Exploring relationships among boys and men: A retrospective,qualitative study of a multi-year community-based group mentoring program

Mentoring has been established as a useful mechanism by which to reduce risk and promote a variety of beneficial outcomes across age groups and settings. However, very little research has explored long-term group mentoring programs for adolescents, and researchers have not established the optimal approach to mentoring relationships among boys and men. This study interviewed a cohort of recent graduates from the Stepping Stones Project, a group mentoring program for boys that began in 6th grade and continued until the end of high school. Several themes emerged from the interviews, including: (a) the SSP encouraged an open, honest style of communication that the youth learned to adapt through observation and experience; (b) the youth and co-leaders developed intimate, trusting relationships; (c) the supportive environment enabled the youth to explore their own identity and develop greater self-knowledge; (d) the transition ceremony provided a venue in which the youths' growing maturity could be seen and recognized by parents; (e) the structure of the SSP enabled the youth to take on increasing responsibility for planning and managing group activities, and (f) the parent group provided an important source of support and community for parents during the adolescent transition. These themes are discussed in terms of current theory and research on mentoring and adolescent development.     

Mentoring in social work: key findings from a women's community-based mentoring program

Based on a social intervention research study into mentoring with women from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, this study considers some of the key differences between traditional workplace and community-based mentoring when used as a social work intervention. The study involved 18 women who participated in a preparation-for-mentoring groupwork program for 12 months. Eleven of these participants were then matched with a mentor and supported in this relationship for a further 12 months. Qualitative analysis points to three key factors likely to enhance the success of community-based mentoring relationships: (i) relational qualities, such as trust, engagement, and authenticity; (ii) mentees' readiness for change and ability to overcome adversity; and (iii) mentors' practical assistance with tasks and overcoming obstacles. Social workers implementing a community-based mentoring program need to be mindful of the importance of these factors in order to ensure that mentees are supported to engage effectively in any mentoring relationship and overcome structural, community, and familial barriers that may adversely affect them.     

Socioemotional functioning across the transition to lower secondary school: The role of temperament and relationships with mothers and teachers

This Finnish longitudinal study investigated the role of relationships with mothers (n = 631) and teachers (n = 56), and adolescents' (n = 848; 53.9% girls, 46.1% boys) temperament in the development of the adolescents' socioemotional functioning during the transition to lower secondary school (Grade 6 to Grade 7; age in Grade 6: M = 12.32, SD = 0.36). The results showed that mother–adolescent closeness predicted a higher level and teacher–adolescent closeness predicted a smaller decrease in prosocial behavior. Teacher–adolescent conflict predicted a higher level, and mother–adolescent conflict predicted an increase in externalizing problems. Only temperament predicted internalizing problems. In addition, relationship quality both mediated and moderated some of the associations between temperament and socioemotional functioning.     

Multifamily therapy in the community mental health network: A pragmatic randomized and controlled study

Multifamily therapy (MFT) is a psychotherapeutic group intervention for patients with severe mental disorders (SMDs) and their families. The present study is a multicenter, randomized, and controlled trial that analyzes the benefit of MFT during outpatient treatment. The recruited patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 26), which received 24 MFT sessions in addition to their treatment as usual (TAU), or to the control group (n = 29), which received only TAU (individual and family sessions). Six months after the inclusion in the MFT, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in number of visits to the psychiatric emergency services, number of psychiatric admissions, and the days of admission. The need for hospital care 6 months after recruitment was also lower in the experimental group compared to the control group. These results suggest that the implementation of MFT during outpatient treatment facilitates community management of people diagnosed with mental health problems.     

Family Therapy Retention: An Observation of First‐Session Communication

This study examined the relationship between communication patterns and retention among families (n = 18) receiving family therapy. Those that attended 12 sessions were labeled completers (n = 6), 4–8 sessions were middle dropouts (n = 6), and 1–3 sessions were early dropouts (n = 6). Audiotape recordings of the first therapy session were transcribed. The content (positive or negative) and total percentage of communications by the parent, adolescent, and therapist were coded. Completer and middle dropout parents (but not adolescents) showed higher talk time proportions than parents in the early dropout group. Completer families had higher percentages of therapist‐to‐parent communications, while early dropout families had higher percentages of therapist‐to‐adolescent communications. There were no significant differences between middle dropouts and completers in either content or total communications. These findings demonstrate the potential utility of examining within‐session communication patterns and suggest that within‐session processes may determine therapy retention.     

Longitudinal Associations Between Other‐Sex Friendships and Substance Use in Adolescence

The impact of the changes in the gender composition of friendship networks during early adolescence on substance use in late adolescence was examined. The hypothesis was that initial level and increase in the proportion of other‐sex friends in the network would be associated with higher levels of substance use among girls, but not among boys. Girls and boys (n=390) were interviewed annually from ages 12 to 18 (79% retention). For both boys and girls, initial level in the proportion of other‐sex friends predicted alcohol use in late adolescence, whereas it was predictive of drug use in girls only. Moreover, for girls only, a faster increase in the proportion of other‐sex friends in the network predicted later use of alcohol and drugs.     

How an intervention project contributes to social inclusion of adolescents and young people of foreign origin

This article presents the results of the impact study of the Nightingale Project, a social mentoring project, whose aim is to support the welcoming and social inclusion processes of adolescent students of foreign origin who recently arrived in Catalonia and who are currently enrolled in the country's schools. The more than one hundred mentoring pairs (mentor and mentee) that took part in the intervention project were administered a questionnaire (N = 58). This same questionnaire was also given to a group of adolescents with the same profile but who did not participate in the project (N = 128) and who were treated as a control group.After six months of intervention (which corresponds to the duration of the Nightingale Project), results show that students who participate in mentoring learn the language faster, create broader and more diverse networks of friends in school, develop higher educational aspirations and expectations, are better acquainted with the reception context (municipality they live in), and improve standards of self-confidence and self-esteem, among other characteristics. The research also demonstrates that mentoring aimed at adolescents, as is the case of the Nightingale Project, plays a key role in avoiding development of an oppositional identity and, conversely, helps facilitate a process of resilience in adolescents in the new context of reception.     

Multi-Family Group Therapy for Sexually Abusive Youth

SUMMARY

Although Multi-Family Group Therapy (MFGT) has been a researched intervention for nearly 40 years, clinicians working with sexually abusive youth and their families have only more recently begun to utilize the intervention. We believe MFGT for a sexual offense-specific treatment population is a sophisticated and powerful clinical intervention with unique advantages including economical use of clinician resources, family-to-family transfer of knowledge and mentoring, community-based resourcefulness, and accelerated catalyzing of emotions. This article will provide direction on establishing the MFGT format as well as discuss its goals, curriculum, facilitation priorities, and strategies.     

Adolescents coping with mom's breast cancer: developing family intervention programs

The purpose of this pilot study was to gain a deeper understanding of how adolescents are affected by their mothers' breast cancer and to discover their opinions about how future intervention programs should be designed. Three focus groups were conducted with a total of 10 adolescents. Findings indicate that adolescents' lives had been complicated by their mothers' illness, as they often felt burdened with additional roles and responsibilities. Adolescents suggested that future intervention programs should have the following elements: Adolescent group comprised of boys and girls within 4 months of cancer diagnosis; psychoeducation; target coping skills sensitive to girls and boys of different ethnic and racial backgrounds; and after the adolescent groups, have multiple-family therapy groups that promote shared family understanding and open communication between parents and adolescents.     

Toward a Theoretical Understanding of Hypermasculine Coping Among Urban Black Adolescent Males

Abstract

The literature regarding African American males has generally focused on the cultural or academic deficits of Black boys. This short-sighted approach fails to take into account the role of contextin shaping opportunities to complete normative developmental tasks. Further, such deficit perspectives leave few to no options for intervention. Consequently, a process-oriented and developmentally informed theoretical model (PVEST) was used to examine the relationships between risks, stress, and coping for a sample of urban Black adolescent males (n = 125). More specifically, the role of fear in promoting hypermasculine coping is explored. The results suggest that hypermasculine attitudes are a function of hypervulnerabilty. Coping-based intervention strategies are discussed.     

Multi-family group therapy for sexually abusive youth

Although Multi-Family Group Therapy (MFGT) has been a researched intervention for nearly 40 years, clinicians working with sexually abusive youth and their families have only more recently begun to utilize the intervention. We believe MFGT for a sexual offense-specific treatment population is a sophisticated and powerful clinical intervention with unique advantages including economical use of clinician resources, family-to-family transfer of knowledge and mentoring, community-based resourcefulness, and accelerated catalyzing of emotions. This article will provide direction on establishing the MFGT format as well as discuss its goals, curriculum, facilitation priorities, and strategies.     

A Longitudinal Examination of Support,Self‐Esteem,and Mexican‐Origin Adolescent Mothers' Parenting Efficacy

Guided by a risk and resilience framework, this study used a prospective longitudinal, multiple‐reporter design to examine how social support from a mother figure during pregnancy interacted with Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers' self‐esteem to inform their parenting efficacy when their children were 10 months old. Using reports of perceived social support by adolescent mothers (M_age = 16.24, SD = 0.99) and their mother figures (M_age = 40.84, SD = 7.04) in 205 dyads, and controlling for demographic factors (i.e., adolescent age, adolescent nativity, family income, mothers' educational attainment, adolescent – mother coresidence) and adolescents' social support from a significant other, the findings indicated that social support during pregnancy was positively associated with adolescent mothers' future parenting efficacy when adolescent mothers had relatively lower self‐esteem. The findings were consistent for adolescents' and mothers' reports and emphasize the value of social support from a mother figure among adolescent mothers with lower self‐esteem. Implications for interventions are presented.     

Motivational interviewing as a pregroup intervention for partner-violent men

This study investigated the effects of a pregroup motivational intervention for domestic abuse perpetrators. Men presenting for treatment at a community domestic violence agency (N = 108) were assigned to receive either a two-session intake using the techniques of motivational interviewing (MI) or a structured intake (SI) control. All participants were then referred to a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) program in groups homogeneous with respect to intake condition. The motivational intake led to more constructive in-session behavior during the early phase of group CBT, greater compliance with group CBT homework assignments, higher late session therapist ratings of the working alliance, and more help seeking outside of the domestic violence program. No significant effects of intake condition were found on session attendance, self-reports of readiness to change abusive behavior, or client reports of the working alliance. Partner reports of abusive behavior outcomes during the 6 months after group CBT revealed a marginal effect favoring the MI condition on physical assault. The findings suggest that motivational interviewing can increase receptivity to partner violence interventions.     

Predictors of early versus late match relationship beginnings in Big Brothers Big Sisters community programs

This study examined patterns and predictors of early versus late match relationship beginnings involving youth and adult volunteer mentors participating in Canadian Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) community mentoring programs. Survival and multinomial logistic regression models were estimated on a sample of 845 youth approved for service from 20 mentoring agencies. Results showed that just over half of the youth (53%) had been paired with a mentor 6 months from the completion of their baseline assessment. At 12 months, 70% had been paired. Compared to never-mentored youth, predictors associated with a reduced chance of an early match beginning (< 6 months) included youth gender (boys) and a rural or small town place of residence. Youth perceptions of emotional support from parents/caregivers and parents' expressed need for another adult in their child's life were associated with an increased chance of both early (< 6 months) and late match beginnings (6 or more months). Implications for agency services are discussed.     

Motivating Action and Maintaining Change: The Time‐Varying Role of Homework Following a Brief Couples' Intervention

Studies regarding the effectiveness of homework assignments in cognitive‐behavioral treatments have demonstrated mixed results. This study investigated predictors of compliance with homework recommendations and the time‐varying relationship of recommendation completion with treatment response in a brief couples' intervention (N = 108). More satisfied couples and couples with more motivation to change completed more recommendations, whereas couples with children completed fewer. The association between recommendation completion and treatment response varied with the passage of time, with the strongest effect observed 6 months after the intervention, but no discernible differences at 1 year postintervention. Couples that completed more recommendations experienced more rapid treatment gains, but even those couples doing substantially fewer recommendations ultimately realized equivalent treatment effects, although they progressed more slowly. Implications are discussed.     

Role of the Father‐Adolescent Relationship in Shaping Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Divorce

The quality of father‐adolescent relationships, especially for nontraditional fathers, has been neglected in investigating adolescents’ beliefs. Closeness of father‐adolescent relationships was examined as a predictor of adolescents’ attitudes toward divorce. A sample of European and African American adolescents (N = 300) reported on the quality of father‐adolescent relationships in 11th grade and their attitudes toward divorce at age 19. Boys who felt close to their biological custodial fathers, biological noncustodial fathers, and stepfathers felt less likely to divorce in the future than boys who did not feel close to their fathers. The same was not true for girls. Feeling close to a father—regardless of father type—is associated with boys’ confidence in the stability of their future marriages.     

Life Course Heterogeneity in the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood Among Adolescent Mothers

Longitudinal data were used to examine pathways taken by 227 adolescent mothers during the transition from adolescence into adulthood. Latent profile analysis identified three sub‐groups of adolescent mothers from 6 months to 6 years postpartum: a problem‐prone profile (15%), a psychologically vulnerable profile (42%), and a normative profile (43%). Group membership was related to long‐term adult outcomes (adult status markers, health‐risk and deviant behaviors, substance use, mental health, and intimate relationships) when respondents were nearing age 30. The psychologically vulnerable group reported greater health and mental health problems, relational problems, and substance use than the normative profile group. Only the problem‐prone profile group, taken together, reported serious problems in all domains of adult outcomes examined including financial, relational, behavioral, and health and mental health problems. Results confirm the existence of different pathways through adolescent parenthood that are associated with adult functioning 12 years postpartum.     

Compulsory residential care: An examination of treatment improvement of individual and family functioning

The aim of the present study was to examine the treatment progress of both adolescent's and their families' functioning in a new compulsory residential treatment program. The sample consisted of 339 admitted adolescents (56.3% boys). The mean age at time of entry was 15.69 (SD = 1.30). Adolescents stayed on average 9.42 months (SD = 4.66) in a new residential treatment program. Data on adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed using self-reports, parent reports, and group care worker reports. In addition, adolescents reported their substance use and delinquency and parents also reported family functioning and level of perceived parental stress. The findings revealed a significant decrease in adolescents' self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems, delinquency, and substance use. According to parent ratings, a significant improvement was found concerning adolescents' problem behaviors during treatment. However, according care worker ratings, adolescents showed no improvement on internalizing problems and showed an increase in externalizing problems. Concerning families, although there was no improvement in family functioning, parental stress significantly improved over time. Further research should examine whether improvements experienced during treatment are maintained after treatment.     

Family Processes and Problem Behaviors in Middle‐Class African American Adolescents

This study examined the joint association between mothers’ and adolescents’ ratings of parental behavioral control and adolescents’ and observers’ ratings of mother – adolescent communication with adolescent problem behaviors in a sample of 86 middle‐class African American early adolescent boys and girls (age: M= 13.08 years, SD= 1.32) and their mothers. Consistent with hypotheses, greater adolescent‐rated parental behavioral control and better observer‐rated mother – adolescent communication were associated with lower levels of adolescent problem behavior, as examined using structural equation modeling. Furthermore, interrelationships between age and adolescent problem behavior were partially mediated by adolescents’ reports of parental behavioral control and observers’ ratings of positive mother – adolescent communication, which both decreased with adolescents’ age. Although the sample was primarily middle class, higher socioeconomic status was associated with more positive mother – adolescent communication, as rated by observers. Problem behavior was greater among boys than girls, but the hypothesized indirect effect of gender on problem behavior through associations with parenting was not observed. The findings demonstrate the utility of conceptually distinguishing between parenting and parent – adolescent relationships, and suggest that both have unique influences on middle‐class African American adolescents’ problem behavior.     

Reducing Risk for Youth Violence by Promoting Healthy Development with Pyramid Mentoring: A Proposal for a Culturally Centered Group Mentoring

This article proposes ways to promote healthy psychosocial development among at-risk young African American males with a multigenerational culturally centered group mentoring intervention. The potential for addressing commonalities of risk factors for both internalized and externalized responses to environment stressors is discussed. The authors propose an innovative group intervention that is influenced by social learning theory, the triadic theory of influence, identity, and cognitive development theory. The article also highlights research that suggests benefits of culturally and therapeutically centered group mentoring. The focus of the proposed intervention is on psychosocial assets that are utilized to nurture life skills developed within the framework of a culturally centered multigenerational group mentoring process called pyramid mentoring.