Informal Mentoring as Protective Factor for Adolescent Victims of Dating Violence

• In Event: Examining Youth Mentorship Across Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Research has linked adolescent dating violence victimization (ADV-V) to negative developmental outcomes, including increased substance use (Taylor & Sullivan, 2021). Importantly, there is evidence suggesting the link between ADV-V and substance is buffered when adolescents experience positive, social support from adults (Brown & Shillington, 2017). Lacking from this work is whether support from an informal mentor (i.e., an important, non-familial adult in an adolescent’s life) can also play a protective role. Participation in informal mentoring relationships has been found to be associated with several positive youth outcomes, including reduced risk of substance use (Hurd et al., 2014). We addressed this gap by testing whether support from an informal mentor moderates the relation between ADV-V and adolescents’ involvement in substance use. We hypothesized that perceived support from an informal mentor would attenuate the positive association between ADV-V and substance use involvement.

Method
Participants were 152 high school students in grades 9-12 (74% female; 78% White, 12% Black, 6% Asian or Pacific Islander, 4% American Indian; Latinx, 11%). Students completed the following scales:
a) ADV-V. The Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory-Short Version (CADRI-S; Fernández‐González et al., 2012).
b) Substance use involvement. Items from the Youth Risk and Behavior Survey (CDC, 2017) assessing substance use involvement.
c) Support from an informal mentor. An adapted version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet et al., 1988).

Results
Among participating youth, 41% reported experiencing ADV-V, 36% indicated substance use involvement, and 72% reported having an informal mentor. Using logistic regression analyses, we examined whether adolescents’ reports of ADVV, perceived mentor support, and the interaction of these two variables predicted substance use involvement (i.e., a dichotomous variable indicating whether substance use was endorsed in the last 30 days). Due to the study’s small sample size, the significance threshold was set at p < .10. Logistic regression analyses indicated that ADV-V was a positive predictor of substance use involvement (Table 1). Informal mentor support did not predict substance use. The interaction between ADV victimization and mentor support was significant. Simple slopes analyses (Figure 1) revealed that when informal mentor support was low (-1SD) or at the mean, ADV-V was significantly, positively associated with substance use involvement (OR=2.22, SE=0.90 z=2.48, p=.01; OR=1.11, SE=0.44, z=2.53, p=.01, respectively). However, when informal mentor support was high (+1SD), ADV-V was not significantly linked to substance use involvement (OR=0.00, SE=0.50, z=0.01, p=.99).

Discussion
Results supported our hypothesis, suggesting that informal mentors play a protective role in the attenuating the risk of substance use involvement in youth who experience ADV-V. Prospective studies with larger and more diverse samples are needed to explicate the potentially protective role of informal mentors in the lives of adolescents experiencing ADV-V.

Authors

• Jake Steggerda, University of Arkansas
  Presenting Author

• Julia Kiefer, University of Arkansas

• Ishan Vengurlekar

• Melissa Brown, University of Arkansas

• Forest Moore

• Tim A. Cavell, University of Arkansas