The effects of an outdoor adventure on mood and self-concept.

Two instruments were employed to measure the effects of a 7-day canoe trip on the participants' mood and self-concept. The treatment and control groups were tested three times: prior to the river trip, at the end of the trip, and 1 month after the trip, with the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist (MAACL) and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS). An Unbalanced Repeated Measures with Structured Covariance Matrices was utilized to analyze the data. Although the changes for the groups as a whole, as measured by either the MAACL or the TSCS, were not statistically significant, the trends indicated substantial improvements in reduction in anxiety, depression, and hostility. The experimental group showed decreases in depression, anxiety and hostility, according to the MAACL. The changes measured in the experimental group suggest that outdoor adventures may be used as an adjunctive treatment for reducing hostility, depression and anxiety.