Effectiveness of Cross-age Peer Mentoring in Reducing Externalizing Problems in Urban Youth Mentors of Color

• In Event: 3-042 - Examining the Effectiveness of Three Research-Based Mentoring Programs for At-Risk Youth

Integrative Statement

While mentoring programs are known to foster resilience among high-risk minority youth by providing protective factors amidst stress, there are many drawbacks to typical adult mentoring models. Cross-age peer mentoring models aim to address the cultural and generational limitations of traditional adult mentoring designs by taking advantage of the power of peer influence and cultural attunement. Compared to adults, peers are typically viewed as more credible and more aligned with youth concerns (DuBois & Karcher, 2014; Smith, 2011). Peers also may be more available and motivated to serve as role models, as well as more aware of cultural factors impacting youth in their own neighborhood; thus, they may be more influential on younger children (Karcher, 2005). The use of structured, consistent meetings between mentors and mentees allows for several opportunities for the mentee to experience role modeling, guidance, and support across numerous domains (Karcher & Hansen, 2014), but less is understood about how such programs affect mentors.
Given the high rates of aggression and delinquency in youth exposed to violence and poverty, these behaviors were investigated within the context of the Saving Lives Inspiring Youth mentoring program. It was hypothesized that mentors’ increased attendance in the program would predict to reduced externalizing outcomes at the end of the intervention. It was also hypothesized that baseline prosocial qualities would moderate this negative relationship, such that mentors who displayed higher positive characteristics when starting the program would receive the most benefit from attending the program, resulting in even greater declines in externalizing problems, especially for males.
Analyses were conducted on a sample of 126 high school youth (M = 16.65 years, SD = 1.33 years; 60.3% female; 73.8% Black/African American, 22.2% Hispanic/Latino, 1.6% Other/Multi-Racial) recruited from four high-violence, low-income urban neighborhoods. Sixty-eight percent of youth (N = 86) were active mentors in the intervention (M = 22.42 sessions attended, SD = 10.37 sessions), and the remainder of the sample was a matched control group who attended no sessions.
Moderated moderation analyses were used to test hypotheses. Preliminary results are summarized in Table 1. Results revealed that higher attendance in the mentoring program predicted greater reductions in delinquency at the end of the intervention for those with moderate to high baseline levels of self-esteem, particularly males (Figure 1). The moderating effect of leadership between attendance and beliefs about violence differed across genders. Although not always significant, program attendance appeared to reduce attitudes towards violence on its own, but especially at low levels of empathy at baseline. Unrelated to attendance, higher levels of empathy decreased post-intervention aggression for females, but not males. Moreover, preliminary qualitative data suggests a different pattern of violence engagement across males and females. Together, these findings indicate changes in violence engagement through cross-age mentoring may occur differently for males and females, even though they experience the same intervention. These findings indicate that while there seem to be many benefits to high engagement in the mentoring program, being more prosocial at the start may provide an advantage for youth.

Authors

• Cara DiClemente, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Catherine Rice Dusing, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kassie Gillis-Harry, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maryse Richards, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katherine Tyson McCrea, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author