in civic
activities will report more positive outcomes than youth
who are not involved.
Method
Participants and Procedure
The current study included 679 eighth (53%) and ninth
(47%) graders from 13 small schools in rural areas of the
Midwest U.S.; all ninth graders were in high schools and
eighth graders were either in a K-8 school or a middle
school. Participants provided written parental and personal
consent and were not compensated for their participation.
The 13 schools did not have service requirements for students and were very similar across ethnicity, gender,
socioeconomic status, and achievement level and match the
demographics of the current sample. In terms of ethnicity,
85.9% of the adolescents were white, 4.6% of the students
were African American, 1.7% were Latino, 1.5% were
Native American, and 5.3% were of other minorities; 1.0%
were missing data. In terms of gender, 61.7% were female.
On average, parental education (highest between two parents was used) reported by adolescents was between some
college and completed college. The majority of adolescents
in the sample identified their religious preference as Baptist
(32.1%), 16.5% as other Protestant denominations (e.g.,
Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, United Church of
Christ), 9.1% as Roman Catholic, 8.2% as Churches of
Christ, and 12.3% indicated other religious preferences
(e.g., Latter Day Saints, Episcopal, Jewish, Buddist). In
addition, 21.6% of respondents either skipped the religious
preference question (2.4%), indicated that they did not
know their religious preference (13.5%), or indicated that
they had no religious preference (5.7%).
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Students completed self-report surveys (using a paper/

pencil format) administered by the author and trained
graduate students in school during school hours.
Measures
Means, standard deviations, ranges, and Cronbach alphas
of all measures are provided in Table 1.
Civic and Religious Youth Group Involvement
School Civic Activities Adolescents were asked in an
open-ended format to indicate the school clubs and activities they were involved in and also how many hours/week
they were involved in the activities. Adolescents who were
involved in school governance or ambassador activities,
social justice activities, mentoring or tutoring programs for
peers, or youth organizations that involve community service were coded as involved in school civic activities (see
Table 2).
Community Civic Activities Participants were asked if
they were involved with any other programs, clubs, or
organized activities (other than those associated with
school or their religion); the question was asked after the
school and religious activity questions. If they responded
yes, they were asked to list the activity and to indicate how
often they attend the activity where 1 = less than once a
year, 2 = a few times per year, 3 = once a month, 4 = a
few times per month, 5 = once a week, and 6 = more than
once a week. Adolescents who reported involvement in
activities that involved some kind of contribution or service
to the community (see Table 3) were coded as involved in
community-based civic activities.
Religious Youth Groups Participants were also asked if
they are involved with extra-curricular activities associated
with their religion. If they indicated yes, they were asked to
indicate what the activity was and how often they attend
(1 = less than once a year; 6 = more than once a week).
Adolescents who indicated that they were involved in a
youth group were coded as involved in a religious youth
group (see Table 4); religious education and Bible study
classes, organized sports, and music activities were not
coded as religious youth group involvement.
Other Activities
In-school Extracurriculars This was a sum of adolescents reports of their involvement in three sets of school
activities: school newspaper or yearbook, music or performing arts at school, and athletic teams at school. Possible responses ranged from 3 to 15 as participants

Table 1 Means, standard
deviations, range, number
of items, and reliability
of measures in the study
Variable
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M(SD)
Range
Number of items
Involvement in civic activities*

School civic activities
0.19(0.39)
01
Community civic activities
0.16(0.37)
01
Religious youth groups
0.32(0.46)
01
Other activities
In-school extracurriculars
6.48(2.58)
315
Religious attendance
2.99(1.06)
14
.07
Religious importance
2.95(0.93)
14
Depressive symptoms
1.96(0.92)
15
.84
Self-esteem
3.44(0.98)
15
.73
Stress
8.01(2.71)
315
.63
Perception of popularity
4.44(1.58)
17
Importance of popularity
3.48(1.89)
17
0.00(0.70)
-0.455.83
Psychological well-being
Problem behavior
School misbehavior
.66
Monthly cigarette use
1.29(0.79)
17
Monthly alcohol use
1.56(1.08)
17
Monthly marijuana use
1.17(0.73)
17
Grades
6.40(2.23)
19
Subjective task value
4.19(1.33)
17
.79
Academic self concept
5.10(1.36)
17
.68
School importance
4.14(0.72)
15
.85
School bonding
3.08(0.81)
15
.76
Academic self-efficacy
3.75(0.86)
15
.88
Curricular meaningfulness
2.69(0.81)
15
.56
Parental school support
0.00(0.61)
-1.871.78
.71
Parental social support
3.24(1.04)
15
.87
Status of academic success

Peer misbehavior
3.64(0.92)
2.81(0.87)
15
15
2
3
.74
.56
Friends school attitudes
3.77(0.75)
15
.73
Friends school experiences
3.57(0.65)
15
.72
Friends substance use
1.85(0.91)
15
.84
Academic engagement
Perceptions of parents and peers
* 1 = involved; 0 = not
involved
indicated involvement where 1 = not at all, 2 = slight,

3 = moderate, 4 = considerable, and 5 = great, for the
three sets of activities, Cronbach alpha = .07.
Religiosity The religion measures were from the Monitoring the Future study (Johnston et al. 2006; Milot and
Ludden 2009). Adolescents levels of religious importance
and attendance are slightly higher than national averages
for 8th graders (2.88 for importance, 2.92 for attendance)
and 10th graders (2.79 for importance and 2.79 for attendance) in the Monitoring the Future study according to data
collected 4 years earlier than the current data (Wallace
et al. 2003).
Religious Attendance Adolescents reported the frequency

of their attendance at religious services (1 item); responses
included never (1), rarely (2), once or twice a month (3),
and about once a week or more (4).
Religious Importance Adolescents were also asked how
important religion is in their lives (1 item); responses
ranged from not important (1) to very important (4).
Psychological Well-Being
Depressive Symptoms The Brief Symptom Inventory
(Derogratis and Spencer 1982) was used where adolescents
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Table 2 Type of school-related
civic activities and hours of
weekly involvement among
youth who report involvement
(N = 130)
Table 3 Type of communitybased civic activities and

frequency of involvement
among youth who report
involvement (N = 108)
* Only one student reported

involvement in each of these
activities, thus they are grouped
together
Table 4 Religious preference
and frequency of youth group
attendance among youth who
report involvement in religious
youth groups (N = 214)
Type of activity
Percentage of youth
involved (N = 130)
Median hours per

week spent in
activity at school
Student council or student ambassador
31.5% (n = 41)
1.0
Future Farmers of America (FFA)
21.5% (n = 28)
2.0
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
13.8% (n = 18)
1.0
Key Club/Serving to Learn
6.9% (n = 9)
1.5
Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD)
4.6% (n = 6)
1.5
Social justice groups (e.g., focused on

diversity, advocacy)
3.8% (n = 5)
1.0
Mentoring and tutoring programs for peers
3.1% (n = 4)
5.0
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of

America (FCCLA)
2.0% (n = 3)
1.0
Ability, Service, Training, Responsibility, and

Achievement (ASTRA)
1.5% (n = 2)
0.5
Involved in two or more of the groups above
10.8% (n = 14)
1.5
Type of activity
Percentage of youth
involved (N = 108)
Median frequency of
involvement
4-H
44.4% (n = 48)
Once a month
Boy Scouts of America/Girl Scouts of the USA
19.4% (n = 21)
Once a week
International Order of the Rainbow Girls
3.7% (n = 4)
A few times per month
Camp Fire USA
2.8% (n = 3)
Other community civic groups (e.g., People

to People, Youth Venture, Boys and Girls
Club, Youth in Government, YMCA, Habitat
for Humanity)*
15.7% (n = 17)
Individual volunteering in community

(not affiliated with school or a group
or religious organization)
Involved in two or more community-based
civic activities
11.1% (n = 12)
Once a week
Religious preference
Percentage of youth
involved (N = 214)
Median frequency
of involvement
Baptist
Methodist
37.4% (n = 80)
10.7% (n = 23)
Once a week
Once a week
Roman catholic
10.3% (n = 22)
Churches of Christ
7.9% (n = 17)
Once a week
Presbyterian
6.1% (n = 13)
Once a week
Disciples of Christ
4.2% (n = 9)
Lutheran
3.3% (n = 7)
Once a week
United Church of Christ
2.8% (n = 6)
Church of Latter Day Saints
2.3% (n = 5)
Once a week
Other religion, dont know, or missing data
reported how uncomfortable they have felt during the

previous week because of loneliness, hopelessness, or
worthlessness. The depressive symptoms subscale ranged
from not at all uncomfortable (1) to extremely uncomfortable (5), Cronbach alpha = .84.
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2.8% (n = 3)
14.9% (n = 32)
Self-Esteem An adapted version of Harters (1982) global

self-worth scale was used where adolescents reported how
much they wished they were different or could change
things about themselves and how sure they are of themselves (Ludden and Eccles 2007). Responses were from
almost never (1) to almost always (5), Cronbach

alpha = .73.
Stress This was indicated by a sum of participants
reports (3 items) of how much stress they have had at
school, about their schoolwork, and about fitting in at
school during the past 4 weeks where 1 = very low stress
and 5 = very high stress; thus, responses ranged between 3
and 15, Cronbach alpha = .63.
Perception and Importance of Popularity For the single
item perception of popularity, adolescents were asked to
compare themselves to other kids their age and indicate
how popular they thought they were; and for the single
item importance of popularity, they indicated how important they thought being popular was as compared to other
kids their age (Eccles 1993; Ludden and Eccles 2007).
1261
that A (93100) = 9, A - (9092) = 8, B ? (8789) =

7; B (8386) = 6; B - (8082) = 5; C ? (7779) = 4; C
(7376) = 3; C - (7072) = 2; and D or below (69 or
below) = 1.
Subjective Task Value This was a mean of four items that
included participants reports of how important math,
English, science, and other school subjects were to them
compared to other kids their age (1 = much less important
to me than to other kids; 7 = much more important to me
than to other kids) (Eccles 1993; Ludden and Eccles 2007),
Cronbach alpha = .79.
Academic Self-Concept A mean of two items was used
where participants reported how well they do in math and
other school subjects compared to other kids their age
(1 = not at all good; 7 = very good) (Eccles 1993; Ludden
and Eccles 2007), Cronbach alpha = .68.
Problem Behavior
School Misbehavior A mean of students standardized
reports of school suspensions in their lifetime (3-point
scale), days of school skipped (7-point scale) and classes
skipped (6-point scale) during the previous 4 weeks, as
well as reports of how often in the past year respondents
were sent to the office or had to stay after school because
they misbehaved (5-point scale) was used to measure
school misbehavior (Bryant et al. 2003), Cronbach
alpha = .66.
Substance Use Measures of substance use were from the
Monitoring the Future study and included single items
regarding monthly cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use
(Johnston et al. 2006).
Monthly Cigarette Use Adolescents were asked how
frequently they have smoked cigarettes during the past
30 days (responses ranged from not at all [1] to two packs
or more per day [7]).
Monthly Alcohol Use Adolescents were asked if how
many times they had alcoholic beverages to drink during
the last 30 days (responses ranged from 0 times [1] to 40?
times [7]).
Monthly Marijuana Use Adolescents indicated on how
many occasions (if any) they used marijuana or hashish
during the last 30 days (responses ranged from 0 times [1]
to 40? times [7]).
Academic Engagement
Grades Adolescents indicated which grade best describes
their average grade last year; responses were coded such
School Importance This was a mean of four items that

indicated endorsement of school as being important for
success (e.g., Going to school will help me reach my goals)
were 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree (Bryant
and Zimmerman 2002), Cronbach alpha = .85.
School Bonding Four items indicated participants
endorsement of liking teachers and school (e.g., I like my
teachers this year) where 1 = strongly disagree and
5 = strongly agree (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002), Cronbach alpha = .76.
Academic Self-Efficacy This was a mean of four items
regarding respondents beliefs about their ability to complete their schoolwork (e.g., I can do even the hardest
schoolwork if I try) where 1 = not true and 5 = very true
(Bryant and Zimmerman 2002), Cronbach alpha = .88.
Curricular Meaningfulness This was a mean of participants indications how often in their social studies, math,
English, and science classes they discuss issues that are
meaningful to them (4 items, 1 = almost never;
5 = almost always) (Eccles 1993; Ludden and Eccles
2007), Cronbach alpha = .56.
Perceptions of Parents And Peers
Parental School Support Seven standardized items were
used to create a composite related to discussing schoolwork
with parents as well as adolescents perceptions of parental
expectations (e.g., I like to discuss homework or other
schoolwork with my parents) (Bryant and Zimmerman
2002; Eccles 1993), Cronbach alpha = .71.
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1262
Parental Social Support Adapted from Procidano and

Heller (1983), this measure consisted of four items (e.g., I
rely on my parent(s) for emotional support). Responses
ranged from not true (1) to very true (5), Cronbach
alpha = .87.
Status of Academic Success Adolescents reports of how
important college plans and getting good grades (2 items)
are for being looked up to or having high status in school
were used to indicate status of academic success where
1 = no importance and 5 = very great importance (Bryant
et al. 2003), Cronbach alpha = .74.
Peer Misbehavior This was a mean of three items
regarding how adolescents think most of the students in
their classes would feel if they (the respondents) cheated on
a test or intentionally did things to make the teacher angry
(1 = they would dislike it very much, 5 = they would like
it very much) (Bryant et al. 2003), Cronbach alpha = .56.
Friends School Attitudes A composite of adolescents
perceptions of whether their friends would think that academic success and being involved in clubs and activities
was very uncool (1) or very cool (5) (Ludden and Eccles
2007), Cronbach alpha = .73.
Friends School Experiences This was a mean composite
of adolescents perceptions of how many of their friends
who they spend most of their time with engage in various
school behaviors (e.g., do well, discuss schoolwork)
(1 = none of them, 5 = all of them) (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002), Cronbach alpha = .72.
Friends Substance Use Adolescents also provides their
perceptions of how many of their friends who they spend
most of their time with engage in substance use (e.g., drink
alcohol, smoke marijuana monthly) behaviors (1 = none
of them, 5 = all of them) (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002),
Cronbach alpha = .84.
Data Analytic Strategy
First, the types and frequency of adolescents involvement
in school-based and community-based civic activities were
considered in light of Elder and Congers (2000) previous
findings with regards to the various types of rural adolescents civic activities. As noted above, little research has
described the various types of adolescents civic activities,
particularly among rural youth. Second, to address the
multivariate hypotheses above, multivariate analyses of
variance (MANOVAs) with posthoc univariate ANOVAs
(Huberty and Morris 1989) were used to compare youth
who are involved in school-based civic, community-based
123
civic, and religious youth group activities (three sets of

analyses) with those who are not in terms of their
involvement in other activities, academic engagement,
psychological well-being, problem behaviors, and perceptions of parents and peers. The Pillai-Bartlett trace statistics
are presented as they are considered to be the most
appropriate test statistics for general use in MANOVAs
(Olson 1979).
Results
Involvement in Civic and Religious Youth Group
Activities
Of the 679 participants, 341 (50.2%) did not participate in
any civic activities or religious youth groups, 57 (8.4%)
only participated in school-based civic activities, 56 (8.2%)
only participated in community-based civic activities, and
124 (18.3%) only participated in religious youth groups.
Eleven participants (1.6%) only did school- and community-based civic activities, 49 (7.2%) only did school-based
civic and religious youth group activities, and 28 (4.1%)
did community-based civic and religious youth group
activities. Lastly, 13 (1.9%) reported involvement in all
three types of activities.
School-Based Civic Activities
The 130 (19.1% of total sample) students who reported
involvement in school-based civic activities were involved
in nine different types of activities (see Table 2). As seen
in the table, the three most common types of school civic
activities reported were leadership activities in student
council, senate, or ambassador programs; Future Farmers
of America (FFA); and Future Business Leaders of
America (FBLA). Typically, students spent about 1 or
2 hours per week engaged in these activitiesadolescents
spent more hours per week if they were engaged in mentoring and tutoring activities (see Table 2). In general,
females (23.3%) were more likely to be involved in schoolbased civic activities than males (12.0%), v2(1) = 13.76,
p \ .001. In addition, a higher percentage of 9th graders
(27.0%) than 8th graders (12.2%) participated in schoolbased civic activities, v2(1) = 23.73, p \ .001. According
to a t-test, those involved in school-based civic activities
did not differ from those not involved in terms of their
parents education.
Community-Based Civic Activities
Of the 679 participants, 108 (15.9%) were involved in
community-based civic activitiesas a group they
reported average involvement of a few times per month

(M = 4.1, SD = 1.1). As with school-based civic activities, students were involved with a number of different
types of activities; the two most common community
activities were the 4-H club and scouting (see Table 3).
According to median reports of involvement across the
activities, students typically spent less time in 4-H activities than in scouting activities (see Table 3). A higher
percentage of females (17.9%) than males (12.0%) reported community civic involvement, v2(1) = 4.20, p \ .05.
In terms of participation rates, 8th and 9th graders were
equally involved, v2(1) = 1.46, p = .23; and adolescents
who were involved in community civic activities reported
higher levels of parental education than those not involved
in community civic activities (p \ .001).
1263
problem behavior, those who were not involved in school

civic activities reported significantly higher levels of
school misbehavior and monthly marijuana use than those
who were involved. In terms of academic engagement,
those involved in school civic activities reported higher
grades, placed more importance on their school subjects
(higher subjective task value), had higher academic selfconcept, and were more likely to think that doing well in
school was important for success in life as compared to
those who did not report school civic involvement. Lastly,
adolescents involved in school civic activities perceived
that doing well in school was important for having high
status, and they reported that more of their friends did well
and thought that doing well in school was cool.
Community-Based Civic Activities
Religious Youth Group Activities

In general, more youth (n = 214, 31.5%) were involved in
religious youth groups than in civic activities in school or
in the community. The religious preference of participants
involved in youth groups was very similar to the religious
preferences of the total sample (see Table 4). In terms of
frequency of participation, as a group those involved in
religious youth groups typically attended these programs
once a week or a few times per month (M = 4.5; SD =
1.2). Females and males were equally likely to participate
in religious youth group activities, v2(1) = 2.09, p = .15;
however, 9th graders (38.9%) were more likely to participate in religious youth groups than 8th graders (25.0%),
v2(1) = 15.08, p \ .001.
Mean Differences Between Involved and Not Involved
Participants
School-Based Civic Activities
The omnibus F-tests for the MANOVAs were all significant, indicating that adolescents involved in school-based
civic activities, overall, had different levels of involvement
in activities, psychological well-being, problem behavior,
academic engagement, and perceptions of parents and
peers than adolescents not involved in school-based civic
activities (see the Multivariate Statistics column of
Table 5). All of the significant univariate ANOVA results
are presented here (and summarized in Table 5). Specifically, adolescents involved in school civic activities were
more involved in other non-civic extracurricular activities
at school, attended religious services more regularly, and
reported higher religious importance than the other group.
In terms of psychological well-being, adolescents involved
in school civic activities perceived higher personal popularity than those in the uninvolved group. With regard to
The omnibus F-tests for the MANOVAs indicated that

adolescents involved in school-based civic activities,
overall, had different levels of involvement in other noncivic activities, academic engagement, and perceptions of
parents and peers than adolescents not involved in schoolbased civic activities; the two groups did not differ in terms
of well-being and problem behavior (see the Multivariate
Statistics column of Table 6). Specifically, the univariate
ANOVA results indicated that, in terms of other activities,
adolescents involved in community-based civic activities
were more involved in extracurricular activities at school
and they attended religious services more regularly than the
other group. In terms of academic engagement, adolescents
involved in community civic activities reported higher
grades, academic self concept, school bonding, and academic self-efficacy as compared to those who were not
involved. Lastly, with regard to positive perceptions of
parents and peers, adolescents who were involved in
community civic activities were more likely to report high
parental school support and to perceive that doing well in
school was important for having high status at school; and
they reported that more of their friends did well in school
and thought that doing well in school was cool.
Religious Youth Group Activities
The omnibus F multivariate ANOVA tests were significant
for other activities, problem behavior, academic engagement, and perceptions of parents and peers when comparing adolescents who were involved in religious youth group
to those who were not; no differences were found in terms
of well-being (see Multivariate Statistics column of
Table 7). The univariate ANOVA tests (see Table 7)
revealed that adolescents in religious youth groups reported
more extracurricular involvement at school, and higher
religious service attendance and importance. Uninvolved
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1264
Table 5 Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) results where mean levels of activity involvement, psychological well-being, problem
behavior, academic engagement, and perceptions of peers and parents were compared between adolescents who were not involved and involved
in civic activities in school (N = 679)
Variable
School civic activity involvement

Not involved
(n = 549)
Involved
(n = 130)
M(SD)
M(SD)
F(3,667) = 4.46, p \ .01, g2 = .02
Other activities
6.35(2.60)
7.09(2.45)**
2.94(1.08)
3.21(0.94)**
2.91(0.95)
3.14(0.82)*
F(5,666) = 2.61, p \ .05, g2 = .02
Depressive symptoms
1.94(0.91)
2.04(0.99)
Self-esteem
3.47(1.00)
3.33(0.91)
Stress
7.94(2.73)
8.22(2.55)
4.37(1.60)
4.74(1.47)*
3.40(1.89)
3.86(1.84)*
F(4,660) = 3.82, p \ .01, g2 = .02
Problem behavior
School misbehavior
0.02(0.71)*
1.31(0.83)
Monthly alcohol use
1.53(1.05)
1.63(1.11)
1.20(0.81)*
-0.13(0.53)
1.28(0.55)
1.04(0.23)
F(7,663) = 3.42, p \ .001, g2 = .04
Academic engagement
Grades
Multivariate Statistics
6.23(2.28)
7.10(1.89)***
4.13(1.36)
4.45(1.17)*
5.04(1.38)
5.39(1.21)**
School importance
4.11(0.73)
4.29(0.62)*
School bonding
3.07(0.83)
3.11(0.73)
3.74(0.87)
3.80(0.78)
2.69(0.81)
2.67(0.80)
F(7,665) = 3.09, p \ .01, g2 = .03

-0.01(0.61)
0.03(0.60)
3.24(1.01)
3.26(1.16)

Peer misbehavior
3.59(0.91)
2.84(0.88)
3.82(0.93)**
2.73(0.84)
3.73(0.75)
3.95(0.71)**
3.53(0.67)
3.72(0.58)**
1.85(0.94)
1.89(0.79)
* p \ .05, ** p \ .01, *** p \ .001
adolescents reported higher problem behavior: adolescents

not attending religious youth groups reported higher school
misbehavior, and higher monthly cigarette, alcohol, and
marijuana use according to univariate ANOVAs. All of the
academic engagement indicators were significantly higher
for adolescents in religious youth groups as compared to
those who were not. In addition, all of adolescents perceptions of parents and peers were significantly different
between the two groups as well. Those in religious youth
groups reported more parental school and social support,
perceived higher status associated with academic success at
123
their school, and had more friends who did well in school
and thought doing well in school was cool. In contrast,
those not reporting involvement in religious youth groups
reported higher peer support for misbehavior in school and
having more friends who use substances.
Discussion
Civic engagement not only helps adolescents to accomplish
the developmental task of citizenship (Youniss et al.
1997)it also is associated, more broadly, with positive
1265
in civic activities in the community (N = 679)
Variable
Community civic activity involvement

Not involved
(n = 571)
Involved
(n = 108)
M(SD)
M(SD)
F(3,667) = 4.86, p \ .01, g2 = .02
Other activities
6.34(2.53)
7.28(2.74)***
2.95(1.07)
3.21(0.99)*
2.92(0.95)
3.10(0.84)
F(5,666) = 1.38, p = .23, g2 = .01
Depressive symptoms
1.94(0.91)
2.05(1.00)
Self-esteem
3.44(1.00)
3.48(0.87)
Stress
7.99(2.72)
8.07(2.54)
4.45(1.60)
4.38(1.50)
3.55(1.90)
3.13(1.80)
F(4,660) = 2.30, p = .05, g2 = .01
Problem behavior
School misbehavior
0.02(0.70)
1.32(0.82)
-0.12(0.55)
1.14(0.54)
Monthly alcohol use
1.54(1.03)
1.58(1.24)
1.18(0.71)
1.13(0.83)
F(7,663) = 3.00, p \ .01, g2 = .03
Academic engagement
Grades
Multivariate statistics
6.29(2.28)
6.94(1.93)**
4.16(1.36)
4.36(1.16)
5.03(1.38)
5.49(1.15)***
School importance
4.13(0.73)
4.22(0.67)
School bonding
3.04(0.81)
3.30(0.76)**
3.71(0.87)
3.98(0.74)**
2.67(0.83)
2.77(0.71)
F(7,665) = 3.05, p \ .01, g2 = .03

-0.03(0.60)
3.22(1.02)
0.17(0.60)***
3.35(1.14)

Peer misbehavior
3.62(0.94)
2.83(0.87)
3.71(0.80)
2.75(0.89)
3.73(0.75)
3.98(0.68)***
3.53(0.65)
3.78(0.61)***
1.88(0.93)
1.71(0.83)
* p \ .05, ** p \ .01, *** p \ .001
youth development across a number of domains including

involvement in extracurriculars, avoidance of problem
behaviors, enhanced motivation and achievement in
school, and positive connections with peers and family
members. The current research supports qualitative
research involving rural adolescents from the Midwest that
indicates that civic activities in school and in the community are formative experiences for youth (Elder and
Conger 2000). In the current study, adolescents in as early
as 8th and 9th grades participated in civic activitieshalf
of the rural adolescents in the sample reported involvement
in either civic activities in school or the community, or

participation in a religious youth group. This kind of
exposure to community service, adult mentorship, and
positive interactions with peers in mid-adolescence sets the
stage for positive youth development and the successful
accomplishment of the developmental tasks of emerging
adulthood. The current research indicates that these
involved students already exhibit more positive profiles
than adolescents who are not involved in terms of their
well-being, problem behaviors, perceptions of family and
peers, and academic engagement.
123
1266
in religious youth groups (N = 679)
Variable
Religious youth group involvement

Not involved
(n = 465)
Involved
(n = 214)
M(SD)
M(SD)
F(3,667) = 86.87, p \ .001, g2 = .28
Other activities
6.17(2.63)
7.19(2.35)***
2.62(1.04)
3.80(0.50)***
2.71(0.94)
3.48(0.66)***
F(5,666) = 1.79, p = .11, g2 = .01
Depressive symptoms
1.91(0.91)
2.07(0.94)
Self-esteem
3.44(0.99)
3.45(0.97)
Stress
7.94(2.78)
8.12(2.49)
4.42(1.64)
4.48(1.45)
3.53(1.90)
3.40(1.88)
F(4,660) = 6.77, p \ .001, g2 = .04
Problem behavior
School misbehavior
0.08(0.76)***
1.36(0.90)***
Monthly alcohol use
1.62(1.13)*
1.40(0.89)
1.23(0.86)**
-0.19(0.41)
1.14(0.44)
1.04(0.30)
F(7,663) = 4.48, p \ .001, g2 = .05
Academic engagement
Grades
Multivariate Statistics
6.16(2.28)
6.91(2.05)***
4.06(1.35)
4.47(1.23)***
4.99(1.39)
5.34(1.25)**
School importance
4.07(0.75)
4.30(0.62)***
School bonding
3.01(0.83)
3.23(0.76)***
3.65(0.87)
3.96(0.77)***
2.65(0.82)
2.78(0.79)*
F(7,665) = 4.61, p \ .001, g2 = .05

-0.05(0.63)
3.16(1.04)
3.42(1.03)**
0.12(0.54)***

Peer misbehavior
3.57(0.96)
2.88(0.87)**
3.77(0.82)**
2.68(0.86)
3.71(0.76)
3.90(0.71)**
3.48(0.69)
3.75(0.53)***
1.95(0.98)***
1.65(0.72)
* p \ .05, ** p \ .01, *** p \ .001
Like the adolescents from rural communities in Iowa

studied by Elder and Conger (2000), the adolescents in the
current research from small schools in the rural Midwest
U.S. also are involved in school and civic activities that
emphasize agriculture. For school civic involvement, after
leadership activities like student council, Future Farmers of
America (FFA) was the most popular school civic activity
among adolescents. Elder and Conger describe in their
qualitative research that some fathers and sons participate
in FFA together and that other adolescents may initiate
their involvement in FFA to boost their resume, but then
123
find that they really enjoy participation and wind up in

leadership positions within the organization. Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and Students Against
Drunk Driving (SADD) were also popular clubs reported
by both youth in the current sample and in Elder and
Congers research. Similar to the current findings, Elder
and Conger found that girls were more likely to participate
in school civic clubs than boys; however, they did not find
gender differences in school leadership activities. In terms
of community civic activities, 4-H was the most popular
activity in the current research; just less than half of the
adolescents involved in community civic activities were

involved in 4-H clubs. Programs like 4-H may foster
connections among extended family members in rural
communitiesin Elder and Congers research, they
include an example of an adolescent girl working on a 4-H
project with her grandfather. Projects and presentations that
youth carry out in 4-H help to promote competence and
enhance self-esteem (Elder and Conger 2000).
The most common means to civic engagement in the
current sample was through religious youth groups
church youth groups are quite popular among rural youth
and offer a meaningful way to spend time with peers (Elder
and Conger 2000). The rates of religious youth group
involvement in the current sample (32%) are fairly similar
to the results from the National Survey of Youth and
Religion in 2002, where 38% of youth reported being
currently involved in a religious youth group (Smith and
Denton 2005). It may be that if adolescents had been asked
directly if they were involved in a religious youth group
rather than have them list their activities associated with
their religion, the rates would have been higher. Adolescents from conservative Protestant (e.g., Baptist, Churches
of Christ) backgrounds, the most common religious preference in the current sample, tend to attend and hold
leadership positions in youth groups and participate in
religious service projects more often than the average
teenager in the United States (Smith and Denton 2005).
In addition to mapping out the involvement patterns of
rural adolescents in civic activities, another aim of the
current research was to examine whether adolescents
involved in these civic and religious youth group activities
have different profiles than those who are not involved. The
current research indicates, consistent with hypotheses, by
and large that adolescents involved in civic activities show
profiles of more positive youth development than those who
were not involved in relation to extracurricular involvement, enhanced psychological well-being, low problem
behavior, high academic engagement, and positive perceptions of parents and peers. Similar patterns of positive
outcomes emerged among adolescents involved in school
and community civic activities as well as religious youth
groups although the most pronounced differences between
involved and uninvolved youth appeared to emerge for
those involved in religious youth group activities.
Adolescents involved in civic activities in school
showed evidence of positive youth development across all
of the different outcomes examined. Adolescents involved
in school civic activities were more involved in other
extracurricular activities at school and more involved with
religious activities; this pattern is similar to previous
findings involving urban youth (Duncan et al. 2002).
Adolescents involved in school civic activities most frequently were involved in student council, which often
1267
requires having a high profile within the school setting,

thus it is not surprising that these students would perceive
themselves to be more popular than other students in
school. With regard to problem behaviors, the only findings
were that adolescents not involved in school civic activities
were more likely to report school misbehavior and marijuana use; adolescents levels of cigarette use and alcohol
use did not differ for the two involvement groups. This may
be tied to the popularity finding above, if youth perceive
that part of being popular means using alcohol or cigarettes, this may counteract some of the protective effects
from the civic activities. Generally, adolescents who were
involved in school civic activities were highly engaged
academically. It is expected that leadership positions in
school are more attractive to students who have been
academically successfulhowever, the civic experiences
themselves may also serve to increase academic self concept or school importance. In a similar vein, adolescents in
school civic activities were more likely to perceive that
academic success is associated with high status among
their peers and that the friends they spend time with do well
in school and think doing well in school is cool. Taken
together, these results suggest that academically-minded,
active adolescents may be attracted to school civic activities and the peer environment of civic engagement reinforces this commitment to school and school activities.
Research indicates that civic activities help adolescents
develop their values and beliefs and help them to develop
socially as well (Yates and Youniss 1996).
The findings with regard to community civic activities
were very similar to those for school-based civic activities
adolescents involved in community civic activities reported
more in-school extracurricular involvement and also more
academic engagement and positive perceptions of parents
and peers than adolescents who are not involved in community civic groups. In contrast with expectations and in
contrast with the school civic involvement findings, there
were no differences between those involved and those who
were not involved in terms of well-being or problem
behavior. It may be that the enhanced self-esteem among
both rural and urban youth in community civic programs and
doing community service work noted by other researchers
(e.g., Elder and Conger 2000; Johnson et al. 1998) may be
more prevalent among older youth, who have spent more
years in high school engaged in such activities. These 8th and
9th graders may be just beginning community programs and
the benefits will be seen later; longitudinal research would
help to examine this further. This may also be true for
problem behavioradolescents are increasingly exposed to
substance use during high school, while at the same time
their involvement in community activities may changethe
protective effects of civic engagement may be more pronounced with older adolescents.
123
1268
Many differences were seen between adolescents in religious youth groups and adolescents not in religious youth
groups. In terms of activity involvement, not surprisingly
adolescents who attend religious services more frequently
and have stronger religious beliefs were more involved in
religious youth groups. Parents, extended family members,
and other community members are likely to encourage rural
adolescents to be involved in religious youth groups as the
rural church often plays a large role in community life,
notably for young people (Elder and Conger 2000). Within
youth groups, adolescents not only receive religious
instruction but also are involved in organizing discussions,
carrying out service projects in the community, and planning
social events (Elder and Conger 2000). Adolescents in religious groups in the current study were more engaged academically and less involved with problem behaviors than
youth not in religious groups. Youth groups are apt to attract
(and recruit) adolescents who are on positive developmental
trajectories; however, youth groups also reinforce positive
values and offer opportunities for youth to expand their
interests in service and leadership (Elder and Conger 2000;
Smith and Denton 2005). Elder and Conger found that rural
adolescents who were involved in religious youth groups had
fewer friends who encourage school misbehavior and substance use. These findings were replicated in the current
research where adolescents involved in religious youth
groups had more positive perceptions of their peers activities and beliefs and of their parents support.
Unlike other realms of positive youth development, links
between religious youth group involvement and psychological well-being were not found in the current research. In
previous research on rural adolescents, Elder and Conger
(2000) identified associations between religious involvement and self-confidence only among resilient youth and not
among youth they identified as vulnerable in their study.
More research is needed to examine this furtherinternalizing symptoms may be unaffected by adolescents religious
youth group or civic activity involvement, or perhaps these
affects only occur when adolescents are resilient in multiple
aspects of their lives. It may be that some adolescents may
seek out youth groups because they feel disconnected from
others whereas other adolescents with high self-esteem use
youth groups to enhance an already high sense of well-being.
Research involving youth from a working-class city in the
Midwest suggests that adolescents who participate religious
and civic activities report more enhanced well-being compared to adolescents who participate in other types of extracurriculars (e.g., sports, arts) (Hansen et al. 2003). Thus,
more research is needed to consider whether the findings
regarding psychological well-being for the rural youth in this
study and in Elder and Congers research are less generalizable to youth from urban or suburban settings as compared
to other findings from the current research that are more
123
consistent with previous research involving urban and suburban youth. This may be particularly important with regard
to youth group activity involvement given the sizable role
that religious involvement plays in the rural community
relative to more suburban or urban contexts (Elder and
Conger 2000; Smith and Denton 2005).
Several strengths and limitationsincluding issues
related to measurement and the use of cross-sectional
dataneed to be recognized in the current research. The
current research included extensive survey measures about
school, family, and behaviors as well as open-ended
questions about activity involvement from 8th and 9th
graders from thirteen different small schools in the rural
Midwest. The open-ended questions allowed for a detailed
picture of the types of activities in which these youth are
involved, and for connections to be made between activity
involvement and academic engagement, problem behavior,
and other attitudes and beliefs. However, the current
measures only provide information about the names of
programs, and they do not provide details about the types
of service and civic activities specifically that youth engage
in within programsthis information would help us to
better understand how these programs help youth to
develop different skills, interests, and values. In addition, it
would also be helpful to have more details about adolescents various motivations to engage in civic and religious
youth group activities. Adolescents motivation for
involvement in community activities may emerge from
such diverse sources as a desire to be autonomous and to
enact ones ideals, an orientation to the well-being of
others and groups, a desire to work closely with family
members or friends, a personal interest in the particular
service activity, or a connection with religious or political
beliefs or values (Jensen 2008; Yates and Youniss 1996).
As adolescents become involved in their service projects,
feelings of satisfaction, enjoyment, and enhanced meaningfulness may be what motivates them to persist in these
activities over time (Yates and Youniss 1996). The current
research makes use of cross-sectional data; following youth
over time would help to document how involvement,
motivation for involvement, and the benefits of civic
activity involvement change over time within and across
individuals. In future research, it would be informative to
examine whether differences between involved youth and
uninvolved youth are more substantial later in high school
when more opportunities for civic engagement emerge, and
some youth become leaders in their schools and communities and contribute more substantially to their communities in terms of service.
The current research indicates that civic activity and
youth group activity involvement among adolescents is
associated with a variety of positive outcomes in terms of
behavior, attitudes, and well-being. Other research also
indicates that participation in these activities promotes civic

identity development and increases the likelihood of civic
participation over time. Rural, suburban, and urban adolescents who participate in voluntary service activities or civil
rights activities during high school are more likely to report
political activities and participation in civic causes in the
years following high school (Fredricks and Eccles 2006).
Youth who engage in voluntary community service in high
school vote and do volunteer work with youth groups more
often during emerging adulthood compared to those who do
not do any service activities during high school (Hart et al.
2007). We need to know more about why youth initiate
involvement in civic activities and what they are doing in
these activities. Much is known about the motivation for and
the effects of engagement in sports activities during adolescence (Eccles 2005)however, we know less about why
and how adolescents participate in civic activities and youth
groups, and how involvement in these activities affects youth
outcomes over time. What we do know so far suggests that
there is great potential for civic and service activities and
youth groups to be an effective mechanism for the promotion
of positive youth development.
Acknowledgments This research was made possible through grants
from the Spencer Foundation (Small Grant #200300040), University
of Missouri, and Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
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Author Biography
Alison Bryant Ludden Ph.D., is an associate professor of
psychology at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
She received her Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the
University of Michigan. Her survey research focuses on the influence
of the multiple contexts of school, family, peers, and communities on
the promotion of adolescents educational resilience and health.

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J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

Engagement in School and Community Civic Activities

Abstract Involvement in civic and community activities is

Keywords Civic engagement ! Rural adolescents ! 4-H !

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

(Busseri et al. 2006; Mahoney et al. 2005). Previous

Little recent research has documented the civic activity

Adolescents Engagement in Civic and Religious

Civic Engagement and Adolescents Involvement

and be responsible for their actions in a context outside of

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

Civic Engagement and Psychological Well-Being

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

Civic Engagement and Problem Behavior

Parental and Peer Contexts and Civic Engagement

(Hansen et al. 2003). Participating in civic activities may be

community-based civic activities and religious youth

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

Students completed self-report surveys (using a paper/

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

Involvement in civic activities*

Community civic activities

Religious youth groups

Monthly cigarette use

Monthly alcohol use

Monthly marijuana use

Subjective task value

Academic self concept

Parental school support

Parental social support

Status of academic success

Friends school attitudes

Friends school experiences

Friends substance use

Perceptions of parents and peers

indicated involvement where 1 = not at all, 2 = slight,

Religious Attendance Adolescents reported the frequency

Table 3 Type of communitybased civic activities and

* Only one student reported

J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40:12541270

Median hours per

Student council or student ambassador

Future Farmers of America (FFA)

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)

Key Club/Serving to Learn

Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD)

Social justice groups (e.g., focused on

Mentoring and tutoring programs for peers

Family, Career, and Community Leaders of

Ability, Service, Training, Responsibility, and

Involved in two or more of the groups above

Boy Scouts of America/Girl Scouts of the USA

International Order of the Rainbow Girls

A few times per month

Camp Fire USA

A few times per month

Other community civic groups (e.g., People

A few times per month

Individual volunteering in community

A few times per month

A few times per month

A few times per month

United Church of Christ

* p \ .05, p \ .01, * p \ .001

* p \ .05, p \ .01, * p \ .001

* p \ .05, p \ .01, * p \ .001