Big Brothers Big Sisters linked to lower violence and substance use among youth

Mentorship programs are valued by parents and communities for their ability to improve the self-esteem and relationships of youth participants. Now, new research from the University of Illinois Chicago shows that kids who participate in Big Brothers Big Sisters, the oldest and largest such program in the United States, are less likely to engage in violent behavior or substance use than those who don't.

For the randomized control study, published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, UIC researchers followed the trajectories of more than 1,300 kids ages 10 and older through four years of interviews, surveys and official records. In addition to decreased likelihood of violence and substance use, the study authors found that kids in the program reported higher self-esteem and overall mental health compared to their counterparts who did not participate in Big Brothers Big Sisters.

"Mentoring has the potential to influence youth in almost any area of their health and development," said David DuBois, professor emeritus in the UIC School of Public Health and lead author of the work. With a large and long-term study, DuBois and his co-authors hoped to provide hard data for those impacts.

"With this study, we wanted to update the evidence, expand the time horizon to better capture the full extent of this program and also expand the scope to look at other areas where young people might benefit," he said.

Founded in the early 1900s, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program partners youth with volunteer adult mentors. Once matched up, the pairs regularly spend time together doing activities aligning with the "Little's" interests, while program staff have regular check-ins with the pairs.

"Where the rubber meets the road is in the relationship building," said DuBois, who himself has volunteered as a "Big" in the program years ago. By getting to know the child, their family and their interests and forming a meaningful connection the hope is to have a positive impact in that child's life, he said.

"Unlike many programs out there in the community for the young people, it doesn't have a defined beginning and end point. Families and mentors typically are asked to make an initial commitment of one year. But often the relationship continues well beyond this time frame and can deepen, potentially over several years. That was one thing we wanted to expand on in the study by following youth over several years," DuBois said.

Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates operate in all 50 states, in rural, suburban and urban communities. For the study, the researchers worked with 17 Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates in in 13 states located in cities like Los Angeles and Peoria that serve youth comprising a cross section of demographic backgrounds.

Using industry-standard questions designed by groups such as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the researchers surveyed participants and their parents on the children's mental health, educational progress, substance use and social and personal skills. They also looked at official records to track any arrests of participants and tracked responses after 18 months and four years.

After a year and a half in the program, "We were already seeing the benefits for substance abuse, delinquent behavior and some things like aggressive tendencies," DuBois said. And at the four-year mark, youth participants reported significantly lower rates of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation.

"As the relationships got deeper, it seems that something about the mentoring experience allowed youth to be more resilient to risks for mental health issues," DuBois said.

The kids also reported higher rates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. From their perspective, "there was somebody in the world who wanted to spend time with me, for no reason other than that they enjoyed it," DuBois said. "And that's good for your mental health."

DuBois hopes the study and its findings reinforce appreciation for the benefits of investing in programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters. Though program mentors serve as volunteers, a large amount of paid staff time is required to match youth with mentors and help keep the program going.

And though the study focused on Big Brothers Big Sisters, DuBois said, the benefits of mentorship extend to other opportunities, as well.

"There is value in being a caring attentive adult, whether as a Little League coach, a Girl Scout troop leader, or whatever the case may be," he said.

DuBois' own experience serving as a Big Brother shows the potential rewards reaped by the adult mentor. "It reached me at a time when I was making my way forward in my first job as a professor, working really hard and not developing a lot of outside interests and activities," DuBois said. Matching with his mentee gave him a new purpose. "It really greased the wheels for me to be out in the community."

Other UIC authors of the study include Julius Rivera, Vanessa Brechling and Staci Root.