But He Loves Me: Teens' Comments about Healthy and Unhealthy Romantic Relationships.

Romantic relationships can positively affect adolescent development. However, adolescents may not always have a clear understanding of what healthy dating looks like, which may place some adolescents at risk for dating violence. The present study examined the following research questions: (1) What are adolescents' perceptions of healthy and unhealthy attributes of romantic relationships? (2) How do adolescents perceive jealousy and potentially controlling behaviors? (3) What is the relationship between adolescents' attitudes towards jealousy and controlling behaviors and their willingness to intervene in a peer's unhealthy romantic relationship? The study included a predominantly female, ethnically diverse sample of 72 adolescents (M = 17.5 years) who participated in an internet-based health promotion intervention that allowed peers and health educators to interact. Adolescents commented on message boards and completed a survey. Findings showed that adolescents can articulate both healthy and unhealthy romantic relationship attributes. Some adolescents struggled to understand relationship attributes including jealousy and possessiveness, as these behaviors can be perceived as expressions of strong romantic interest. Adolescents may benefit from programs that strengthen healthy dating behaviors, teach youth to distinguish healthy from unhealthy behaviors, address conflict in respectful ways, and tactfully intervene when they witness abusive behaviors in the relationships of others.

The Comparative Roles of Mentor Self-Efficacy and Empathy in Fostering Relationship Quality with Youth.

Youth mentors' efficacy beliefs and relational skills should both influence the quality of their connections with their mentees, but a lack of research based on large, dyadic and longitudinal samples limits understanding of how mentor characteristics impact relationship quality. This study used three staged and process-focused structural equation models to (1) investigate the mutually reinforcing effects of mentor self-efficacy and empathy over time; (2) compare the longitudinal effects of mid-program mentor efficacy and empathy on end of program mentor and mentee perceptions of relationship quality; and (3) test a similar comparative model using cross-sectional end of program assessments to account for developmental changes in these variables over time. The sample consisted of 664 college-age mentor (76.5% female; [Formula: see text] age = 24.5, range = 21-53; 23.5% non-White) and youth mentee (41% female; [Formula: see text] age = 14.1, range = 10-19; 41.9% non-White) dyads. Mentor empathy predicted mentor perceptions of relationship quality at both time points and mentee perceptions at the end of the program. Mentor efficacy only predicted mentor reported relationship quality at the end of the program. The findings emphasize the importance of investing in empathy training for mentors to support both partners' positive evaluation of the relationship. Program support to increase mentor self-efficacy should also have added value for mentors.

Enhancing Education and Career Pathways Through Peer and Near-Peer Social Capital.

Social capital strengthens emerging adults' ability to reach life goals, but little is known about how peers and near-peers (slightly older and/or more experienced peers who serve in mentorship or coaching roles) support social capital development especially among young people of color. To address this gap, the current study examined how social capital derived from peers and near-peers contributes to emerging adults' ability to actively mobilize social capital in pursuit of their education or career goals (i.e., self-initiated social capital) and, in turn, their education and career outcomes. A total of 841 emerging adults who participated in one of five community-based education and/or workforce support programs were surveyed (72% female; Mage = 20.1, SD = 1.84; 35% Latinx, 30% Black, 19% Asian, 16% Other). Peer social capital was indirectly associated with outcomes (i.e., progress towards education/career goals, commitment to paying-it-forward, collective efficacy to change systems) via greater self-initiated social capital, whereas near-peer social capital was both directly and indirectly associated with outcomes. The mechanisms by which peer and near-peer social capital support emerging adults as they work towards their goals may differ and have important program implications.

Opportunity Reboot: A Community-Based Evaluation Focused on Opportunity Youth.

The number of young people living in the margins of society reflects one of the most pressing social inequities of our time. Opportunity youth often face many complex challenges perpetrated by a range of systemic issues. These trajectories can be positively disrupted by surrounding youth with a cohesive web of relational and instrumental supports and spaces where their strengths and potential are seen. Opportunity Reboot, a technical assistance and program enhancement model, was developed to leverage the existing capacity and strengths of community programs to more effectively create pathways to school, career, and life success for opportunity youth. The impact of Opportunity Reboot was tested using a single-group, non-experimental design and a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching. Findings established associations between opportunity youths' experiences of three core Opportunity Reboot features and growth in select positive identity, social-emotional competencies, and skills for systems navigation outcomes. Opportunity Reboot youth were also more likely, on average, than comparison youth to be employed in the four quarters after endline data collection; this finding was even stronger when comparing youth of color in the Opportunity Reboot and comparison groups. This evaluation strengthens the evidence that program enhancement models like Opportunity Reboot hold promise for positively disrupting the lives of opportunity youth.

Mentor's Self-Efficacy Trajectories During a Mentoring Program for At-Risk Adolescents.

The concept of self-efficacy is dynamic and may change over time. Mentors of youth exposed to risk factors are likely to experience shifts in the degree to which they feel confident in their ability to form a positive mentoring bond with their mentee, potentially affecting the quality of the relationship. Based on previous literature, mentors' personality traits, their perceptions of positive mentee behaviors, and youth risk may influence changes in mentor self-efficacy over time. Our study includes 238 adolescents aged 11-18 years and their mentors who were recruited for a randomized controlled trial of a mentoring-based intervention for at-risk adolescents, known as Campus Connections. We used latent class growth analysis to identify mentor subgroups with different self-efficacy trajectories. Three subgroups emerged: mentors relatively high in self-efficacy throughout the mentoring relationship, the stable group; those high in self-efficacy at the beginning of the relationship and increasingly so, the increasing group; and those moderately high in self-efficacy and decreasingly so, the decreasing group. Greater mentor conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were associated with greater likelihood of belonging to the increasing group relative to the decreasing group. Greater mentor emotionality was associated with greater likelihood of belonging to the decreasing relative to the increasing group. Mentors and mentees were also more likely to report having a positive mentoring alliance in the increasing relative to the decreasing group. We found that mentor personality traits play an important role in how mentors perceive their ability to serve as a mentor, which may have implications for mentor recruitment and training in programs designed for at-risk youth.

A Positive Youth Development Approach to Improving Mental Health Outcomes for Maltreated Children in Foster Care: Replication and Extension of an RCT of the Fostering Healthy Futures Program.

Preventing the negative impact of maltreatment on children's mental health requires interventions to be contextually sensitive, grounded in theory and research, and effective in reaching and retaining children and families. This study replicates and extends previous findings of the Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) program, a 30-week mentoring and skills group intervention for preadolescent maltreated children in foster care. Participants included 426 children recently placed in out-of-home care who were randomized to intervention or control conditions. Outcomes measured 6-10 months postintervention included a multi-informant (child, caregiver, teacher) index of mental health problems as well as measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociative symptoms, quality of life, and use of mental health services and psychotropic medications. There were high rates of program initiation, retention, and engagement; 95% of those randomized to FHF started the program, 92% completed it, and over 85% of the mentoring visits and skills groups were attended. The FHF program demonstrated significant impact in reducing mental health symptomatology, especially trauma symptoms, and mental health service utilization. These program effects were consistent across almost all subgroups, suggesting that FHF confers benefit for diverse children. Results indicate that positive youth development programming is highly acceptable to children and families and that it can positively impact trauma and its sequelae.

Youth Risk and Mentoring Relationship Quality: The Moderating Effect of Program Experiences.

Because program experiences are more amendable than mentor or mentee characteristics, they may be important factors to consider in buffering the negative impact of youth risk on the quality of the mentor-mentee bond. Data from 455 mentees (ages 11-18; 57% male) and their undergraduate student mentors (82.3% female) from the Campus Connections mentoring program were used to assess whether youth risk and mentors' program experiences (i.e., program structure, supportive relationships with staff, opportunities for skill building, support for efficacy and mattering, and opportunities to belong) were associated with mentoring relationship quality and whether mentors' experience within the program moderated the association between youth risk and mentoring relationship quality. Results indicated that environmental, but not individual, risk was negatively associated with relationship quality. Mentors' experiences with the program were positively associated with mentoring relationship quality, and in many cases, above and beyond youth level of risk. Finally, mentors' perception of program structure, supportive relationships, and opportunities for skill building attenuated the negative relationship between environmental, but not individual, risk and relationship quality. Mentors' experiences of program support for efficacy and mattering and opportunities to belong were not significant moderators in any model. Implications for programs and future research directions are presented.