Abstract
This study adds to the limited research on the potential importance of the quality of the relationship between adult prevention service providers and youth participants in enhancing social skills and strengthening prevention outcomes. Study subjects were drawn from seven prevention programs funded under a Youth Mentoring Initiative by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These programs maintain a relationship-based service focus but use a variety of one-on-one, group, volunteer, and paid staff service formats. Study results showed that youth who perceived a higher level of trust, mutuality and empathy in their relationship with providers experienced significantly greater improvements in social skills (i.e., cooperation, self-control, assertiveness, and empathy) than program participants who perceived a lower quality relationship with adult providers. These findings underscore the importance of recruitment, training and supervisory practices that promote staff and volunteer skills in achieving high quality relationships with youth participants regardless of the specific intervention strategy. Editors’ Strategic Implications: Practitioners and policymakers should review the authors’ findings about the importance of individual adult skills in building protective mentoring relationships. The impact of relationship quality, rather than setting, suggests that the scope of effective prevention practice can be broadened beyond the confines of formal prevention programming to any place in which caring and skilled adults interact with youth.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Austin, L. (1999). The counseling primer. Philadelphia, PA: Accelerated Development.
Bellamy, N. D., Springer, J. F., Sale, E. W., & Espiritu, R. C. (2004). Structuring a multi-site evaluation for youth mentoring programs to prevent teen alcohol and drug use. Journal of Drug Education, 34, 197–212.
Benard, B. (1991). Fostering resiliency in kids: Protective factors in the family, school, and community. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED335781).
Benard, B. (1996). Mentoring: New study shows the power of relationships to make a difference. Resiliency in action. A Journal of Application and Research, 1(4), 7–12.
Biller, H. (1970). Father absence and the personality development of the male child. Developmental Psychology, 2, 181–201.
Biller, H. (1981). The father and sex role development. In M. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (pp. 319–358). New York: John Wiley.
Bowen, G., & Chapman, M. (1996). Poverty, neighborhood danger, social support, and the individual adaptation among at-risk youth in urban areas. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 641–666.
Catalano, R., Berglund, J., Ryan, J., Lonczak, H., & Hawkins, J. D. (2004). Positive youth development in the United States: Research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591(1), 98–124.
DuBois, D. L., Holloway, B. E., Valentine, J. C., & Cooper, H. (2002b). Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: A meta-analytic review. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 157–197.
DuBois, D. L., Neville, H. A., Parra, G. R., & Pugh-Lilly, A. O. (2002a). Testing a new model of mentoring. In G. G. Noam & J. E. Rhodes (Eds.), A critical view of youth mentoring. New directions for youth development: Theory, research and practice (pp. 21–57). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
EMT Associates, Inc. (2002). Final report on the Project Youth Connect cross-site evaluation. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Flaxman, E., & Ascher, C. (1992). Mentoring in action. New York: Institute for Urban and Minority Education.
Gresham, F. M., & Elliott, S. N. (1990). The social skills rating system. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services.
Herrera, C., Sipe, L., & McClanahan, W. S. (2000). Mentoring school-age children: relationship development in community-based and school-based programs. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development. New York: Academic Press.
Kasim, R. (2001). Addressing nonequivalence in multi-site designs: The use of propensity scores in the CSAP National Cross-Site Evaluation. Presented at the 2001 American Evaluation Association Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri.
Olszewski-Kubilius, P., Grant, B., & Seibert, C. (1994). Social support systems and the disadvantaged gifted: A framework for developing programs and services. Roeper Review, 17, 20–25.
Rhodes, J. (2002). Stand by me. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rhodes, J., Grossman, J. B., & Roffman, J. (2002). The rhetoric and reality of youth mentoring. In G. G. Noam & J. E. Rhodes (Eds.), A critical view of youth mentoring. New directions for youth development: Theory, research and practice (pp. 9–20). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sale, E., Springer, J. F., Sambrano, S., & Turner, C. (2003). Risk, protection, and substance use in adolescents: A multi-site model. Journal of Drug Education, 33(1), 91–105.
Sambrano, S., Springer, J. F., Sale, E., Kasim, R., & Hermann, J. (2005). Understanding prevention effectiveness in real world settings: The national cross-site evaluation of high-risk youth programs. American Journal on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 31(3), 491–519.
Scales, P., & Gibbons, J. (1996). Extended family members and unrelated adults in the lives of young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 16, 365–389.
Slicker, E. K., & Palmer, D. J. (1993). Mentoring at-risk high school students: Evaluation of a school-based program. The School Counselor, 40, 327–334.
Springer, J. F., Sale, E., Hermann, J., Sambrano, S., Kasim, R., & Nistler, M. (2004). Characteristics of effective substance abuse prevention programs for high-risk youth. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 25, 171–195.
Tierney, J., Grossman, J., & Resch, N. (1995). Making a difference: An impact study of big brothers/big sisters. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures.
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible: A longitudinal study of resilient children and youth. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank past DKASI division directors, Dr. Paul Brounstein and Ms. Rose Kittrell, and all the CSAP Project Officers, program site recipients, clients, and their evaluators associated with the Youth Mentoring Program Initiative. Dr. Bellamy is with CSAP and prepared this article in her private capacity. Drs. Sale, Wang, and Springer were part of the evaluation contract staff funded under cooperative agreement No. 1UDI SP09563.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sale, E., Bellamy, N., Springer, J.F. et al. Quality of Provider–Participant Relationships and Enhancement of Adolescent Social Skills. J Primary Prevent 29, 263–278 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-008-0138-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-008-0138-8