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Forum Brief

Mentoring: Does it Make a Difference?
Findings from an Impact Study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters

A Forum — February 23, 1996

Mentoring as a way to address the needs of youth has been enthusiastically promoted.--all this with no firm evidence that mentoring programs produce results. That evidence now exists.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America (BB/BSA) has provided an adult friend to young people from single-parent homes for over 90 years. In 1995 BB/BS maintained over 75,000 active matches, with a typical pair meeting three times a month for three or four hours each time.

Until recently, only anecdotal evidence existed regarding whether this program made a difference in the life of the young person matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister. Public/Private Ventures, a Philadelphia-based, national program development and research organization, recently completed a study that answers the question of whether the young person benefits from participation.

P/PV conducted a comparative study of 959 10- to 16-year-olds who applied to BB/BS programs in 1992 and 1993 . Half of these youth were randomly assigned to a treatment group, for which BB/BS matches were made or attempted; the other half were assigned to BB/BS waiting lists. P/PV compared the two groups after 18 months and found that participants in a BB/BS program:

  • Were less likely to start using drugs and alcohol;
  • Were less likely to hit someone;
  • Improved school attendance and performance, and attitudes toward completing school work; and
  • Improved peer and family relationships.
This study and report are part of P/PV's eight-year investigation of a range of adult-youth relationship projects. In other reports, they have examined program practices; volunteer recruitment and screening in BB/BS programs; and the characteristics of adult-youth relationships in BB/BS and other mentoring programs.

P/PV research presents clear and encouraging evidence that caring relationships between adults and youth can be created and supported by programs, and can yield a wide range of tangible benefits. But the critical factors in achieving those benefits are the standards and supports BB/BS programs employ in making the relationships work, and thus in generating the strong impacts that P/PV reports.

This Brief is based on an American Youth Policy Forum held on February 23, 1996, on Capitol Hill.  Reported by Jennifer Cusack.