Identification of Important Factors When Measuring School Climate: Latent Construct Validation and Exploration.

BACKGROUND: Researchers regularly must decide what information is necessary to understand school climate and how to include climate in a study. For example, which factors and/or scales should be used, is using just 1 scale for school climate sufficient, and to what extent does the selection of a single scale influence the research findings? AIMS: Understanding what factors to consider and which available scales to review will assist those interested in measuring school climate. METHODS: This study explores 8 validated scales related to school climate. Data used are from a previous study (Social and Character Development cooperative agreement funded by IES #R305L030072 and #R305A080253) that looked at Positive Action, a social emotional and character development program for elementary-, middle-, and high-school students. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Scale correlations and factor analyses show how these scales work together to measure overall middle school climate.

Cultural humility development in adults serving as mentors for youth: A qualitative evidence synthesis.

This qualitative review synthesizes evidence regarding how cultural humility (i.e., critical self-reflection, challenging inequity) may be influenced by the experience of serving as a mentor in a youth program. A systematic search identified 35 qualitative studies with findings that address this question. Thematic synthesis of extracted data identified the following six themes, all but one of which pertains to ways in which serving as a mentor appeared to have enhanced the cultural humility of the adults involved: (1) humanizing others: awareness of experiential differences, (2) reflecting inward on one's own identity, biases, and opportunities, (3) connecting with others, (4) recognizing environmental influences on human development, (5) envisioning contributions to community change, and (6) counterevidence: deficit-oriented attributions. Findings indicate that mentor cultural humility development primarily entailed individual and interpersonal awareness with relatively less evidence of increased awareness of and action to change inequality. The identified themes provide promising directions for future research as well as potentially useful avenues for incorporating consideration of cultural humility more intentionally in the development and evaluation of mentoring programs for youth.

Preventing substance use among urban, African American youth: The potential of mentor-mentee conversations.

BACKGROUND: Early adolescence is a critical time for preventing substance use onset. Mentoring can help protect youth via social influence; however, little is currently known about direct mentor-mentee interactions around substance use. To investigate this topic, interviews were conducted with mentors to explore their comfort with, and perceived barriers and facilitators to, discussions about substance use with youth mentees. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with 26 adults serving as mentors to African American youth ages 12-14 in programs in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area. Themes were identified through qualitative analysis and pertained to comfort and engagement, commonly discussed topics, and barriers and facilitators. RESULTS: Although mentors expressed comfort with the idea of talking about substance use with their mentees, there also was an equally salient theme of having not actually done so beyond relatively cursory conversations. Salient expressed barriers to substance use discussions with mentees included fear of overstepping unclear boundaries in the mentor role and concern about having accurate information. Facilitators included training provided by programs, personal or familial experience with substance use, and concern with disparate legal ramifications for youth of color if caught in possession of, using, or selling drugs. Mentors also were in general agreement that a digital app could serve as a useful resource for discussing substance use with mentees. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest mentors of urban youth of color may benefit from additional training and support for engaging them in discussions about substance use as well as useful topics to address in this regard.

Identifying predictors of psychological well-being among volunteer mentors in Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) facilitates mentoring relationships between youth and volunteer mentors. Although research has examined outcomes for youth in BBBS, relatively less investigation has been undertaken for volunteer outcomes. This study explored factors associated with changes in psychological well-being among BBBS volunteer mentors. Participants included 593 mentors (Mage = 31) surveyed at study baseline and 15-month follow-up. A classification and regression decision tree approach was used to predict residualized change in psychological well-being from study baseline with match length included as the first split variable, and demographic, individual, and relationship variables included as candidate predictors. Analyses indicated that mentors with longer relationships (>4.5 months) reported more positive change in psychological well-being compared with mentors with shorter relationships. Perceived quality of program supervision was a further predictor within both groups of volunteers. Findings suggest that longer relationships and greater program support may contribute to mentor well-being.

Pathways by which case managers' match support influences youth mentoring outcomes: Testing the systemic model of youth mentoring.

Keller's systemic model of youth mentoring posits there are multiple pathways through which all stakeholders in the youth mentoring process, including the program staff who support the match (or case managers), influence youth outcomes. This study examines case managers' direct and indirect contributions to match outcomes and tests how transitive interactions facilitate a theorized sequence of mentoring interactions to effect greater closeness and length, specifically in nontargeted mentoring programs. A structural equations model of case manager contributions to match outcomes was tested using data from 758 mentor-mentee matches, supported by 73 case managers across seven mentoring agencies. Results reveal direct effects of mentor-reported match support quality on match length and indirect influences on match length through increasing youth-centeredness, goal-focused orientation, and closeness. The findings confirm the presence of multiple pathways of influence, including indirect effects on outcomes via transitive interactions in match support that scaffold youth-centeredness and goal-focused interactions in the match. Findings also suggest supervisors' evaluations of case managers may provide little information about how match support influences the nature of mentor-mentee interactions.

Are adults influenced by the experience of mentoring youth? A scoping review.

AIMS: A relatively large body of research exists on the effectiveness of mentoring programs directed at youth and numerous syntheses of this literature have proven useful for advancing both research and practice. Less studied, but also important is the potential for adults serving in the role of mentor to young persons to be influenced by this experience. A scoping review was conducted with the aim of identifying and critically assessing major trends in the methods and findings in this literature. METHODS: Included sources were empirical studies reporting findings that address potential influences on adults (18+) serving as mentors to youth (<18) in formal programs designed for this purpose. The initial search resulted in 3155 records and 96 were included in the review. RESULTS: Approximately half of the studies (58%) focused on younger adults (ages 18-22 years old, e.g., college students) serving as mentors; only a small minority of studies focused on adults over 35 years old (10%). Most studies were qualitative (n = 54). Studies with a quantitative component (n = 18 quantitative only; n = 24 mixed methods) exhibited a significant risk of bias for inferring effects on mentors due to limitations in study design (e.g., lack of comparison group). Studies most often addressed potential outcomes for mentors in academic/career (55%) and social (45%) domains, when findings suggested possible effects on mentors, they were nearly universally in a positive direction. CONCLUSION: Existing research, although consistent with the potential for adults to benefit from the experience of mentoring youth, has insufficient rigor and representativeness to adequately address this question. Future research should utilize more rigorous quantitative designs and samples with greater representativeness of the different stages of adult development.

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.

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).

A Scoping Review of the Use of Social and Behavioral Change in Acute Care Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiatives.

Purpose: Antimicrobial stewardship (AS) initiatives are implemented with a goal of reducing antimicrobial resistance. It is unknown exactly how many acute care AS initiatives have since been based on social and behavioral theory. The purpose of this scoping review is to provide an updated review of theory-informed acute care AS initiatives in the published literature, including how social and behavioral theories have been used in the described interventions. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ProQuest Dissertations were searched using a combination of AS, acute care, and social and behavioral theory search terms from April 2011 to November 2019. Using both an initial review of titles and abstracts and a second review of full text, a total of 4 articles were identified after a review of 2014 records. Each article was coded using a guide that abstracted details of study methods, the AS intervention, and use of theory based on a validated theory coding scheme. Results: The interventions included combinations of decision-making tools, provider education, and prospective audit and feedback. Two studies included an evaluation of the described initiative, with findings indicating improvement in antimicrobial use. All interventions utilized theory in developing AS interventions. However, gaps were evident in the use of theory in the evaluations, including inconsistent measurement of theory constructs and lack of testing of the theory. Conclusion: AS interventions are frequently published; however, theory-based acute care AS interventions are not commonly described. More consistent and comprehensive utilization of social and behavioral theories may enhance effectiveness of AS programs.

Mentoring in the Time of COVID-19: An Analysis of Online Focus Groups with Mentors to Youth.

This study explored the experiences of mentors to youth during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims were to examine (1) the role of the pandemic on mentor-mentee interactions and relationships and (2) the ways in which mentors could be supported during the health crisis to better meet youth needs. Six online focus groups were conducted with 39 mentors. Mentor participants included 26 females and 11 males (two did not disclose gender), and 51% identified as white. Any mentor currently in a mentoring relationship, regardless of type, was eligible. Using Facebook groups, moderators posted questions and prompts, and mentor participants responded using textual comments. The text from each group was recorded, extracted, and coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. As mentors transitioned to a primarily online format, text and video chat became the most common communication methods. Mentees' access to technology and privacy were the biggest challenges faced. Mentor concerns for their mentees varied, including mental health, school, family finances, and access to instrumental support and food. Mentor help involved routinely connecting with mentees and providing academic support. Mentors requested ideas and resources for connecting with mentees and an online mentor support group. During the early weeks of the pandemic, mentors continued to engage with mentees, offering valuable support during a confusing and scary time. Mentoring programs can broaden their approach, intentionally integrating online connecting in an effort to provide safe, appropriate, and continued support to both mentors and mentees.

E-Mentoring to Address Youth Health: A Systematic Review.

Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring), the integration of digital technology in mentoring relationships, has recently grown in popularity; however, the effectiveness of e-mentoring in addressing youth health has not been synthesized to date. The current study synthesizes the literature on e-mentoring to affect the health and well-being of youth (10-24 years) through a systematic review and evidence quality assessment. A total of 833 records were identified, of which 14 met eligibility criteria (published in English since 1995, targeted youth health and/or youth with health issues, and communication was entirely digital or combined with in-person interaction). The results showed that the majority of health-focused e-mentoring studies were conducted with young people with existing health conditions rather than on the use of e-mentoring to promote overall health and wellness. The included programs focused largely on bringing mentoring to youth subpopulations that may be challenged by in-person models. Quality assessments of the included studies showed that the strength of the evidence is mediocre. The findings suggest that e-mentoring has the potential to reach youth with unique health concerns and to promote independent management of health conditions as youth transition to adulthood; however, more rigorous evaluation of e-mentoring programs with larger sample sizes is needed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40894-021-00172-3.

Influence of program staff on quality of relationships in a community-based youth mentoring program.

In many mentoring programs, mentor-youth pairs have the latitude to engage in a wide range of activities together across varying community settings. Within this context, program staff are tasked with supporting development of high-quality relationships between mentors and youth. To date, however, this role of program staff has been largely overlooked in research. The current study investigates potential contributions of program staff to mentoring relationships in the Big Brothers Big Sisters community-based mentoring program over their first 15 months of relationship development with a sample of 450 mentor-youth pairs that were supported by 76 program staff across 10 agencies. Two-level analyses (mentoring relationships nested within program staff) examined characteristics and approaches of program staff as prospective predictors of several facets of mentoring relationship quality as reported by youth: closeness, help with coping, youth-centeredness, growth orientation, and attachment. Staff-reported work engagement and emphasis on adherence to program guidelines as well as supervisor-rated staff competence predicted more favorable mentoring relationship quality. By contrast, a nondirective approach to supporting mentors, as reported by staff, predicted lower relationship quality. These findings suggest that further investigation of program staff influences on mentoring relationship development could be fruitful and ultimately provide a basis for enhancing program effectiveness.

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.

Improving understanding of how mentoring works: Measuring multiple intervention processes.

The objective is to develop and test dimensionality and validity of a new measure of five mentoring intervention processes drawn from emphases across prior mentoring efforts that might be the basis for effects: identification with the mentor, social and emotional support, teaching and education, and advocacy, and shared time and activity. Partial validation of value was drawn from moderation role in a meta-analysis of mentoring (Tolan, Henry, Lovegrove, Schoeny, & Nichols, 2014. J. Exp. Criminol., 10, 179-201). Data collected of candidate items completed by 740 mentors and 302 mentees (mean age = 16.59 years) were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses based on the five theorized dimensions. Scales derived from best-fitting solutions were examined for convergent validity in relation to other indicators of mentoring relationship qualities. A bifactor model with five specific factors was supported for adult mentor reports while a simplified single factor model fit youth reports. Correlations between derived scale scores and validity indicators of mentoring relationship qualities were consistent with expectations. Multiple activities that comprise mentoring can be identified in adult mentor reports but not youth reports. This scale provides a promising basis for testing how variation in emphasis during mentoring affects impact and help guide training emphases.

Predictors of mentoring relationship quality: Investigation from the perspectives of youth and parent participants in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada one-to-one mentoring programs.

AIMS: This study examined predictors of mentoring relationship quality (MRQ) as reported by youth and parents participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Canada one-to-one mentoring programs. METHODS: Mentoring program capacity and other external supports, youth personal and environmental risk, youth and parent attitudes and motives, and mentoring relationship processes and attributes were examined as predictors of MRQ at 18 months following youth referral to the program using data from a longitudinal study of the Canadian BBBS mentoring programs. RESULTS: For youth (n = 335), significant predictors of MRQ included: minimal difficulties pairing youth and mentors, perceptions of shared attributes with their mentor, mentor emotional engagement and support, and longer relationships. For parents (n = 356) higher MRQ was correlated with parent report of minimal difficulties pairing youth and mentors, a high-quality relationship with the youth's mentor, and longer relationships. CONCLUSION: Implications for program and policy development are discussed.

Helping me helps us: The role of natural mentors in the ethnic identity and academic outcomes of Latinx adolescents.

This research investigated the potential contributions of natural mentoring relationships and ethnic identity to the academic attitudes and performance of Latinx high school students. In a sample of 347 urban Latinx students in grades 9 and 10, analyses examined the presence and quality of mentoring relationships as well as ethnic identity exploration and affirmation as predictors of changes in grade point average and the perceived economic value of education. Analyses included tests for a hypothesized role of ethnic identity in mediating associations of mentoring measures with the academic outcomes. The presence of a mentoring relationship was not significantly related to ethnic identity or change in academic outcomes over time. However, mentoring relationship quality was associated with a more positive ethnic identity, and support was found for the hypothesis that ethnic identity mediates the association between the quality of mentoring relationships and change over time in the economic values toward education among Latinx adolescents. Study findings suggest the importance of supportive adults in the ethnic identity and academic outcomes of Latinx adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 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.