Effectiveness Study of a Swedish Youth Mentoring Program

Karolinska Institute

Status: Completed

Conditions: Substance Use

Treatments: Behavioral: Youth Mentoring program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01138982

Dnr 238/2006:34

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a one-to-one, adult-to-youth primary preventive mentoring program in Sweden. Outcome domains and criteria for inclusion and exclusion of study participants are elaborated in collaboration with the providing NGO, and the program is given as customary.

Enrollment: 128 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14 to 14 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• a self-reported need of the youth for additional adult contacts

Exclusion criteria

• current or past regular use of illicit drugs
• repeated delinquent behaviour or single acts of violence against persons
• ongoing contacts with psychiatric care or social services

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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128 participants in 2 patient groups

Mentoring program

Experimental group

Description:

Mentor and mentee meet at least every second week, for 2-4 h on every occasion, during 1 year (i.e., for a minimum of two school semesters). Meetings take place outside school and work hours, and the pairs choose activities of their own preferences. No monetary incentives exist, and the mentors are laymen volunteers. The program objective is to establish a safe and supportive relationship, by which the youth is assumed to benefit in social, emotional, and academic development, and as a consequence, be less prone to use alcohol and drugs.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Youth Mentoring program

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

No intervention provided, only brief phone calls to control for attention bias