Culturally Smart Relationships Study

The aim of this study is to examine whether and how the provision of a cultural humility and social justice training and support program to volunteer mentors can change their interactions with youth, improve the effectiveness of programs and foster positive outcomes for low-income youth of color. Mentor-youth dyads (N=240) will be randomly assigned either to an intervention that includes cultural humility and social justice training and enhanced support or to a control group. Survey and interview data will be collected from a variety of sources, including mentors, youth, parents and case managers. Case records about mentor-youth dyads will also be collected.

The aim of this study is to examine whether and how the provision of a cultural humility and social justice training and support program to volunteer mentors can change their interactions with youth, improve the effectiveness of programs and foster positive outcomes for low-income youth of color. The study's specific aims are to investigate:

1. The impact of a cultural humility and social justice training and supports for BBBS mentors of youth of color on:

   1. mentor's cultural humility and social justice knowledge, attitudes and approach to their mentoring relationships,
   2. the quality of the mentor-youth relationships, and
   3. youth's developmental outcomes
2. The processes through which the intervention achieves the above effects.

The study is being conducted in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) and participants will be recruited from 7 BBBSA affiliates located in different regions of the U.S. Participants will include 240 mentor-youth dyads and their case managers and youth's parents. Youth will be low-income, youth of color between the ages of 9 and 17 years. Mentor-youth dyads will be randomly assigned either to an intervention that includes cultural humility and social justice trainings and enhanced support or to a control group (business as usual). Mentors will complete survey measures at baseline, 4 months and 12 months. Youth and case managers will complete survey measures at baseline and 12 months, while parents complete a baseline survey. Program case records will be examined as well. A subset of mentor-youth dyads (n=24) and their case managers and parents will participate in a qualitative longitudinal study. The qualitative methods will include two individual interviews of youth and mentors, a virtual dyadic interview of the mentoring dyad, interviews with parents and case managers as well as recorded supervisory contacts with mentors.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* youth is between 9 and 17 years of age
* youth is eligible for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) program as determined by initial assessment of program staff
* youth is a member of a racial/ethnic minority group, such as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American/Native Alaskan/Native Hawaiian, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern/North African or Arab American
* Parents of the above youth who are able to complete study measures in English or Spanish
* Mentors are eligible for the study if they are applying and accepted to the CBM program and are eventually matched with a youth who meet the study criteria above or currently in an existing match with a youth who meet eligibility criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

* anyone who doesn't meet the above inclusion criteria