Session: The Case for School-Based Mentoring As an Evidence-Based Prevention Strategy (Society for Prevention Research 22nd Annual Meeting)

SESSION INTRODUCTION:School-based mentoring (SBM) is at an important crossroad. Modest outcomes are common and funding for youth mentoring programs has waned of late (Wheeler et al., 2010). However, because of its popularity and capacity for distribution through organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), youth mentoring has an infrastructure to support broad dissemination of effective prevention programs.

Our overarching premise is that SBM offers the prevention field a unique opportunity to promote evidence-based prevention programs on a large scale. Our symposium will provide an update on the state of the science of SBM and address the following issues: the efficacy of specific SBM programs, establishing evidence-based practices when implementing SBM, and potential parameters and mechanisms that influence the effectiveness of SBM for youth. 

The first poster, “Mentoring in context exploring the broader ecology of relationships in youths’ lives influences school-based mentoring impacts and processes” reports findings from three studies using data from a BBBS nationwide impact evaluation of SBM programs.  Data from 1,139 youth (grades 4-9) were used to conduct latent profile analyses and identify three distinct profiles associated with differing outcomes.  Furthermore, the authors use structural equation models to examine the mediating role of relationship quality with regard to youth outcomes.

The second poster, “Instrumental school-based mentoring for middle school students: Past, present, future” presents the results of three RCTs (combine N = 334) that examined the effectiveness of a brief instrumental SBM program for middle school students.  Findings demonstrate how successive evidence-based modifications to the mentoring training and supervision curriculum relate to increased effect sizes for multiple outcomes.

The third, fourth, and fifth posters examine the efficacy of Lunch Buddy (LB) mentoring, a specific type of SBM that focuses on strengthening children’s peer relationships.  First, “School-based mentoring for aggressive children: Effects on children’s social and school adjustment” reports on a randomized control trial (RCT; N = 55) in a sample of aggressive children (grades 2-4). Next, “School-Based Mentoring for Bullied Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial” reports on the findings from a small RCT (N = 60) of LB mentoring for bullied children in 3^rd and 5^thgrade. Finally, “Change processes in school-based mentoring for bullied children” expands on previous work with LB mentoring by testing a working model of change in a sample of mentored youth (N = 24) using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Following presentations, the chair will moderate discussion among the presenters and the symposium attendees.