Jeffrey C. Valentine

Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs for Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review

We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly, however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based “best practices” are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to personal vulnerabilities have varied substantially in relation to program characteristics, with a noteworthy potential evident for poorly implemented programs to actually have an adverse effect on such youth. Recommendations include greater adherence to guidelines for the design and implementation of effective mentoring programs as well as more in-depth assessment of relationship and contextual factors in the evaluation of programs.

Standards of Evidence: Criteria for Efficacy, Effectiveness and Dissemination

Ever increasing demands for accountability, together with the proliferation of lists of evidence-based prevention programs and policies, led the Society for Prevention Research to charge a committee with establishing standards for identifying effective prevention programs and policies. Recognizing that interventions that are effective and ready for dissemination are a subset of effective programs and policies, and that effective programs and policies are a subset of efficacious interventions, SPR’s Standards Committee developed overlapping sets of standards. We designed these Standards to assist practitioners, policy makers, and administrators to determine which interventions are efficacious, which are effective, and which are ready for dissemination. Under these Standards, an efficacious intervention will have been tested in at least two rigorous trials that (1) involved defined samples from defined populations, (2) used psychometrically sound measures and data collection procedures; (3) analyzed their data with rigorous statistical approaches; (4) showed consistent positive effects (without serious iatrogenic effects); and (5) reported at least one significant long-term follow-up. An effective intervention under these Standards will not only meet all standards for efficacious interventions, but also will have (1) manuals, appropriate training, and technical support available to allow third parties to adopt and implement the intervention; (2) been evaluated under real-world conditions in studies that included sound measurement of the level of implementation and engagement of the target audience (in both the intervention and control conditions); (3) indicated the practical importance of intervention outcome effects; and (4) clearly demonstrated to whom intervention findings can be generalized. An intervention recognized as ready for broad dissemination under these Standards will not only meet all standards for efficacious and effective interventions, but will also provide (1) evidence of the ability to “go to scale”; (2) clear cost information; and (3) monitoring and evaluation tools so that adopting agencies can monitor or evaluate how well the intervention works in their settings. Finally, the Standards Committee identified possible standards desirable for current and future areas of prevention science as the field develops. If successful, these Standards will inform efforts in the field to find prevention programs and policies that are of proven efficacy, effectiveness, or readiness for adoption and will guide prevention scientists as they seek to discover, research, and bring to the field new prevention programs and policies.

The Relation Between Self-Beliefs and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review

There has been extensive debate among scholars and practitioners concerning whether self-beliefs influence academic achievement. To address this question, findings of longitudinal studies investigating the relation between self-beliefs and achievement were synthesized using meta-analysis. Estimated effects are consistent with a small, favorable influence of positive self-beliefs on academic achievement, with an average standardized path or regression coefficient of .08 for self-beliefs as a predictor of later achievement, controlling for initial levels of achievement. Stronger effects of self-beliefs are evident when assessing self-beliefs specific to the academic domain and when measures of self-beliefs and achievement are matched by domain (e.g., same subject area). Under these conditions, the relation of self-beliefs to later achievement meets or exceeds Cohens (1988) definition of a small effect size.

Personality and aggressive behavior under provoking and neutral conditions: a meta-analytic review.

The authors conducted a comprehensive review to understand the relation between personality and aggressive behavior, under provoking and nonprovoking conditions. The qualitative review revealed that some personality variables influenced aggressive behavior under both neutral and provocation conditions, whereas others influenced aggressive behavior only under provocation. Studies that assessed personality variables and that directly measured aggressive behavior were included in the quantitative review. Analyses revealed that trait aggressiveness and trait irritability influenced aggressive behavior under both provoking and neutral conditions but that other personality variables (e.g., trait anger, Type A personality, dissipation-rumination) influenced aggressive behavior only under provoking conditions. The authors discuss possible relations between these patterns of aggressive behavior and the personality dimensions of Agreeableness and Neuroticism and consider implications for theories of aggression.

Interventions to increase physical activity among aging adults: a meta-analysis.

Objectives: This review applied meta-analytic procedures to integrate primary research findings that test interventions to increase activity among aging adults. Methods: We performed extensive literature searching strategies and located published and unpublished intervention studies that measured the activity behavior of at least five participants with a mean age of 60 years or greater. Primary study results were coded, and meta-analytic procedures were conducted. Results: The overall effect size, weighted by sample size, was dw = .26 ± .05. Effect sizes were larger when interventions targeted only activity behavior, excluded general health education, incorporated self-monitoring, used center-based exercise, recommended moderate intensity activity, were delivered in groups, used intense contact between interventionists and participants, and targeted patient populations. Effect sizes were larger for studies that measured exercise duration and studies with a time interval of less than 90 days between intervention and behavior measurement. Conclusions: These findings suggest that group-delivered interventions should encourage moderate activity, incorporate self-monitoring, target only activity, and encourage center-based activity. Findings also suggest that patient populations may be especially receptive to activity interventions. Primary research testing interventions in randomized trials to confirm causal relationships would be constructive.

Can We Measure the Quality of Causal Research in Education

Publisher Summary This chapter introduces the notions of causality, control, and experimentation. Although, it is true that all dictionary definitions are circular, it is rare for this circularity to reveal itself so quickly and clearly. This implies that the construct “causality” is very abstract. Questions of causality are best addressed through experiments. The chapter reviews the roles of few researchers in shaping the perceptions of what constitutes good experimental research. Given that a studys quality greatly affects the degree of confidence that can be placed in its results, it is not surprising that there have been attempts to develop systematic strategies for assessing how effectively a studys design and implementation permit drawing causal inferences. Most of this work has occurred in medicine. The Study DIAD is meant to be a consensual based, multidimensional, transparent instrument for assessing the strength of causal inferences that can be drawn from a study. It is not perfect, partly because some issues in experimental design lack consensual answers regarding their impact on quality and partly because choices need to be made regarding what issues are most important to address. The chapter concludes on the note that greater attention to the issues embodied in the Study DIAD will result in improved information becoming available to policy makers, administrators, teachers, and parents as they make evidence-based decisions about the education of children.