Photo Elicitation as a Method to Understand Adolescent Girls and their Mentors' Experiences in Strong Girls

Abstract

Photo-elicitation is a novel research method that allows participants to discuss photos and share rich information about their experiences (Zuest, 2020). The purpose of this study was to employ photo-elicitation to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions of the climate in a positive youth development/physical activity program called Strong Girls. Strong Girls pairs college female students as mentors with female middle school students. The two-hour weekly program takes place on a college campus and is built around creating a caring and task-involving climate (CTIC) that includes five features: a) Recognizing and valuing the girls’ effort and improvement; b) Fostering cooperation among all the girls and mentors; c) Helping girls view mistakes as opportunities for learning; d) Helping each girl see that they play an important role in the group; and e) Building a strong caring foundation where everyone is treated with kindness and respect. Strong Girls (N=10) participated in end-of-semester focus groups to share their perceptions of the climate in the program and their experiences. A decorated poster was made for each girl that included an array of photos of them participating in various activities (e.g., pickleball; learning to support girls and women in the US with their mentors and peers. Focus groups lasted approximately 45-60 minutes and were led by a 3-person research team that prompted the girls to share memories about how they experienced the CTIC features and the relationships they developed with their mentors and peers. The focus groups were transcribed using Otter ai and qualitatively analyzed to identify primary themes representing the features of the climate. Girls provided many examples of how the CTIC features were evident to them with the program activities. Results highlight how this unique research method may be helpful for assessing adaptive outcomes in positive youth development programs.