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Two Years of Relationship-Focused Mentoring for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Adolescents: Promoting Positive Mental Health

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Abstract

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) youth are disproportionately affected by a range of negative health outcomes including poor emotional and psychosocial well-being. At the same time, there is increasing awareness of culturally-specific protective factors for these youth, such as cultural connectedness and identity. This article reports the findings of a mixed-methods, exploratory longitudinal study on the effects of a culturally-relevant school-based mentoring program for FNMI youth that focuses on promoting mental well-being and the development of cultural identity. Participants included a cohort of FNMI adolescents whom we tracked across the transition from elementary to secondary school. We utilized data from annual surveys (n = 105) and a subset of youth whom we interviewed (n = 28). Quantitative analyses compared youth who participated in 1 or 2 years of mentoring programs with those who did not participate. At Wave 3, the 2-year mentoring group demonstrated better mental health and improved cultural identity, accounting for Wave 1 functioning. These results were maintained when sex and school climate were accounted for in the models. Sex did not emerge as a significant moderator; however, post hoc analyses with simple slopes indicated that the mentoring program benefited girls more than boys for both outcomes. Interview data were coded and themed through a multi-phase process, and revealed that the mentoring program helped participants develop their intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and enhanced their cultural and healthy relationships knowledge base. Collectively, the quantitative and qualitative components of this study identify multiple years of culturally-relevant mentoring as a promising approach for promoting well-being among FNMI youth.

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Notes

  1. Although there were First Nations, Métis, & Inuit youth in our sample, the mentoring programs were developed for a First Nations context with relevance to the local nations. Approximately 93% of participants in this study identified as First Nations.

  2. Those unfamiliar with the Medicine Wheel teachings and who wish to understand the implications for education are referred to Bell, N. (2014). Teaching by the Medicine Wheel. Education Canada, June issue. Available at: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/teaching-medicine-wheel.

  3. Of the 2-year mentoring group, 29.4% participated in 1 year of elementary and 1 year of secondary mentoring and 70.6% participated in 2 years of elementary mentoring.

  4. Given the school-based nature of this mentoring program, we also included academic outcomes in this evaluation. We found that participation in 2 years of mentoring was related to significantly higher credit accumulation (a proxy for school completion) at Wave 3 (χ2(1, N = 101) = 4.49, p = .034), as compared to 1 or no years of mentoring. These results also held in a logistic regression model controlling for sex, school climate and the number of late attendances at Wave 1. However, for numerous reasons, we consider these data preliminary and chose not to present them formally here.

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Author notes

  1. Claire V Crooks

    Present address: Faculty of Education, Western University, 1137 Western Road, London, ON, N6G 1G7, Canada

  2. Deinera Exner-Cortens

    Present address: Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Western University, 1137 Western Road, London, ON, N6G 1G7, Canada

    Sarah Burm & Alicia Lapointe

  2. CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, 100-100 Collip Circle, London, ON, N6G 4X8, Canada

    Claire V Crooks, Deinera Exner-Cortens & Debbie Chiodo

Authors
  1. Claire V Crooks
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  2. Deinera Exner-Cortens
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  3. Sarah Burm
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  4. Alicia Lapointe
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  5. Debbie Chiodo
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Correspondence to Claire V Crooks.

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Sarah Burm and Alicia Lapointe are listed alphabetically.

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Crooks, C.V., Exner-Cortens, D., Burm, S. et al. Two Years of Relationship-Focused Mentoring for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Adolescents: Promoting Positive Mental Health. J Primary Prevent 38, 87–104 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-016-0457-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-016-0457-0

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