Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs for Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review

By D. DuBois, B. Holloway, J. Valentine, H. Cooper. American Journal of Community Psychology, 2002

1,451 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly, however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based “best practices” are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to personal vulnerabilities have varied substantially in relation to program characteristics, with a noteworthy potential evident for poorly implemented programs to actually have an adverse effect on such youth. Recommendations include greater adherence to guidelines for the design and implementation of effective mentoring programs as well as more in-depth assessment of relationship and contextual factors in the evaluation of programs.

Subfields: Education, Safety Research, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a24ae8ef37d3a9b16ffe3baa1bf2fa0f2a8dd5bd

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Education

1. J. Durlak
2. P. Tolan
3. R. Weissberg
4. L. Eby
5. Tammy D. Allen
6. J. Rhodes
7. Rebecca D. Taylor
8. D. DuBois

In Safety Research

1. J. Rhodes
2. L. Eby
3. D. DuBois
4. Tammy D. Allen
5. Renée Spencer
6. J. Grossman
7. J. Durlak
8. P. Tolan

In Social Psychology

1. J. Rhodes
2. D. DuBois
3. Renée Spencer
4. L. Eby
5. Tammy D. Allen
6. J. Grossman
7. Michael J. Karcher
8. S. Lowe

Citations in the corpus

• Synthesizing Results From Empirical Research on Computer-Based Scaffolding in STEM Education (2016, background): “In a meta-analysis of mentoring programs, the effect size estimate was 0.18 (DuBois et al., 2002), which would bring students who were at the 50th percentile to the 57th percentile.”
• Enhancing School Engagement in At-Risk, Urban Minority Adolescents Through a School-Based, Adult Mentoring Intervention (2008, background): “The current study was a randomized, controlled trial designed to test whether a theory-based mentoring intervention consistent with the suggestions of DuBois et al. (2002) could enhance urban minority students’ school-related cognitions and behaviors.”
• The Role of Risk: Mentoring Experiences and Outcomes for Youth with Varying Risk Profiles. Executive Summary. (2013, background): “The first (DuBois et al. 2002) reviewed evaluations of programs published from 1970 through 1998, while the second (DuBois et al.”
• Mentoring Interventions to Affect Juvenile Deliquency and Associated Problems (2008, neutral): “…aid the recipient in managing social, educational, legal, family, and peer challenges; 3)advocacy for the recipient in various systems and settings; and 4)emotional support and friendliness to promote self-efficacy, confidence, and sense of mattering (DuBois et al., 2002; Rhodes et al., 2002).”
• "She holds my hand" The experiences of foster youth with their natural mentors (2008, positive): “Recognizing the unique characteristics of natural mentoring, formal mentoring programs are attempting to reproduce the types of benefits that have been documented to develop from naturalmentoring relationships betweenyouth and adults (DuBois et al., 2002).”
• Does Mentoring Matter? A Multidisciplinary Meta-Analysis Comparing Mentored and Non-Mentored Individuals. (2008, neutral): “, academic problems, parental conflict, unhealthy peer relationships) that may be difficult to overcome with mentoring alone (DuBois et al., 2002).”
• The Impact of Reentry Services on Juvenile Offenders' Recidivism (2008, methodology): “For instance, a meta-analysis conducted by DuBois, Holloway, Valentine, and Cooper (2002) that consisted of 55 evaluations of mentoring programs found a mean effect size for mentoring programs of .14 to .18 for the typical juvenile participating in these programs (using a variety of outcome measur”
• INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE: YOUTH MENTORING: BRIDGING SCIENCE WITH PRACTICE (2006, background): “Importantly, effect-size estimates varied considerably and were found to increase systematically in conjunction with the use of a variety of program practices (DuBois et al., 2002).”
• Understanding the Mentoring Process between Adolescents and Adults (2006, background): “Although research has found that mentors’ racial and ethnic background matters far less than characteristics of the relationship such as consistent contact, particularly for relationships that endure beyond the first year (DuBois et al., 2002; Grossman & Rhodes, 2002), it could have been more prohib”
• Natural Mentors in the Lives of African American Adolescent Mothers: Tracking Relationships Over Time (2003, methodology): “This pattern is consistent with findings from previous studies, which have revealed relatively small effects for mentoring overall (Dubois et al., 2002).”