Surf.Art in Portugal: Daring, Accomplishing and Transforming Portuguese Youth and Their Communities

Abstract

This manuscript reports the implementation and the six-year outcomes of the SURF.ART program, a youth development intervention developed by Pressley Ridge Portugal.  The program has multiple components including a “life project”, support for crises, psychoeducational workshops, engagement with parents and surfing instruction and practice for youth. Multivariate analyses (MANOVA) were conducted with a sample of 69 participating youth to test for differences between groups and over time. In terms of behaviour and strengths, prosocial behaviour increased significantly and problematic behaviour decreased. Specifically, in the early stages of the intervention, prosocial behaviour increased three points and general difficulties decreased 10 points, in their respective scales.  Large effect sizes were observed. Gender and age influences were observed as well as variation in outcomes due to dosage (time in program) and engagement in the program. Despite limitations due to the small sample and non-experimental design, this study provides some interesting findings about the value of surfing interventions for youth at risk of social exclusion related to ethnicity and poverty.