Increasing and Generalizing Self-Efficacy The Effects of Adventure Recreation on the Academic Efficacy of Early Adolescents

This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of an adventure recreation program on adolescent participants' outdoor recreation and academic self-efficacy. The study also explored the transferability of efficacy beliefs across non-related domains. The sample included 262 adolescents, 194 who served as participants in the program and 68 who served as comparisons. The average age for each group was 13.6 years. The intervention, a two-week, theory-based program, involved a variety of outdoor recreation activities. Pre-/post-instruments measured perceived levels of outdoor efficacy and academic efficacy, attitudes, and motivations. Results indicated participants experienced significantly more growth than comparisons on both outdoor and academic measures and a small, yet significant, relationship existed for participants between the growth across outdoor and academic efficacy.