A randomized controlled trial of enhanced mentoring program practices for children of incarcerated caregivers: Assessing impacts on youth and match outcomes.

Parental incarceration is an adverse childhood experience that is associated with heightened risk for negative outcomes in youth. Mentoring programs seek to mitigate this risk by providing children of incarcerated parents (COIP) with a supportive relationship that fosters positive outcomes. The current study presents findings from a longitudinal evaluation of enhanced mentoring program practices designed for supporting COIP.

Striking the Balance: The Relative Benefits of Goal- and Youth-Focused Approaches to Youth Mentoring Relationships.

Targeted, goal-focused approaches to mentoring can improve behavioral and mental health outcomes than more recreational, non-specific approaches. However, a focus on goals needs to be balanced with openness to including mentees' preferences. This study builds on prior work by exploring the benefits of goal- and youth-focused approaches to mentoring relationships from the youth mentee's perspective, including their associations with relationship measures (closeness and tension) and mental health outcomes (i.

Implementation of a Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentor Referral System for First-Year University Students.

Unlabelled: COVID-19 forced college administrators to reassess how they provide students with the most effective methods of support. This project examined the first year of a novel digital peer mentoring program with the goal of connecting diverse students to campus resources they needed to navigate the transition to and through their first year of college. MentorHub, a referral and supportive accountability mobile application, was implemented with first-year undergraduates at a large, private university in the northeastern region of the USA.

Providing Human Support for the Use of Digital Mental Health Interventions: Systematic Meta-review.

Background: Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have been increasingly deployed to bridge gaps in mental health care, particularly given their promising efficacy. Nevertheless, attrition among DMHI users remains high. In response, human support has been studied as a means of improving retention to and outcomes of DMHIs.

Changes in Psychosocial Resources as Predictors of Posttraumatic Growth: A Longitudinal Study of Low-Income, Female Hurricane Katrina Survivors.

This study examined how well the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) corresponds with self-reported pre- to posttrauma changes in related constructs, including sense of purpose in life, religiosity, and social support. Participants were 328 low-income mothers (85.2% non-Hispanic Black) who survived Hurricane Katrina and completed surveys approximately 1 year predisaster (Time 1), 4 years postdisaster (Time 2), and 12 years postdisaster (Time 3).

The Effects of Maternal Disaster Exposure on Adolescent Mental Health 12 Years Later.

Natural disasters adversely impact children's mental health, with increased parent or child exposure and subsequent parental distress predicting poorer outcomes. It remains unknown, however, whether the psychological consequences of disasters for children persist long-term, and if so, why and for whom. We therefore examined the effects of mothers' exposure to Hurricane Katrina on adolescent children's mental health 12 years later, distinguishing between direct effects of disaster exposure and effects mediated by maternal distress, and evaluating moderation by child age and gender.

Cross-age peer mentoring for youth: A meta-analysis.

Although most mentoring programs for youth are structured around intergenerational relationships, a growing number of programs rely on cross-age peer mentoring. Such programs capitalize on the availability of youth mentors to promote positive outcomes in younger peers. This study used a multilevel meta-analytic approach to estimate the effect size of cross-age peer mentoring programs and evaluate potential moderators of peer mentoring program effectiveness.

Paraprofessional Youth Mentoring: A Framework for Integrating Youth Mentoring with Helping Institutions and Professions.

The demand for child mental health services, including those provided by psychologists, counselors, and social workers, exceeds the supply. This trend is expected to continue or worsen unless there are substantial structural changes in how mental health services are provided. We propose a framework for paraprofessional youth mentors, defined as a subgroup of professionally supervised, non-expert volunteer or paid mentors to whom aspects of professional helping tasks are delegated.

A Meta-analysis of the Effects of Mentoring on Youth in Foster Care.

Research suggests that mentoring programs may promote a range of positive outcomes in youth populations. Less is known, however, about the extent to which such programs are effective in specialized youth populations, such as youth involved in the foster care system. The current study aimed to investigate the extent to which mentoring interventions promote positive outcomes among youth involved in the foster care system and to systematically explore factors that may moderate the effectiveness of mentoring interventions.

Mitigating Health Disparities After Natural Disasters: Lessons From The RISK Project.

Climate change exacerbates the severity of natural disasters, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Mitigating disasters' health consequences is critical to promoting health equity, but few studies have isolated the short- and long-term effects of disasters on vulnerable groups. We filled this gap by conducting a fifteen-year (2003-2018) prospective study of low-income, predominantly Black parents who experienced Hurricane Katrina: the Resilience in Survivors of Katrina (RISK) Project.

Physical Health Symptoms and Hurricane Katrina: Individual Trajectories of Development and Recovery More Than a Decade After the Storm.

To examine how physical health symptoms developed and resolved in response to Hurricane Katrina. We used data from a 2003 to 2018 study of young, low-income mothers who were living in New Orleans, Louisiana, when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 (n = 276). We fit logistic regressions to model the odds of first reporting or "developing" headaches or migraines, back problems, and digestive problems, and of experiencing remission or "recovery" from previously reported symptoms, across surveys.

Youth Initiated Mentoring: A Meta-analytic Study of a Hybrid Approach to Youth Mentoring.

Youth initiated mentoring is a hybrid approach that empowers youth to identify and recruit natural mentors, potentially combining the strengths of informal mentoring relationships with the infrastructure and support provided by formal mentoring programs. This meta-analytic review examined the association between youth-initiated programs and youth outcomes across four domains: academic and vocational functioning, social-emotional development, physical health, and psychosocial problems. Results indicated that youth-initiated programs are significantly associated with positive youth outcomes.

Predisaster predictors of posttraumatic stress symptom trajectories: An analysis of low-income women in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Exposure to disasters is associated with a range of posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) trajectories. However, few studies have tracked PTSS for more than a decade postdisaster, and none to our knowledge has explored the role of predisaster resources and vulnerabilities in shaping the likelihood of trajectory membership. The current study included participants from the Resilience in Survivors of Katrina Study (N = 885).

A Life-Course Model of Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Among Low-Income Survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Prior research has provided robust evidence that exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) during a disaster is predictive of adverse postdisaster mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and nonspecific psychological distress (PD). However, few studies have explored the role of exposure to other PTEs over the life-course in shaping postdisaster mental health. Based on the broader literature on trauma exposure and mental health, we hypothesized a path analytic model linking predisaster PTEs to long-term postdisaster PTSS and PD via predisaster PD, short-term postdisaster symptoms, and disaster-related and postdisaster PTEs.

Non-Specific versus Targeted Approaches to Youth Mentoring: A Follow-up Meta-analysis.

Despite decades of increased research and funding, youth mentoring programs, overall, yield small effects on youth outcomes. As a result, there are growing calls for programs to utilize the mentoring relationship as context for intentional, targeted skills development, in which mentors employ targeted skills designed to match the presenting concerns of mentees. This targeted approach contrasts with the historically dominant, non-specific friendship model, which holds that a supportive relational bond-alone-promotes positive developmental change.

Predictors of close faculty-student relationships and mentorship in higher education: findings from the Gallup-Purdue Index.

College students' supportive relationships with mentors-professors, advisors, and other caring adults to whom students turn as they develop their interests and career paths-are critical to their development and academic success. The current study sought to explore factors that promote or impede the formation of positive mentor-student relationships during college using a large, nationally representative sample of 5,684 college graduates from the Gallup-Purdue Index. Linear regression models revealed that first-generation college students, as well as students attending larger institutions, rated faculty and other college staff as less caring and supportive, and were less able to identify a supportive mentoring relationship during college.

Do levels of posttraumatic growth vary by type of traumatic event experienced? An analysis of the Nurses' Health Study II.

Objective: Posttraumatic growth (PTG) has been documented in the aftermath of a range of traumatic events, including bereavement, physical assault, and rape. However, only a handful of studies have examined whether levels of total PTG, as well as the 5 domains of PTG (Appreciation of Life, New Possibilities, Relating to Others, Personal Strength, and Spiritual Change), vary by the type of potentially traumatic event. The current study examined variation in total PTG and PTG domains, as well as posttraumatic stress (PTS), by event type using data from a large epidemiological study.

Natural mentoring relationships among survivors of caregiver childhood abuse: findings from the Add Health Study.

Social support promotes resilience to adverse childhood events, but little is known about the role of natural mentors-caring, nonparental adults-in the lives of childhood abuse survivors. The current study draws from a large, longitudinal, nationally representative sample (Add Health) to examine the prevalence and characteristics of natural mentoring relationships for adolescents with a history of caregiver childhood abuse, and the extent to which these relationships are associated with psychological and health outcomes in adulthood. Among the sample (n = 12,270), 28.

Twelve years later: The long-term mental health consequences of Hurricane Katrina.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused unprecedented damage, widespread population displacement, and exposed Gulf Coast residents to traumatic events. The hurricane's adverse impact on survivors' mental health was apparent shortly after the storm and persisted, but no study has examined the long-term effects now that more than a decade has transpired. Using new data from a panel study of low-income mothers interviewed once before Hurricane Katrina and now three times after, we document changes in mental health, and estimate the sociodemographic and hurricane-related factors associated with long-term trajectories of mental health.

Ideological profiles of US adults and their support for youth mentoring.

Little is known about the influence of political ideology and religiosity on adults' support for youth mentoring as a strategy to address social problems. This study used latent class analysis in a large, national sample of US adults to identify underlying ideological profiles associated with support for mentoring programs. Three latent classes emerged.

Formation of Phenoxynorbornane Pendant Groups by Acid-Catalyzed Hydroalkoxylation of Poly(hydroxystyrene) and Its Application to Photopatterning.

Poly(hydroxystyrene) (PHS) reacts with norbornene in the presence of acid to form a phenoxynorbornane pendent group through the hydroalkoxylation of the norbornene double bond by the phenol -OH group of PHS. Films of PHS, an aqueous base soluble polymer, containing norbornene derivatives and a photoacid generator (PAG) create a negative tone photopatternable composition. Acid generated in the exposed regions of the film promotes the hydroalkoxylation reaction generating the phenoxynorbornane pendent group, rendering the film insoluble in an aqueous base developer.

Posttraumatic growth in low-income Black mothers who survived Hurricane Katrina.

This mixed-methods study aimed to gain knowledge of the lived experience of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in 32 low-income Black mothers whose New Orleans' homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and half of whom had relocated indefinitely to Houston. Data from in-depth interviews with participants were examined in conjunction with quantitative scores on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Participants were interviewed face-to-face on a range of postdisaster experiences, including positive changes, in 2009.

The Effects of Youth Mentoring Programs: A Meta-analysis of Outcome Studies.

Mentoring programs, which pair youth with caring, non-parental adults with the goal of promoting positive youth development, are an increasingly popular strategy for early intervention with at-risk youth. However, important questions remain about the extent to which these interventions improve youth outcomes. The present study involved a comprehensive meta-analysis of all outcome studies of intergenerational, one-on-one youth mentoring programs written in the English language between 1975 and 2017, using rigorous inclusion criteria designed to align with developmental theories of youth mentoring.

Birds of a feather: Is matching based on shared interests and characteristics associated with longer youth mentoring relationships?

Youth mentoring practitioners and researchers have shown a growing interest in determining the ways in which mentor-youth matching practices might influence the duration and effectiveness of mentoring relationships. The current project tested whether mentor-youth similarities at baseline, in terms of demographic variables and interests in certain activities (e.g.