Preventive Interventions for Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Abstract. This systematic review examines the meta-analytic evidence on four broad categories of preventive interventions for children and adolescents, including: mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. There were 15 meta-analytic studies that fit the criteria for inclusion. For each intervention type, the target population, main implementation strategies, and meta-analytic evidence are reported. The review considers the effectiveness of these preventive interventions across various content areas and populations, providing an indication of which type of intervention has the strongest effects on what outcomes, where they are most beneficial, and for whom they are most promising. Experimental evidence has demonstrated that mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs can all promote positive development and prevent problematic behaviors. Overall, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs have shown small to large effects on a variety of outcomes, while mentoring has shown small but significant effects. The review concludes with a discussion of key criteria that should be considered when choosing a particular program type.

Predictors of Premature Match Closure in Youth Mentoring Relationships

“…Youth mentoring programs involve pairing children or adolescents with adults, typically, volunteers, who are trained to provide friendship and support to mentees as well as be a positive role model and nurturer of mentees’ interests, skills, and hobbies. Although such programs are widespread, research on their effectiveness has revealed modest effect sizes and considerable room for improvement (DuBois, Portillo, Rhodes, Silverthorn, & Valentine, ; Gutman & Schoon, ). Match length has been demonstrated to be a key factor accounting for variability in both community‐based and school‐based mentoring program effects.…”

An App to Help Young People Self-Manage When Feeling Overwhelmed (ReZone): Protocol of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

“…A review identified that the majority of children targeted for these interventions were aged 5 to 10 years (56%) and were classroom-based (74%) [ 9 ]. A review of meta-analyses of SEAL interventions concluded that high-quality SEAL programs can successfully increase children’s socioemotional and language skills, along with fostering positive outcomes and preventing negative ones [ 10 ]. When compared to other youth development programs offered to school-age youth, SEAL programs are among the most successful [ 11 ].…”

Developing grit : a case study of a summer camp, which empowers students with learning disabilities through the use of social-emotional learning

“…Some studies have shown that successful mentoring programs are the primary intervention that can produce the most positive outcomes in at-risk youth (Kamosa-Hawkins, 2012;Gutman & Schoon, 2015). These authors defined "successful" as those programs that provide ongoing supervision, a consistent and caring bond between mentee and mentor, and longevity of the mentoring relationship (Gutman & Schoon, 2015).…”

“…These authors defined "successful" as those programs that provide ongoing supervision, a consistent and caring bond between mentee and mentor, and longevity of the mentoring relationship (Gutman & Schoon, 2015). This is especially true for at-risk populations like those struggling in school, and at risk of dropping out of school.…”

“…The National Mentoring Partnershiphas published a list of best practices for mentoring programs (DuBois & Karcher, 2005 Most experts concur that the mentor relationship should last six months to a year for long-term effects to occur, especially in at-risk populations (Gutman & Schoon, 2015). Jean…”