ACA Youth Outcomes Battery: Youth Measures (YOB)

General Information on the Measure
Purpose of the measure

Developed by the American Camp Association (ACA), the Youth Outcomes Battery (YOB) was designed to measure a wide range of outcomes to help evaluate camp program goals and document youth growth and improvement.

Main constructs measured

Intrapersonal competencies; Interpersonal competencies

Applicable grade levels

Ages 6-17

Publication year for the most recent version

2013

Year originally developed

2006

Related measures
Measure Administration
Respondent

Student

Method of administration

Paper/Pencil

Number of items

92, but forms can be customized

Item format

Five-point Likert-type scale

Administration time

There is no information available in the references reviewed.

Available languages

English, Russian, Spanish, Italian

Fee for use Fee charged by developer
Credentials required for administration

None

Scoring
Overall score reporting

No overall scores are reported.

Subscore reporting

There are 11 subscores:

  • Friendship skills
  • Independence
  • Teamwork
  • Family citizenship
  • Perceived competence
  • Interest in exploration
  • Responsibility
  • Affinity for nature
  • Problem-solving confidence
  • Camp connectedness
  • Spiritual well-being
Scoring procedures

The measure is self-scored using a spreadsheet from the developer.

Interpretive information

The scores are norm-referenced and percentile ranks are provided.

Evidence of Technical Quality
Populations for which technical quality evidence has been collected

Evidence is based on youth from 37 summer camps (N=3,750).

Reliability evidence

Internal consistency coefficients ranged from 0.90 to 0.96 for the subscales (Sibthorp et al., 2011).

Validity evidence
Evidence based on content
No information is available in the references reviewed.
Evidence based on response processes
No information is available in the references reviewed.
Evidence based on internal structure
Confirmatory factor analysis was used to find evidence supporting 11 distinct domains (Sibthorp et al., 2011).
Evidence based on relations with other variables
No information is available in the references reviewed.
Locating the Measure
Obtaining a copy of the measure acacamps.org
References

Sibthorp, J., Bialeschki, M. D., Morgan, C., & Browne, L. "Validating, norming, and utility of a youth outcomes battery for recreation programs and camps," Journal of Leisure Research, Vol. 45, No. 4, 2013, pp. 514.

.

Notes

There are two versions available: one for younger students and one for adolescents.

Measure summary updated October 3, 2018.