Youth leadership development in the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program

Out-of-school time programs are important contexts for youth to gain and grow leadership. The youth leadership development conceptual model (Redmond & Dolan, 2016) identified authentic opportunities, mentor access, motivating endeavors, and mastering endeavors as four core program processes for youth leadership development. Yet few studies have empirically tested the model’s applicability to youth-serving programs. To fill this gap, the current study examines the associations between the four program processes and leadership development in youth participating in the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program. The role of program dosage was also examined. Questionnaire data were collected from 290 youth aged between 11 and 19 years from the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program. The levels of the four program processes were positively correlated with each other and with youth leadership. When modeled together as predictors, authentic opportunities and mastery were significant predictors of leadership. However, when program duration was controlled, none of the program processes remained as significant predictors, despite the model’s overall significance in explaining variances in youth leadership. Further mediation analysis revealed that program dosage predicted youth leadership through authentic opportunities and mastering endeavors. The findings expanded the understanding of the youth leadership development conceptual model and informed its adapted application to the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program.