title: Systematic review of mentoring to prevent or reduce alcohol and drug use by adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Use of alcohol and illicit drugs by adolescents is an important problem worldwide.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To undertake a systematic review of mentoring in preventing/reducing adolescents' alcohol and drug use.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched 8 multidisciplinary electronic databases, the gray literature, and reference lists of included studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of mentoring in adolescents to prevent/reduce alcohol or drug use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six RCTs were included in this review. Four RCTs provided evidence on mentoring and alcohol use. The 2 that could be pooled showed less alcohol use by mentored youth. Six RCTs on mentoring and drug use were identified, 2 of which provided some evidence of the effect of mentoring in reducing drug use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only 1 RCT was at low risk of bias for randomization. None of the studies stated they concealed allocation. Of the 6 included studies, 1 was at high risk and 5 at unclear risk for attrition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Four RCTs provided evidence on mentoring and alcohol use, and the 2 that could be pooled showed less use by mentored youth. The 6 RCTs that provided evidence on drug use could not be pooled. Two did provide some evidence that mentoring is associated with less drug use. Very few well-designed studies evaluate the effects of mentoring on adolescent drug and alcohol use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. rthomas@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Roger E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Diane L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Lorenzetti
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Spragins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008611:Mentors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*
keywords: adolescents; alcohol drinking; children; mentors; substance-related disorders