A Comparative Study of Youth Development, Health Promotion, Purpose in Life, Usage of Internet Among College Students in Healthcare- Related and Non-Related Majors in Taiwan

Background and Purpose: Drawn on Benson and Damon (2004) perspectives of “positive youth development” with emphasis on young people’s abilities, assets, and potentials by educating and engaging them in productive activities rather than treating them for maladaptive tendencies, the Intergenerational Mobile Technology Opportunities Program (IMTOP) is designed to promote integrated youth development by offering college students volunteering opportunities to assist teaching a 8-week curriculum for older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. By teaching these older adults the skills of using tablets and apps for their self-management the purpose of this study is to understand how this intergenerational program affects positive development, health, purpose in life and usage of internet among college students in healthcare-related (N=40) vs. other majors (N=94).

Methods: Using mixed methods to collect data from 134 students volunteered for the IMTOP. Grounded theory was used to analyze qualitative data obtained from class logs and monthly reflections of the IMTOP program. Survey data were collected from baseline and one follow-up survey. A short-form of Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) with 6 aspects was used such as cognitive competence (α =. 82) and self-efficacy (α =. 81). Health was measured by the Adolescent Health Promotion Scale with six domains such as health responsibility (α =.73) and exercise (α =.77). Purpose in life was measured by a 7-item scale (α =. 91). Internet Addiction Test (IAT) (α =. 94) was measured by level of internet addiction.

Results: Mean age of students was approximately 20 years old in both groups. Results of mixed methods show that after 8-week program cognitive competence of students in non-healthcare group (e.g., Chinese literature) increased (p = .09). They learned to look at things from diverse perspectives and acknowledged the importance of exercise (p = .07) and responsibility for health (p = .03) by checking their weights more regularly. However, these changes in all aspects of health promotion and positive youth development were not observed in their counterpart group except for self-efficacy. Surprisingly, level of self-efficacy decreased significantly (p = .04) among students in healthcare related group which is opposite to hypothesized direction. In terms of purpose in life, students in non-healthcare group felt a lack of meaning/purpose in their life (p = .06) after 8-week volunteerism which was not found among those in healthcare-related group. As for usage of internet, students in healthcare-related group significantly increased their level of usage of internet which was reflected in their class notes that their skills of using mobile technology to look for health-related online information improved from the program participation.   

Conclusion and Implications: Significant differences in two aspects of positive youth development (cognitive competence and self-efficacy) and health promotion (exercise, health responsibility), purpose in life and internet usage were observed between healthcare-related and non-related groups. Implications of the present study shows that future programs focusing on ensuring healthy development for youth in diverse aspects needs to take into participants’ field of study into account during this stage of development.