Mechanisms of Influence on Youth Substance Use for a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program: A Theory-Based Approach.

Background: The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding adolescent substance use. Objectives: We examined mechanisms by which a TTI-guided social-emotional and character development program, Positive Action (PA), influences adolescent substance use. Study data come from the PA-Chicago, longitudinal matched-pairs cluster-randomized control trial. A diverse, dynamic cohort of approximately 1,200 students from 14 low-performing schools were assessed at eight points of time, between grades 3-8, across a six-year period. Students completed scales related to substance use, self-control, deviant peer affiliation, and school attachment, adapted from the Risk Behavior Survey, Social-Emotional and Character Development Scale, Conventional Friends Scale, and People in My Life Scale. After testing the overall effect of PA on substance use, we used latent growth modeling to assess whether effects on each outcome were mediated by longitudinal changes in three composite measures aligning with the TTIs three streams. Results: Students in PA schools reported fewer experiences with drinking, getting drunk, and overall substance use. In the multiple mediator models, significant indirect effects of PA on substance use via changes in self-control were evident. Conclusions/Importance: Findings are consistent with theory and past research suggesting the influence of self-control on youth substance use. Future studies should include implementation in different settings and additional theory-based measures.Trial RegistrationThis trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01025674.

Do mentor support for ethnic-racial identity and mentee cultural mistrust matter for girls of color? A preliminary investigation.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology on Jul 18 2019 (see record 2019-41300-001). In this article, all the authors were listed as being affiliated with DePaul University, but only Bernadette Sánchez is affiliated with DePaul University. The other authors were at the following affiliations while the work for the article was completed: Julia Pryce, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago; Naida Silverthorn, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago; Kelsey L. Deane, Department of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland; and David L. DuBois, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Objectives: The aim of this repeated-measures study was to examine the roles of cultural mistrust and perceived mentor support for ethnic-racial identity in a sample of girls of color. It was hypothesized that mentors' support for ethnic-racial identity measured at baseline would influence relationship quality, as well as the girls' ethnic identity and cultural mistrust, at the end of the intervention, adjusting for baseline measures. It was also hypothesized that girls' cultural mistrust toward Whites at baseline would be negatively associated with mentoring relationship quality at the end of the intervention. METHOD: Participants were 40 adolescent girls of color who were matched with racially-ethnically diverse women mentors in a community-based mentoring program. RESULTS: Mentor support for ethnic-racial identity as reported by youth significantly predicted relative increases in youth reports of relational but not instrumental satisfaction. Higher mentor support for ethnic-racial identity also significantly predicted increases in ethnic identity exploration, but only among girls with White mentors. Further, youth's reported greater cultural mistrust toward Whites was a significant predictor of decreased instrumental relationship satisfaction among girls with White mentors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the importance of further efforts to understand the roles of culturally relevant relationship processes and youth attitudes in mentoring interventions for girls of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

"Do mentor support for ethnic-racial identity and mentee cultural mistrust matter for girls of color? A preliminary investigation": Correction to Sánchez et al. (2019).

Reports an error in "Do mentor support for ethnic-racial identity and mentee cultural mistrust matter for girls of color? A preliminary investigation" by Bernadette Sánchez, Julia Pryce, Naida Silverthorn, Kelsey L. Deane and David L. DuBois (Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Oct 01, 2018, np). In this article, all the authors were listed as being affiliated with DePaul University, but only Bernadette Sánchez is affiliated with DePaul University. The other authors were at the following affiliations while the work for the article was completed: Julia Pryce, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago; Naida Silverthorn, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago; Kelsey L. Deane, Department of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland; and David L. DuBois, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2018-48484-001.) Objectives: The aim of this repeated-measures study was to examine the roles of cultural mistrust and perceived mentor support for ethnic-racial identity in a sample of girls of color. It was hypothesized that mentors' support for ethnic-racial identity measured at baseline would influence relationship quality, as well as the girls' ethnic identity and cultural mistrust, at the end of the intervention, adjusting for baseline measures. It was also hypothesized that girls' cultural mistrust toward Whites at baseline would be negatively associated with mentoring relationship quality at the end of the intervention. METHOD: Participants were 40 adolescent girls of color who were matched with racially-ethnically diverse women mentors in a community-based mentoring program. RESULTS: Mentor support for ethnic-racial identity as reported by youth significantly predicted relative increases in youth reports of relational but not instrumental satisfaction. Higher mentor support for ethnic-racial identity also significantly predicted increases in ethnic identity exploration, but only among girls with White mentors. Further, youth's reported greater cultural mistrust toward Whites was a significant predictor of decreased instrumental relationship satisfaction among girls with White mentors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the importance of further efforts to understand the roles of culturally relevant relationship processes and youth attitudes in mentoring interventions for girls of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood Protective Factors and a Prevention Program Reduce Later Problem Behaviors.

Prior research has yet to elucidate how constellations of protective factors in childhood and prevention efforts simultaneously may influence youth involvement in problem behaviors across different points in development. The current study examines how latent classes of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, parent-child relationships, and peer influences in third grade and receipt of an ongoing SEL intervention predict substance use and violence in fifth and eighth grade. The urban, predominantly low-income, sample (N = 1,169) was nested in 14 schools that were randomly assigned to the Positive Action program or business-as-usual. Membership in a latent class reflecting protective childhood factors predicted less substance use and violence in fifth grade; however, the SEL program predicted less substance use and violence in eighth grade. Findings generally support that SEL interventions can successfully target and boost developmentally appropriate positive behaviors and can prevail over initial risk factors with enough time and exposure.

Reconsidering the effectiveness of mentoring for prevention of juvenile criminal recidivism: A brief comment on systematic review and meta-analysis of noninstitutional psychosocial interventions to prevent juvenile criminal recidivism (Olsson et al., 2021).

Interventions implemented outside of the juvenile justice system are widely utilized with youth offenders to decrease the likelihood of future offending and justice system involvement, both of which are well-documented as being costly to youth and society at large. Olsson et al. (2021) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of these types of interventions for youth aged 12-17 and failed to find any of the interventions examined to be more effective than control treatments in reducing future criminality. This commentary further examines the evidence for one of these interventions, mentoring, based on an expanded search of the literature that identified several additional studies of mentoring for recidivism prevention that meet the eligibility criteria utilized by Olsson et al. A meta-analysis of these studies and those identified by Olsson et al. finds mentoring to be more effective than control treatments (typically services as usual within the juvenile justice system): risk difference between groups of 0.09 (random effect model; 95% confidence interval [.03-.15]). This reanalysis thus indicates greater promise for mentoring as a tool in reducing juvenile crime and juvenile justice system involvement than was suggested by the results of Olsson et al. Importantly, it also underscores the potential for the results of meta-analyses to be sensitive to not only unidentified studies with null or negative results (the so-called "file-drawer problem") but also missed studies with positive findings. Recommendations for literature search procedures in systematic reviews and sensitivity analyses in meta-analyses are provided with this concern in mind. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of a social-emotional and character development program on the trajectory of behaviors associated with social-emotional and character development: findings from three randomized trials.

The effects of a school-based social-emotional and character development program, Positive Action, on the developmental trajectory of social-emotional and character-related behaviors was evaluated using data from three school-based randomized trials in elementary schools. Results come from 1) 4 years of data from students in 20 Hawai'i schools, 2) 3 years of data from students in 14 schools in Chicago and 3) 3 years of data from students in 8 schools in a southeastern state. Random intercept, multilevel, growth-curve analyses showed that students in both control and Positive Action schools exhibited a general decline in the number of positive behaviors associated with social-emotional and character development that were endorsed. However, the Positive Action intervention significantly reduced these declines in all three trials. Taken together, these analyses 1) give insight into the normative trajectory of behaviors associated with social-emotional and character development and 2) provide evidence for the effectiveness of Positive Action in helping children maintain a relatively beneficial developmental trajectory.

Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors.

BACKGROUND: African American men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women bear a disproportionate burden of HIV. Young MSM account for 75% of this burden for youth. When youths lack socially protective resources such as strong networks of adults, including parents, teachers, or community members, mentors may play a critical role in promoting health behaviors. This is especially true for youth at risk for HIV, such as African American youth with sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities. In the past decade, natural mentoring and mentoring programs have proliferated as a key prevention and intervention strategy to improve outcomes for young people at risk for poor academic, social, and health issues. Mentors appear to be able to facilitate health promotion among young SGM by modeling healthy behaviors; however, mentors' knowledge and resource needs regarding sexual health topics including HIV are understudied, as is the potential role of mobile technology in enhancing mentoring relationships and the ability of mentors to learn about sensitive issues faced by youth. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore how mentoring plays a role in the sexual health of African American SGM youth and understand how mentoring relationships can be strengthened through mobile technology to promote youth HIV prevention behaviors. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with African American SGM youth mentees (n=17) and mentors (n=20) to such youths in 3 Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentee interviews focused on discussions regarding sexual health and HIV and how a mentor could broach such topics. Mentor interviews explored whether sexual health and HIV are currently mentoring topics, mentors' knowledge and confidence in mentoring on these issues, and barriers to discussions. All participants were asked if a mobile app could help facilitate mentoring on sensitive health issues, particularly HIV and sexual health. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for relevant themes. RESULTS: Sexual health was a common topic in mentoring relationships, occurring more in natural mentorships than in mentoring program pairs. Mentors and mentees felt positive about such discussions. Mentors expressed having limited knowledge beyond condom use and HIV testing, and expressed a need for more complete resources. Both mentors and mentees had mixed comfort levels when discussing sexual health. Sufficient trust and shared lived experiences made discussions easier. Mentees have multifaceted needs; however, mentors stated that an app resource that provided self-training, resources, support from other mentors, and tips for better mentoring could prove beneficial. CONCLUSIONS: For the African American SGM community, access to natural mentors is crucial for young people to learn healthy behaviors. A mobile resource to assist mentors in confidently having discussions with mentees may be a promising way to promote healthy practices.

Direct and Mediated Effects of a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program on Adolescent Substance Use.

Mitigating and preventing substance use among adolescents requires approaches that address the multitude of factors that influence this behavior. Such approaches must be tested, not only for evidence of empirical effectiveness, but also to determine the mechanisms by which they are successful. The aims of the present study were twofold: 1) To determine the effectiveness of a school-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) program, Positive Action (PA), in reducing substance use (SU) among a sample of U.S. youth living in a low-income, urban environment, and 2) to test one mechanism by which the program achieves its success. We used longitudinal mediation analysis to test the hypotheses that: 1) students attending PA intervention schools engage in significantly less SU than students attending control schools, 2) students attending PA intervention schools show significantly better change in SECD than students attending control schools, and 3) the effect of the PA intervention on SU is mediated by the change in SECD. Analyses revealed program effects on both SECD and SU, a relationship between SECD and SU, and the effects of PA on SU were completely mediated by changes in SECD. Future research directions and implications for school-based social-emotional and character development efforts and substance use prevention are addressed.