Although the extant literature suggests that youth can derive individual benefits from involvement in participatory research within educational contexts, few empirical studies exist that examine this suggestion. The current study used a design that allows for the examination of causality to examine whether involvement in participatory research leads to specific benefits among youth in educational contexts. Youth were randomly assigned to either a symbolic participation condition (i.e., traditional focus groups) or a pluralistic participation condition (i.e., Youth Generate and Organize Groups). To examine of the effects of participation type, youth completed measures of school attitudes, perceived control, and critical social reflection both before and after involvement in the group. In addition, youth also completed measures at post-assessment only to assess their perceptions of participation type. I hypothesized that--compared to the symbolic condition--the pluralistic condition would be associated with greater (H1) youth voice in decision making and supportive adult relationships, (H2) satisfaction and acceptability, and (H3) increases in school attitudes, perceived control, and critical social reflection. Although some mean differences were observed, none rose to statistical significance. These null findings challenge the assumption that youth involved in participatory research are measurably impacted on certain variables. Findings point to important directions for future research to address the limitations of the current study. The insights from the current study aims to foster the advancement of research approaches within educational settings that empowers and positively impacts youth.
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