Self-Esteem Assessment of Adolescents Involved in Horsemanship Activities, Saunders-Ferguson, K.E., Barnett, R.V., Culen, G. & TenBroeck, S.
Submitted by: Rose Barnett, Assistant Professor, Youth Development
A recent study conducted at the 4H Horse Camp examined the impact of horsemanship activities on adolescent self-esteem (Saunders-Ferguson, Barnett, Culen & TenBroeck, 2006). Using Sonstroem’s Exercise and Self-Esteem Model, this study specifically examined the impact of horsemanship activities on adolescent self-esteem, personal horsemanship attributes, and physical competence, physical self-efficacy, and physical acceptance of adolescents. The goal was to assess whether self-esteem changed as a result of exposure to various horsemanship lessons during the six-day program. Pre and post surveys were used to assess personal horsemanship attributes, such as: responsibility, confidence, motivation, anxiety, and mood, in relation to each individual’s involvement in horse related activities. Physical competence, physical self-efficacy, and physical acceptance were also evaluated. Specifically, the research questions of this study are as follows:
- Are levels of adolescent self-esteem increased by participation in horsemanship activities?
- Are levels of adolescent personal horsemanship attributes increased by participation in horsemanship activities?
- Are levels of adolescent physical competence increased by participation in horsemanship activities?
- Are levels of adolescent physical acceptance increased by participation in horsemanship activities?
The study examined 122 adolescents, aged 12-18 years, who participated in the Florida 4-H Horsemanship School during the summer of 2005. Information describing the study was mailed to all 137 pre-registered youth in care of their parents. All of the youth that were involved in this study voluntarily agreed to participate and had received parental consent prior to completing any instruments in relation to this study.
The Survey of Youth Participating in Equine Activities” questionnaire consisted of five scales. The scales are all five point Likert-like format, except for Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale which is a four point Likert-like format. The items in this questionnaire served the purpose of gathering qualitative data in regard to:
Specific personal experiences that may have affected students in the horsemanship school; and
New horsemanship skills they learned during their enrollment in the Florida 4-H Horsemanship School.
The pre test internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s Alpha) from these composites was 0.885. The Cronbach’s Alpha without the Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale was 0.880. The post test Cronbach’s Alpha for the total composite was 0.914, and without the Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale was 0.909.
The demographic data included gender, age, and non-horse related activity involvement in spare time. Of this sample, 108 (88.5%) of the respondents were female and 13 (10.7%) of the respondents were male. The respondents ranged in age from 12-18 years with the mean age of 14.03 years. A total of 18.0% were 12 years old, 28.7% were 13 years old, 17.2% were 14 years old, 16.4% were 15 years old, 9.0% were 16 years old, 9.0% were 17 years old, and 1.6% were 18 years old. Adolescents also responded that they were involved in a number of other activities that were not related to horseback riding. Overall, 54.9% of adolescents played sports, 16.4% partook in service projects, 40.2% worked, 20.5% participated in religious groups, 51.6% watched television, 45.1% surfed the internet, 77.9% spent time with friends, and 36.1% were involved in other activities.
The horsemanship factors measured respondent’s number of years of horseback riding, frequency of horseback riding, number of times attended Horsemanship School, and skill level or riding classification. The participants number of years of horseback riding was as follows: less than one year, 1.6%; one year, 2.5%; two years, 5.7%; three years, 4.1%; four years, 10.7%; five years, 9.8%; six years, 9.0%; seven years, 13.9%; and eight years or more, 42.6%. Of the participants surveyed, a total of 0.0% rode less than once a month, 2.5% rode at least once a month, 10.7% rode twice a month, 61.5% rode once a week, 25.4% rode multiple times a week, and 0.0% rode everyday. Forty-eight respondents (39.3%) reported that they had never attended the Florida 4-H Horsemanship School, 27 (22.1%) attended once, 20 (16.4%) attended two times, 10 (8.2%) attended three times, 7 (5.7%) attended four times, 10 (8.2%) attended five or more times. A total of 6.9% of participants classified their horsemanship skill level as beginner, 39.2% classified their horsemanship skill level as intermediate, and 53.9% classified their horsemanship skill level as advance.
Findings
Horsemanship and Self Esteem
Are levels of self-esteem increased by participation in horsemanship activities? Comparing the pre test and the post test, there was a small, but significant change. For the pre test, the overall mean score for Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale was 3.25. In the post test, the overall score of the Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale was 3.31 (SD=.69) (Table 1). This indicated that there was a positive change in self-esteem by comparison of the means.
Personal Horsemanship Attributes and Horsemanship Activities
Are levels of personal horsemanship attributes increased by participation in horsemanship activities? The mean score for the personal horsemanship attributes was comprised of mean scores from the attributes of responsibility, confidence, decrease of anxiety, elevation of mood, and motivation. Comparing the pre test results to the post test results, changes were found in the means and standard deviations. The pre test mean for the personal horsemanship attributes scale was 4.07 (SD=1.03), which indicated that the participants had a high level of personal horsemanship attributes prior to their horsemanship participation in the Florida 4-H Horsemanship School. The post test mean score for the personal horsemanship attribute was 4.05 (SD=1.00). The pre test mean for the responsibility attribute was 4.61 (SD=.70), the confidence mean was 4.21 (SD=.89), the anxiety mean was 3.53 (SD=1.11), the mood mean was 3.85 (SD=1.12), and the motivation mean was 4.08 (SD=.98).
Physical Competence and Horsemanship Activities
Are levels of physical competence increased by participation in horsemanship activities? The pre test mean score for the physical competency scale indicated that the participants had a high level of physical competence prior to participation in the study (M=4.21, SD=.94). There was a slight increase in the post test mean score for the physical competence, 4.24 (SD=.90).
Adolescent Physical Acceptance and Horsemanship Activities
Are levels of adolescent physical acceptance increased by participation in horsemanship activities? The post test total mean score for physical acceptance was 4.22 (SD=.72). This was a slight increase from the pre test mean score of 4.21 (SD=.74).
Discussion and Implications for Practice
Self-esteem change was found to be significant after the adolescents participated in horsemanship activities. While these findings cannot be proven as causal, results do indicate that there was a higher self-esteem for some reason after the youth attended the six-day residential horsemanship activities. Due to the fact that the adolescents were confined to the program site for these six days, and they rode an average of six hours per day; it is highly likely that the horsemanship activities were responsible at some level for this change.
Self-esteem development is an important component of adolescence. Many things in an adolescent’s life can influence change in self-esteem, such as: school, peers, and family. Self-esteem change can be both positive and negative, therefore, it is extremely important to emphasize positive developmental change and strive to prevent negative developmental change. A number of techniques have been used to help create positive developmental change in self-esteem. Many of these techniques are seen in the form of self-esteem development programs, which are commonly delivered through schools and clubs (Arnett, 2003).
A varied approach is required to effectively influence positive self-esteem development in a diverse population of adolescents. Horsemanship activities offer one approach. Extended periods of time working with and riding horses can create positive changes in adolescents (Smith, 2004). Activities, for example saddling, feeding, and riding horses can be powerful in affecting personal horsemanship attributes, including: motivation, responsibility, confidence, anxiety, and mood. By participating in horsemanship activities, adolescents can learn new skills and gain experiences useful for positive self-esteem development (Iannone, 2003).
It is imperative to further incorporate horsemanship activities in positive youth development programming for adolescents. Other horsemanship activities could be incorporated into programs that adolescents are involved in through their school, 4-H clubs and camps, and other youth organizations. Populations that might especially benefit from such a program might include special needs children, depressed youth, suicidal adolescents, and those with body image issues. Extension agents, schools, and community youth workers could consider the lengths of such a program for all youth, as well as any with special needs when making program planning decisions.
This study brought forth evidence that self-esteem can be influenced by horsemanship activities. Youth practitioners can use this knowledge to create youth development programs. The program designers can simply incorporate horsemanship activities into their curriculum or there can be specific programs designed to focus solely on adolescents and horsemanship activities. These types of programs can be used for all adolescents who are struggling to develop their self-esteem during adolescence.
References
Arnett, J.J. (2003). Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach. Revised, 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Fox, K. (2000). Self-esteem, self-perceptions and exercise. International Journal of Sport Psychology 31, 228.
Greenwald, A. (2001). The effect of a therapeutic horsemanship program on emotionally disturbed boys. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering 62 (2B), 1078.
Gullotta, T. & Adams, G. (2005). Handbook of adolescent behavioral problems. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
Iannone, V. (2003). Evaluation of a vocational and therapeutic riding program for severely emotionally disturbed adolescents. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering 64 (3B), 1493.
Rosenberg, M. (1986). Conceiving the self. Krieger: Malabar, FL.
Rosenberg, M. (1989). Society and the adolescents self-image. Revised edition. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Smith, C. (2004). Impact of equine activities on youth development. American Youth Horse Council.
Sonstroem, R., Harlow, L., & Josephs, L. (1994). Exercise and self-esteem: Validity of model expansion and exercise associations. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 16 (1), 29.
Sonstroem, R. & Morgan, W. (1989). Exercise and self-esteem: rationale and model. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 21 (3), 329.
Wood, P. & Hillman, S. (1996). Locus of control, self-concept, and self-esteem among at-risk African-American adolescents. Adolescence 31 (123), 597.
