Effects of pretesting with the Adventure Recreation Model instrument

The Adventure Recreation Model, first proposed and tested by Ewert and Hollenhorst (1989), attempts to describe participant characteristics and patterns of use in adventure recreation activities. The Adventure Recreation Model is based on the relationship of level of engagement in an outdoor recreation activity (ranging from beginner, to development, to commitment) with the variables of personal attributes of the participant (i.e., frequency of participation, skill/experience level, decision-making locus of control, and motivation factors) and activity/setting attributes (i.e., level of risk, social orientation, and environmental. orientation). Because the Adventure Recreation Model is based on a developmental approach (i.e., movement from beginner to commitment), it would be desirable to use the Adventure Recreation Model instrument to measure changes in groups of participants before and after outdoor experiences. However, the instrument needs to be tested to determine the effects of exposure to the pretest. The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to the Adventure Recreation Model instrument as a pretest had an effect on posttest scores on the instrument. Results showed that, overall, the instrument did not appear to have a pretest effect, with the exception of four out of 30 of the variables measured.