Development and Evaluation of a Youth Mentoring Program

The potential benefits of adolescent mentoring programs cannot be overemphasized. Mentoring may be especially beneficial to urban-living, minority adolescents who may lack role models. The Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) organization administers a widely-praised and empirically-supported program that is committed to building successful mentoring relationships between adolescents and adults in their community. In collaboration with the BBBS affiliate agency in Chicago, the PI has developed an intervention called GirlPOWER! GirlPOWER! combines mentoring with self-esteem enhancement and health education and promotion strategies. This study will determine the effectiveness of the GirlPOWER! intervention and determine its feasibility in being applied to other populations.

Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the GirlPOWER! intervention or traditional mentoring through BBBS and followed for 1 year. Participants in the GirlPOWER! group and their mentors will engage in structured activities that focus on strengthening the mentoring relationship, promoting self-esteem, reducing levels of health-compromising behaviors such as substance use and violence, and increasing levels of health-enhancing behaviors. Traditional mentoring comprises less structured activities and typically includes general discussion of an adolescent's day-to-day life and any accomplishments and challenges he or she may have experienced. Participants will be assessed at study entry, 3 months following entry, and at the end of one year. Assessments will include surveys completed by youth as well as their parents, mentors, and teachers; academic data also will be obtained from school records.