Fidelity and Adaptation of Youth Empowerment Programming in Community Practice

Background:This study examined the effects of fidelity and adaptation on participant responsiveness in a manualized youth empowerment program focused on civic engagement.  High fidelity is considered integral to program implementation.  In community practice, however, program curriculum is regularly adapted in order to meet the needs of diverse client cohorts.  By understanding the relationship between adaptation and participant responsiveness, practitioners can more strategically translate evidence-based practice into culturally-sensitive community intervention.  We hypothesized that high fidelity and adaptations made for philosophical fit (e.g., cultural sensitivity) would be predictors of higher participant responsiveness ratings.  We also hypothesized that low fidelity and adaptations made for logistical fit (e.g., running out of time) would be predictive of lower participant responsiveness ratings.

 Methods:The primary research method was analysis of program implementation data from Youth Engaged in Leadership and Learning (YELL), a manualized youth empowerment program offered on an afterschool basis through the Bridge Program in Denver, CO.

            Sample:This sample was a cohort of 37 YELL participants at four Bridge Program sites.  Almost all participants were non-white, with a large proportion identifying as African-American (n=15).  Most students were in the 6th grade (n=15), with the remainder divided among the 7th through 9th grades.  The majority identified as female.

            Measures:Implementation data was gathered using a program-specific fidelity form completed by site supervisors after each session (n=130 fidelity forms).  Data consisted of: 1) curriculum fidelity scores, 2) adaptation scores that indicated if facilitators modified curriculum for philosophical or logistical fit, and 3) participant responsiveness scores, which rated student engagement and interest in curriculum.

            Analytic Approach:Linear regression modeling was used to analyze participant responsiveness outcomes.  We analyzed the effects of fidelity versus no fidelity, as well as fidelity versus adaptation, on level of participant responsiveness.  We controlled for each site in our analysis.

Results:Our findings indicated that program adaptations made for philosophical fit were predictive of higher participant responsiveness ratings (β=0.75, p=0.04) and that high fidelity was in fact predictive of lower participant responsiveness ratings overall (β=-0.68, p=0.04).  Adaptations favoring collaborative and self-directed sessions were on average predictive of a point higher in participant responsiveness ratings (β=1.02, p<0.01).

Conclusions and Implications: The association of high fidelity with lower participant responsiveness ratings runs counter to dominant narratives in the implementation science literature.  That adaptation predicts higher ratings points to the importance of recognizing community culture and ecology in the context of translational research.  Future studies could develop and standardize an inventory of adaptations to be deployed according to ecological context.