DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37360.v1
title: Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) Longitudinal Follow-up Study, Central Virginia, 2013-2015
title: Version 1

description: Although delinquency among adolescent girls is rising, little research exists on the long-term effects of prevention programs meant for them. This project is a long-term evaluation of a gender-specific program, the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a one-on-one and group-based mentoring program, in preventing delinquency and related outcomes in girls at-risk for delinquency. The primary research questions included: 1) Is YWLP effective long-term in preventing or reducing delinquency and associated risk outcomes in at-risk adolescent girls? 2) What do mentees and mentors identify as key mentoring and relationship processes related to effective mentoring? 3) Do key mentoring and relationship processes moderate the effects of the mentoring intervention in preventing or reducing girls' delinquency and associated risk outcomes during high school? Researchers collected five-year follow-up surveys from girls who participated in an evaluation of YWLP from 2007-2010. The sample includes two cohorts of girls (2008-09 and 2009-10) who were randomly assigned to participate in YWLP or in a control group during their seventh grade year, as well as a third cohort (2007-2008) of non-randomized program and control girls used to pilot test recruitment strategies and measures, and to boost the sample size for analyses. In the original study, girls were nominated at the end of sixth grade because of individual or demographic characteristics related to delinquency risk and were assigned to YWLP or a control group condition; they completed one pre- and two post-assessments during seventh grade. The research team followed up with the girls five years later and administered surveys focused on key academic, social, emotional, and behavioral indicators. A secondary goal is to assess the role of mentoring processes and relationship quality in explaining girls' long-term outcomes. The research team interviewed a subset of girls and their mentors who were identified as having the highest and lowest quality mentoring relationships during the program (based on their scores on a relational quality scale from the original study). The interview data explores what girls and mentors remember about their mentoring relationships five years later, how they think the program affected them, if at all, and what aspects of the relationships they recalled as helping or hindering the relationship. Data in this release contain two parts: DS1--survey data and DS2--interview transcripts.
description: This mixed methods study explored the long-term impact of participation in a combined group and one-on-one mentoring program that paired college women mentors with seventh grade girls for structured group activities and one-on-one mentoring in an after-school setting. Girls involved in the mentoring program were identified by their schools as at-risk for social, behavioral, academic, or emotional risk, and program aims were to reduce delinquent behavior while increasing the social and emotional skills of the participants. The follow-up study was designed to examine both the long-term outcomes of the program, five years after participation, as well as to explore the relational processes that may influence program impacts, providing greater understanding of combined group and one-on-one mentoring, a lesser studied form of mentoring.
description: This study built off of an initial study of Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) conducted with three cohorts of girls (2007-2010) and included a combination of quasi-experimental and experimental designs. Girls were nominated for the original program by school counselors and were randomly assigned to the treatment or control condition (with supplemental non-randomized control recruitment in 2009-2010). In the original study, youth were surveyed at the start and end of the program in seventh grade, with post-program interviews in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Five years later, which was the end of high school for most participants, youth were given a follow-up survey and school records were collected. A sub-sample of mentors and mentees from the relationships reporting the highest and lowest relational satisfaction at the end of the original study also completed semi-structured interviews during this follow-up period. Analysis focused on comparisons between treatment and control groups in addition to several qualitative and mixed methods analyses to inform practice and explore underlying relational processes.
description: Variables for the follow-up study focused on a variety of academic, developmental, and behavioral outcomes. Youth demographic variables included age, race, ethnicity, parent education level, if they receive free/reduced lunch, and adults they live with at home. Academic outcomes included weighted and unweighted GPA; number of behavioral infractions, detentions, suspensions, and absences; and Standards of Learning (SOL) scores. Variables on youth development included bullying interventions, leadership identity, degree of influence among peers, and self-esteem. Behavioral items included perceptions of and engagements in risky behaviors (e.g. alcohol/drug use, breaking school rules, etc.) and problem behaviors (e.g. aggression, delinquency, victimization). Other items included adverse life events, school bonding, relationship with family, and life changes attributed specifically to YWLP. The qualitative interviews focused on the mentor-mentee relationship, relationship satisfaction, perceptions of successful or good mentoring, and (for mentees only) thoughts on their future selves.
description: Response Rates: Follow-up survey: 45.3% of youth from the original study Qualitative interviews: 86% for youth mentees, 46% for mentors
description: Presence of Common Scales: Positive Youth Development (Theokas, Almerigi, Lerner, Dowling, Benson, Scales, and von Eye, 2005) Asserting Influence (Buhrmester, Furman, Wittenberg, and Reis, 1988) School Bonding (Hawkins, Catalano, Kosterman, Abbot, and Hill, 1999) Problem Behavior (Farrell, Kung, White, and Valois, 2000) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (CDC, 2008) Early adolescent self-esteem (DuBois, Felner, Brand, and Phillips, 1996)
description: Of the original 360 youth, 154 were assigned to treatment, 141 were assigned to control, and 65 were missing an assignment (10 had no data). These original study participants were invited to participate in the follow-up study, relying on information from the school, social networks, or social media. 163 participants were included in the follow-up survey. For the qualitative interviews, the research team identified mentor/mentee pairs with the highest and lowest relationship satisfaction on their original post-program surveys, and contacted them for interviews. 43 mentees and 23 mentors participated.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) Longitudinal Follow-up Study Survey Data DS2: Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) Longitudinal Follow-up Study Interview Data
description: Youth participants and mentors from the original YWLP study conducted 2007-2010.
description: face-to-face interview; on-site questionnaire; telephone interview; web-based surveyAdditional information on the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) Longitudinal Follow-up Study can be found by visiting the YWLP website.