Ryan Gagnon

Clemson University | CU · Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management

In 2021, national leaders in the United States declared a “national youth mental health crisis.” Still, only 1-in-4 children receive adequate mental healthcare access. Patient Navigator Programs (PNPs) can improve children’s referral-to-connection to mental health services. We examined patient- and community-level factors associated with pediatric...

Attitudes toward students with disabilities play a crucial role in creating an inclusive and supportive campus environment. This study investigated college students’ attitudes toward peers with disabilities and explored the factors that influence these attitudes. Data from 457 students were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indic...

The association between leisure activities and cognition in aging is well supported, suggesting that intellectual, physical, and social leisure engagement protects against cognitive decline. However, less is known about the attributes and characteristics of leisure activity engagement that foster neurological protection. The purpose of this study w...

This study examined a culturally tailored life skills curriculum for addressing tribal youth needs within a positive youth development programme context. In partnership with a Midwest United States tribe and a community-based out-of-school time (OST) organization, the research team interviewed tribal Elders to understand the potential fit of the cu...

Background Cognitive reserve (CR) is the ability to maintain cognitive performance despite brain pathology. CR is built through lifecourse experiences (e.g., education) and is a key construct in promoting healthy aging. However, the operationalization of CR and its estimated association with late-life cognition varies. The purpose of this study was...

Approximately 1-in-5 children have a diagnosed mental, behavioral, and/or developmental disorder or delay by age 8 in the United States. Children with such conditions often require complex, complicated diagnostic and specialty care, making them susceptible to repeated referrals and ongoing unmet healthcare needs. Patient navigation programs (PNPs)...

Developmentally inappropriate and excessive parenting can manifest at higher levels in children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). A child’s age, level of T1D training, and time since T1D diagnosis have been associated with higher levels of developmentally excessive parenting (i.e., overparenting), lower rates of autonomy granting, and lower rates of cont...

Due to the increasing prevalence of parental vaccine hesitancy or refusal, it is important to understand parental motives for vaccine hesitancy. This study examines social media conversations and commentaries regarding concerns about parenting, vaccine hesitancy, and the COVID-19 pandemic within an in-person leisure and recreation context: out-of-s...

Exposure to natural environments offers an array of mental health benefits. Virtual reality provides simulated experiences of being in nature when outdoor access is limited. Previous studies on virtual nature have focused mainly on single "doses" of virtual nature. The effects of repeated exposure remain poorly understood. Motivated by this gap, we...

Most spatial epidemiological studies of nature-health relationships use generalized greenspace measures. For instance, coarse-resolution spatial data containing normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) values are prominent despite criticisms, such as the inability to restrain exposure estimates to public and private land. Non-threatening natur...

Medical specialty camps can play an important role in the positive development of psychosocial outcomes for children and youth with sickle cell disease (SCD). This study examined how sense of mastery and attitude towards illness outcomes changed over 6 months for 100 campers aged 8–16 years with SCD. The outcomes were measured twice before and twic...

Background Individuals with developmental disabilities have specific physical and psychosocial needs that can require extra support to participate fully in and enjoy many benefits of recreation activities. Unfortunately, little is known about individuals with developmental disabilities' experiences in outdoor recreation. The purpose of this study w...

Most spatial epidemiological studies of nature-health relationships use generalized green space measures. For instance, the normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) is prominent despite its criticisms, such as its inability to differentiate more public (accessible) vs. private (largely inaccessible) land. Green space’s capacity to improve heal...

College and university-based (CUB) summer camps are a prominent pre-collegiate experience targeting middle and high school adolescents, which research suggests may enhance college aspirations and preparedness, develop academic knowledge and skills, and influence future career choices. This study examines factors that predict the relation between af...

Across contexts, an emerging concern for professionals charged with facilitating youth programs relates to the increased influence of overparenting on the activities and services they provide. However, few studies have examined the influence of overparenting in adolescent samples and out-of-school time contexts such as sports, nor have they examine...

During the summer months food insecurity increases for some children because many youth who receive meals during the academic year do not receive meals during the summer. Federal summer feeding program data suggest that recreation providers play a role in addressing summertime food insecurity, but few targeted studies have been conducted. This stud...

The 4-H Thriving Model predicts that participation in high-quality 4-H programs helps youth thrive and that thriving youth achieve key developmental outcomes, thus illuminating the process of positive youth development in 4-H. This paper provides an update on the 4-H Thriving Model, with particular attention to model modifications based on addition...

The past months have been tumultuous across the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with widespread stay-at-home orders and school closures occurring amid typically intense program planning for summer camps. As a result, this summer looked remarkably different from previous camp seasons. All programs had to make incredibly difficult decisions...

This study examined relations between participation quality and quantity and youth outcomes associated with Basic Psychological Needs Theory (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, and competence) among 116 Native American youth attending a one-week culturally-tailored summer camp. Participants were 60% female, on average 13.14 (SD = 2.02) years old and had...

In questionnaire-based research, leisure investigators must balance the need for comprehensive measurement with participant fatigue associated with lengthy questionnaires. Planned missing data designs (PMDD) offer a solution to reduce survey length while maintaining precision in measurement. This study introduces PMDD through an examination of the...

Parent anxiety can limit a parent’s willingness to involve their child in out-of-school time experiences such as summer camps. Researchers have studied anxiety within the context of camp, but these studies used narrow frameworks of anxiety. In this exploratory study, we collected open-ended responses about causes of parent anxiety associated with s...

Objectives This study examined associations between child disability and parent-reported overparenting, autonomy granting, and affect management among a purposeful sample of parents whose children attended a camp serving early adolescents with disabilities or a camp serving early adolescents without disabilities. Methods 868 parents completed a po...

Measurement theory and application is becoming increasingly normative across the social sciences. Bandalos (2018) reflects this growth and provides both the new and experienced methodologist with a clear understanding of the important concepts within measurement theory. This review provides a summary of the primary concepts in the book and a descri...

One potential mechanism to mitigate the underrepresentation of females within STEM is the use of Out-of-School-Time programs and camps with supportive staff, instructors, and parallel orientation towards socioemotional development. This study examines factors which may mediate the relation between gender and STEM career aspiration within a pre-coll...

This paper examines the relationship between the developmental contexts of youth programs and resultant developmental outcomes, and explores whether the developmental process of thriving mediates this relationship. Developmental context is proposed to consist of three elements: (1) youth sparks, (2) program quality, and (3) developmental relationsh...

Measurement theory and application is becoming increasingly normative across the social sciences. Bandalos (2018) reflects this growth and provides both the new and experienced methodologist with a clear understanding of the important concepts within measurement theory. This review provides a summary of the primary concepts in the book and a descri...

Objectives Overparenting research has been primarily confined to parents of adult, college-aged children. Few studies have examined overparenting among parents of early adolescent children, particularly in non-academic out-of-school time settings. The present study examined the relation between overparenting, commonly associated parental behaviors,...

Parent involvement provides one lens through which the emotional, physical, and financial effects of youth sports may be understood. To examine parent involvement in the context of an emerging alternative youth sport, four focus groups were conducted with 27 parents of youth athletes involved in indoor competition climbing. Constructed themes, affi...

Overparenting represents a group of well-intended parental behaviors taken to an excessive degree, often resulting in negative socio-emotional outcomes for overparented children. Research examining overparenting and related constructs is quickly developing, but basic constructs remain underexplored, especially among adolescents. In this study, seve...

Coach confirmation—a behavior that encompasses coaches’ recognition, endorsement, and acknowledgment of athletes—has been forwarded as an effective coaching behavior that redresses ineffective and antisocial patterns of coaching. Empirical evidence of its effectiveness, however, has been limited to athlete affect and based on data from retrospectiv...

To support practitioners' need for reliable and valid measures of the youth camp experience, this study compares the results of two analytic approaches-(1) composite-based paired samples t tests and (2) a latent structural equation model approach-using the Parental Perceptions of Developmental Outcomes (PPDO) scale in a sample of 930 parents of you...

Rationale: Medical specialty camps play a significant role in the lives of the youth they serve. These camps have been found to improve self-determination in campers, to develop camper skills in managing a disability or coping with a diagnosis, and to provide campers with respite/escape from the challenges associated with their disability or diagno...

Competition climbing has recently been thrust into the spotlight with its integration into the Olympics starting in 2020. A growing body of research has focused on the leisure experience of competition climbing and has indicated that it may be a unique setting in which gendered constraints manifest differently than previously understood. The curren...

In this article, we explore a component of evidence-based programming-implementation quality-within an emerging international Extension context. Specifically, we examine how the traits, characteristics, and perceptions of 46 program facilitators influenced their support of maintaining implementation quality in a Nicaraguan youth violence and substa...

Preparing competent staff is a critical issue within the camp community. This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of an online course for improving staff competency in camp healthcare practices among college-aged camp staff and a comparison group (N = 55). We hypothesized that working in camp would increase competency test scores du...

This study expands existing models of proenvironmental behavior (PEB) to examine the potentially important and interacting influences of nature-based recreation and sense of place on participation in conservation-oriented activities. We tested hypothesized relationships using a structural equation modeling approach that accounted for common behavio...

This study explores the development and validation of a measure of overparenting (OP) within a common youth leisure context, residential summer camp. A sample of 1140 parents (primarily mothers (89%)) of campers from 18 residential camps completed an online questionnaire pertaining to behaviours commonly associated with OP including parental suppor...

Ethnic and racial minority groups continue to experience limited access to leisure activities, resources, and services. To reverse this trend, leisure scholars have developed numerous models of constraints to recreation participation. The present article introduces an alternative systems approach to modeling constraints, which organizes constraints...

Background: Experiential education in higher education provides opportunities for college student development that contribute to student success. As such, a leisure education program is posited as a complement to experiential education programming. Purpose: This study explored the impact of a leisure education program (leisure skills) on dimensions...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcomes of all-female camp experiences on women’s lives. Using a retrospective approach, this study collected qualitative data from 131 women to examine the benefits of all-female camp experiences, to analyze the skills they gained at camp, and to understand how they apply these skills to their adul...

Critically examining common statistical approaches and their strengths and weaknesses is an important step in advancing recreation and leisure sciences. To continue this critical examination and to inform methodological decision making, this study compared three approaches to determine how alternative approaches may result in contradictory conclusi...

Understanding program components that contribute to positive youth outcomes following camp experiences can help program providers bring a greater level of intentionality to their efforts. The purposes of this study were twofold: (a) to develop reliable and valid measures of life skill development, elements of positive youth development (PYD), and a...

Although intentionality has been explored within the camp literature, evidence of the effectiveness of intentionality for producing specific positive youth outcomes is mixed. While some empirical studies have produced findings indicating that intentionality enhanced youth growth and development, other studies have produced the opposite result. This...

Climbing as a competitive youth sport is rapidly expanding in both participation and popularity as it has transitioned from an unorganized recreational activity to a formalized sport with a national governing body, organized competitions, formal coaching, and team structure. In spite of this growth, little to no research has been conducted regardin...

Fidelity is an important factor in the assessment and delivery of programs. However, few re-searchers have examined predictors of fidelity. In this study, we examined the relationship of fidelity to facilitator characteristics in a leadership program oriented toward the development of new university students. The study consisted of 25 program facil...

Climbing as a competition sport is rapidly expanding in both participation and popularity; however, little to no research has been conducted regarding its formalization as a lifestyle sport. This study provides a brief review of the literature relating to lifestyle sport, explores the development of indoor competition climbing, discusses competitio...

Public service values and decision-making have been major sources of discourse and scholarship in the public administration discipline broadly, but have received little attention in the field of public recreation administration specifically. This paper investigates current literature on public service values and recommends the public service values...

Although out-of-school time experiences such as camp contribute to youth development, youth involvement in these developmental experiences is largely dependent on parents who determine which activities are appropriate for their children. A contributing factor to parents' decisions to send their child to camp is the amount of risk and non-clinical a...

As youth development and out-of-school time providers advance implementation of evidence-based practices, increasing attention has been paid to properly preparing front-line youth workers and youth development leaders. There are multiple pathways connecting improved youth, family, and community outcomes with a professional workforce, including univ...

For over 100 years, Cooperative Extension in the United States has used a consistently articulated program development model including program planning, design and implementation, and evaluation that involves stakeholders in the process. This issue of the Journal of Human Sciences and Extension examines the history and evolution of the program deve...

This article synthesizes key points from this special issue of the Journal of Human Sciences and Extension and provides recommendations for and predictions about the evolution of the Extension Program Development Model. A foundational question addressed by each of the authors of this special issue and summarized in this chapter is, " If your recomm...

Cooperative Extension is in a unique position, given its relationship with research-based, Land-Grant Universities, to advance the scholarship of implementation research. A stronger shift towards evidence-based practice has been occurring, oriented towards the assessment of programs for outcomes. This paper explores core concepts related to program...

While normative parenting styles can result in positive youth outcomes such as adjustment and competence, overparenting may lead to a variety of negative youth outcomes including poor self-regulation and childhood anxiety. Conceptualizations of overparenting vary and an opportunity exists to clarify the construct and consider the implications for y...

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic illnesses facing youth. The American Diabetes Association (2012) states camps for children and youth that are focused on diabetes are invaluable. Medical camp programs for youth with illnesses have been shown to increase self-esteem, self-image, and motivation. Grounded in self-determination theory,...

Few studies have explored the long-term impacts of camp experiences on career choice, although there is a need to better understand how camp experiences may influence this decision to guide staff recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of camp experiences on future career paths for women. Twenty-two...

Introduction: The preservation and evaluation of fidelity is important as it allows researchers to determine if a program is effective, transferable to the “real world”, and highlights what changes may need to be made to improve a program. Current research on fidelity is clear: programs delivered with high fidelity tend to produce positive outcomes...

PRESENTATION TYPE: Individual Poster CATEGORY/THEME: Epidemiology and etiology TITLE: Physical activity and alcohol use across the university transition ABSTRACT BODY: Introduction: Researchers interested in problematic alcohol use among college students have recently noted a positive association between physical activity and alcohol use, a...