Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the change of IKIRU CHIKARA (Zest for living) of early adolescents who participated in long-term camping. The effects of camp programs and camp conditions (living, weather) were examined. The subjects were 1279 early adolescents (ages 9 to 15 years) who participated in 67 long-term campings, and 67 directors who administrated or supervised long-term camping. The IKIRU CHIKARA inventory (IKR inventory) by Tachibana (2001) was administered in pre (before camp) and post (after camp) design for early adolescents. IKR inventory were constituted by 14 sub-scales that have 5 items, and 3 ability-scales were measured by the 14 sub-scales. And the directors were asked as related to living condition and camp program of each camps after camping.
The major findings were as follows:
1) 14 sub-scales and 3 ability-scales of IKIRU CHIKARA of early adolescents who participated in long term camping showed significant change (p<.001) between pre and post test. Therefore the long-term camping effected a change of IKIRU CHIKARA.
2) The psychological and social ability showed more change than moral ability (p<.01).
3) The rustic condition of living and bad weather effected a change of IKIRU CHIKARA.
4) The challenging camp program effected a change of IKIRU CHIKARA. The result suggested that long-term camping with appropriate stress for early adolescents effected a change of IKIRU CHIKARA.
