Randomized Controlled Trial of Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring for Prevention of Crime and Delinquency

NCT03495635 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2017-0291
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,361
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) community-based mentoring (CBM) program for prevention of crime and delinquency/conduct problems, including risk and protective factors for these outcomes. Approximately 2,500 youth ages 10-16 will be randomly assigned to either the CBM program or an untreated control group. Study outcomes will be assessed over a 4-year period via both youth- and parent-report surveys and official records of police/court contact (e.g., arrests).

Conditions

Crime; Juvenile Delinquency

Keywords

mentoring; prevention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Arrest

  0/1 indicator based on official police/court/juvenile office records of any of the following types of offenses-person offense, property offense, drug law violation, public order offense, or status offense

  4 years

• Arrest

  0/1 indicator based on official police/court/juvenile office records of any of the following types of offenses-person offense, property offense, drug law violation, public order offense, or status offense

  18 months

• Delinquency

  0/1 indicator based on youth and parent report using 13 items from the Add Health Study (Bearman et al., 1997)

  18 months

• Substance use

  0/1 indicator based on youth report of alcohol use to point of drunkenness, tobacco, or illicit drug use

  18 months

Secondary Outcomes (31)

• Truancy

  18 months

• Association with deviant peers

  18 months

• School suspensions

  18 months

• Depressive symptoms

  18 months

• Impulsivity

  18 months

Study Arms (2)

BBBS Community-Based Mentoring

EXPERIMENTAL

Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring Program

Behavioral: Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring Program

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Not eligible to participate in a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program, but may participate in other mentoring programs.

Interventions

Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring Program BEHAVIORAL

One-to-one mentoring provided by an adult volunteer with training and ongoing monitoring and support from program staff.

BBBS Community-Based Mentoring

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• youth is 10 years of age or older
• youth is likely to be eligible for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring program as determined by initial assessment of program staff

You may not qualify if:

• youth has a severe learning, cognitive or other intellectual disability as reported by the parent
• parent does not both speak and read either English or Spanish
• youth does not have a sibling who is already a study participant
• youth has been matched with a Big Brother/Sister through one of the affiliate's programs in the past
• youth has a sibling currently receiving services from the affiliate for whom services were initiated (i.e., inquiry was made) prior to start of the study
• youth belongs to a group that the affiliate is excluding from study participation based on previous agreement with the research team
• youth is designated as an exception case by affiliate staff (each affiliate will have the opportunity to exclude up to 4% of study-eligible youth from the research prior to consent and random assignment for any reason deemed appropriate (e.g., perceived high need of the youth))

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Herrera Consulting Group, LLC: collaborator
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: collaborator
• National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges: collaborator
• University of Illinois at Chicago: lead
• Laura and John Arnold Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, 60608, United States

Location

Related Publications (20)

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• Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, Bauman KE, Harris KM, Jones J, Tabor J, Beuhring T, Sieving RE, Shew M, Ireland M, Bearinger LH, Udry JR. Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA. 1997 Sep 10;278(10):823-32. doi: 10.1001/jama.278.10.823.

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• Bowers, E. P., Geldhof, G. J., Schmid, K. L., Napolitano, C. M., Minor, K., & Lerner, J. V. (2012). Relationships with important nonparental adults and positive youth development: An examination of youth self-regulatory strengths as mediators. Research in Human Development, 9, 298-316. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2012.729911

  BACKGROUND

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  BACKGROUND

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  BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 21291446 BACKGROUND

• Herrera, C., Linden, L. L., Arbreton, J. A. & Grossman, J. B. (2011). Testing the impact of Higher Achievement's year-round out-of-school-time program on academic outcomes. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures.

  BACKGROUND

• Irwin DE, Stucky B, Langer MM, Thissen D, Dewitt EM, Lai JS, Varni JW, Yeatts K, DeWalt DA. An item response analysis of the pediatric PROMIS anxiety and depressive symptoms scales. Qual Life Res. 2010 May;19(4):595-607. doi: 10.1007/s11136-010-9619-3. Epub 2010 Mar 7.

  PMID: 20213516 BACKGROUND

• Jarjoura, G. R. et al. (2017). The Evaluation of The Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Manuscript in preparation.

  BACKGROUND

• Muris, P. (2001). A brief questionnaire for measuring self-efficacy in youths. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 23, 145-149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1010961119608

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• Orpinas P, & Frankowski R. (2001). The aggression scale: a self-report measure of aggressive behavior for young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 51-68.

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  PMID: 11016569 BACKGROUND

• Bavarian N, Lewis KM, Acock A, DuBois DL, Yan Z, Vuchinich S, Silverthorn N, Day J, Flay BR. Effects of a School-Based Social-Emotional and Character Development Program on Health Behaviors: A Matched-Pair, Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial. J Prim Prev. 2016 Feb;37(1):87-105. doi: 10.1007/s10935-016-0417-8.

  PMID: 26781590 BACKGROUND

• Skinner, E. A., Kindermann, T. A., & Furrer, C. J. (2009). A motivational perspective on engagement and disaffection: Conceptualization and assessment of children's behavioral and emotional participation in academic activities in the classroom. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69, 493-525. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013164408323233

  BACKGROUND

• Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 30-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2

  BACKGROUND

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  BACKGROUND

• Forrest CB, Ravens-Sieberer U, Devine J, Becker BD, Teneralli R, Moon J, Carle A, Tucker CA, Bevans KB. Development and Evaluation of the PROMIS(R) Pediatric Positive Affect Item Bank, Child-Report and Parent-Proxy Editions. J Happiness Stud. 2018 Mar;19(3):699-718. doi: 10.1007/s10902-016-9843-9. Epub 2017 Jan 21.

  PMID: 29760578 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• David L DuBois, PhD

  University of Illinois at Chicago

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Carla Herrera, PhD

  Herrera Consulting Group, LLC

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: The research team will collect the 18-month follow-up surveys from participating youth and parents; masking of study condition will not be feasible for data collection staff, but primary study analyses will be conducted by the investigators with study condition masked. Juvenile justice authorities providing arrest record information will be masked to study arm of participants as will all those on the research team who are involved in coding this information.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Community Health Sciences

Model Details: Enrolled participants will be assigned randomly to participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring Program (treatment group) or to a wait-list control group that is not eligible to participate in the program for a period of 4 years.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 4, 2018
• First Posted: April 12, 2018
• Study Start: February 2, 2018
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2025
• Study Completion: June 30, 2025
• Last Updated: January 22, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data will become available August 2024 and will be permanently available thereafter
• Access Criteria: Requests to access the IPD will be made in writing to the Principal Investigator and approved so long as there is a valid scientific rationale and appropriate IRB approval. The mechanism for sharing the data, all of which will be de-identified, will be secure and encrypted FTP and subject to approval of the PI's institutional IRB. Supporting information (see above list) will be available on the Open Science Framework at the web address below.

Locations

US (1)