Evaluating the effects of college student mentors on children in an elementary school environment

Abstract

Interest and involvement of public officials and community members in mentor programs has escalated recently due to concerns about today's youths. There is a need for empirical research to evaluate the impact mentor programs are having on individuals of all ages. The current study explored outcomes of having college students serve as mentors for at-risk children in an elementary school. Sixty-nine children (28 females, 41 males) were matched with a mentor either during the fall or spring semester (1997¿1998). Children completed measures of self-esteem, perceived self-competence, empathy, and locus of control, while parents and teachers completed behavior problem checklists. All assessments were completed on three occasions to provide pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up data. Children met with their mentors weekly for approximately ten weeks during the assigned semester. Overall, both teachers and children reported positive benefits of participation in the mentor program. Analysis of variance revealed significant quadratic trends for the two groups across time in scores for self-esteem, perceived social competence, perceived general competence, and delinquent behaviors. These relationships were found even after the influence of child ¿risk¿ was statistically removed. While some of the results were not overwhelming (i.e., the raw score changes were small), it appears that even minimal, short-term interaction with a caring adult can have a positive impact on young children who are considered ¿at-risk¿'. Furthermore, it appears that some of the positive benefits may be temporary, as a few of the positive trends appeared to reverse somewhat after the mentor relationships had been terminated. Implications for the development of effective, school-based mentor programs and for program evaluations are discussed.