title: Time-limited, structured youth mentoring and adolescent problem behaviors.
abstract: Youth mentoring can have a profound impact on the lives of high-risk youth. This study presents the Campus Corps program, a time-limited (12-week), structured mentoring program for high-risk youth (ages 11-18), and results from a quasi-experimental pilot evaluation. Baseline and post-intervention problem behavior data from 315 offending youth were used in multiple regression analyses. After accounting for baseline group differences, pre-intervention scores, and demographic covariates, Campus Corps participants (n=187, 63.1% male) reported less engagement in problem behavior, lower acceptance of problem behavior, and greater sense of autonomy from marijuana use post-intervention than participants in the comparison condition (n=128, 66.4% male). Conversely, post-intervention group differences were not observed for peer refusal skills or autonomy from alcohol use. A description of the Campus Corps program design and supplemental preliminary findings contribute to the growing knowledge base of youth mentoring program designs and outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Family Social Science; University of Minnesota, 1985 Buford Avenue, 290 McNeal Hall, Saint Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Lindsey M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Weiler
authors.affiliation: Associate professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies; Colorado State University, 423 Behavioral Sciences Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523, 970-491-5649.
authors.forename: Shelley A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies; Colorado State University, 427 Behavioral Sciences Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523, 970-491-6922.
authors.forename: Toni S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.affiliation: Associate professor, Department of Psychology; Colorado State University, 220 Behavioral Sciences Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523, 970-491-5109.
authors.forename: Kimberly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies; Colorado State University, 422 Behavioral Sciences Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523, 970-491-2171.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Krafchick
authors.affiliation: Department Head; Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Associate Dean for Research; College of Health and Human Sciences, Colorado State University, 303 Behavioral Sciences Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523, (970) 491-5558.
authors.forename: Lise M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Youngblade
keywords: Campus Corps; adolescence; delinquency; substance use; youth mentoring