An outcome evaluation of the implementation of the Outward Bound Singapore five-day “intercept” program

The present study evaluated an Outward Bound Singapore five-day “intercept” program for 136 adolescent participants, aimed at addressing frequent deliberate truancy and absenteeism from school and within-school extracurricular activities using a quasi-experimental design with a matched no-treatment comparison group. Findings suggested that there is some preliminary evidence that such a program could yield positive outcomes in terms of adolescents being more behaviorally engaged in school as demonstrated by improved attendance of both academic and non-academic activities up to 3 months after the conclusion of the intervention program. Goal setting had a short-term positive effect with intervention participants improving significantly more so than comparison participants at 1-month post intervention but not at 3-month follow up. For problem solving, although the intervention group participants improved more than comparison participants at both 1-month post intervention and at 3-month follow up, these effects were not statistically significant. Research and practice implications were discussed.