Daring to DREAM: Results from a mentoring programme for at-risk youth

Abstract

Recent research and empirical investigations of mentoring programmes have focused on how mentors can help at-risk youth to develop trusting relationships through consistent frequency of contact and emotional closeness. Many mentoring programmes are also geared toward enhancing students’ academic potential. This quantitative study examined whether participation in DREAM, a Northeastern United States, activity-based mentoring programme, was positively associated with children’s physical self-efficacy; global self-esteem; academic self-concept and educational expectations and their interest in travel experiences. Self-report data were collected from participating mentors and mentees. The results indicated that adjustment outcomes for boys and children over ten evidenced the strongest pattern of links with mentors’ reports.

Keywords

• mentoring
• at-risk youth
• self-efficacy
• self-esteem