Religious Service Attendance and Volunteering: A Growth Curve Analysis

Despite methodological advances in studying the relationship between religious attendance and volunteering, its dynamic nature still needs to be elucidated. We apply growth curve modeling to examine whether trajectories of religious attendance and volunteering are related to each other over a 15-year period in a nationally representative sample from the Americans’ Changing Lives data (1986-2002). Multivariate results showed that the rates of change in religious attendance and volunteering were positively related, and excluding religious volunteering did not alter the finding. It was also found that the initial level of religious attendance was positively associated with the rate of increase in volunteer hours over the period. Mediation analyses revealed that participation in voluntary associations explained the dynamic relationships between religious attendance and volunteering. These results provide evidence that involvement in organized religion and volunteering are dual activities that change together over the adult life course

The Role of Prior Knowledge and Elaboration in Text Comprehension and Memory: A Comparison of Self-Generated Elaboration versus Text-Provided Elaboration

A series of six experiments investigated the effect of text-provided elaborations and prior knowledge on memory for text. In all experiments, subjects read 28 episodes, half of which were associated with well-known individuals, and the other half were associated with unknown individuals. In Experiment 1, text-provided elaborations enhanced recall only when the reader did not possess a high level of prior knowledge. The findings from Experiment 1 were hypothesized to be the result of readers generating relevant elaborations during text comprehension. Experiment 2 supported this hypothesis by providing evidence of self-generated elaborations. Experiment 3 provided evidence that this generation process occurred on-line. The results from Experiments 4 and 5 extended these findings by showing that readers with high prior knowledge automatically generate causally relevant elaborations when the sentences have a low relation. The findings of Experiment 6 suggest that distinctive text-provided elaborations are more effective than normal text-provided elaborations only when readers have high prior knowledge

The Effect of Elaboration on Memory: Self-Generated Elaboration vs Experimenter-Provided Elaboration

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of elaborations on memory . Two types of elaborations (self-generated elaboration and experimenter-provided elaboration) were examined. The experiment consisted of three phases (incidental learning phase, immediate test phase, and delayed test phase). In the incidental learning phase, subjects were asked to make plausibility judgments about 28 fictitious episodes. Half of these were about well-known individuals and the other half were about unknown individuals. Each name (either well-known or unknown) was presented with either two supportive facts or without the supportive facts. During the immediate test phase, subjects were given unexpected memory tests. One week later, unexpected delayed memory tests were administered. Results from both immediate and delayed tests indicated that self-generated elaborations based on prior knowledge subjects had about well-known individuals enhanced the retention of target information, whereas experimenter-provided elaborations involving the presence of supportive facts only benefited memory performance when the subjects had prior knowledge about the individuals. Experimenter-provided elaborations were also effective to the extent that the encoding context was reinstated at testing

Tying Knots With Communities: Youth Involvement in Scouting and Civic Engagement in Adulthood

Using data from a nationally representative sample of American adult males (N = 2,512), this study examines (a) whether duration of membership in the Boy Scouts of America is associated with adult civic engagement and (b) whether five characteristics of positive youth development (confidence, competence, connection, character, and caring) account for the relationship between duration of Scouting membership and adult civic engagement. The results from structural equation modeling indicate that duration of participation in Scouting is positively associated with four indicators of civic engagement: community involvement, community volunteering, community activism, and environmental activism. Among the five positive characteristics, confidence and competence were found to fully mediate the effects of Scouting on all four types of civic engagement, whereas the other three only to partly mediate the effects

Final Evaluation Report: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of a Responsible Fatherhood Program: The Case of TYRO Dads

Despite the growing number of responsible fatherhood programs, only a few of them have been evaluated based on a randomized controlled trial. To fill this gap in evaluation research on fatherhood programs, we conducted a single-blind, randomized, controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of an Ohio-based fatherhood program called “TYRO Dads” in improving the father-child relationship among low-income, primarily unmarried, nonresidential fathers. We collected data from 252 fathers who participated in the study at 17 research sites in eight cities in Ohio by conducting a survey three times between February 2015 and September 2016: before the intervention (pretest), immediately after the intervention (post-test), and three months after the intervention (follow-up). Study participants were randomly assigned to two groups: 137 in the intervention or treatment group who took “TYRO Dads,” a five-week fatherhood course (which consists of 10 sessions of 20 hours in total; i.e., two two-hour sessions per week) and 115 in the control group who only were offered the opportunity to attend an informational session about employment resources and other resources available to help them achieve their goals. The primary outcomes of interest include fathers’ reports of satisfaction with parenting their child and the frequency of father-child activities. Also measured were secondary outcomes of intervention: fathers’ parenting efficacy, role identity, coparenting relationship with their child’s mother, and perceived challenges in parenting

Explaining Gender Differences in Changes in Volunteering after Divorce

Although there is evidence that divorce and volunteering are related, little is known about the process by which divorce affects volunteering. Using four-wave panel data spanning 16 years, this study examines the causal mechanisms underlying changes in volunteering following divorce. Results from estimating structural equation models indicated that divorce affects volunteering through different mechanisms for women and men. For women, increased financial strain explained a decline in volunteering after divorce. For men, decreased social integration measured by formal group participation accounted for a decline in volunteering after divorce. Domain-specific analyses further showed that decreased religious attendance following divorce explained a decline in religious volunteering and, at the same time, an increase in secular volunteering among men but not women. Men appear to switch their volunteering domains from religious to secular organizations after divorce

Being Prepared and Staying Connected: Scouting’s Influence on Social Capital and Community Involvement

Objectives In recent years, scholars have become concerned about the effects that declining levels of social capital are having on community life in the United States. Data suggest that Americans are less likely to interact with neighbors and less likely to participate in community groups than they were in the past. Nevertheless, researchers have found that participation in some types of organizations has a positive impact on social capital and civic involvement. Each year, millions of American youth participate in programs designed to promote positive youth development. Here, we examine the effect that participation in one of the largest youth organizations, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), has on adult social capital and community involvement. Methods Utilizing a national survey of adult males, we compare measures of social capital and community involvement for former Scouts and non‐Scouts. Results Our findings suggest that level of involvement in the Boy Scouts is significantly related to measures of adult social capital and community engagement. Conclusion Scouting tends to have a significant impact on the lives of its most committed members. Future research must continue to explore the long‐term effects of participation in youth organizations