Backgrounder CAMH Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Program The Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Mentoring Study conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is the largest study of its kind ever undertaken in Canada. Who participated in this study? • 997 children aged 6‐17 enrolled in the study with their primary parent caregiver. • 20 BBBS agencies participated from almost every province in Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. • Of 997 children, 51 per cent were boys and 49 per cent were girls. • Participants’ ethnic identities included African‐Canadian (10 per cent); Aboriginal/First Nations (13 per cent); Asian (8 per cent); French‐speaking (5 per cent). • Approximately 450 adult volunteers/mentors participated. • At the end of the study, approximately 700 children had been in a mentoring relationship with an adult volunteer/mentor. About 100 children had dropped out of the study or could not be reached at the final follow‐up interview. Who headed this study? Dr. David DeWit, Senior Scientist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), London, ON Dr. Ellen Lipman, Psychiatrist and Professor, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Who funded this study? This five‐year study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. How was the study done with BBBS? Adult volunteers or mentors recruited by BBBS agencies were paired with children and their families over the course of the study. Some children were paired with a volunteer mentor soon after entering the study, while others were not paired for months. This enabled researchers to compare the outcomes of mentored versus non‐mentored children. Local, qualified research staff hired by the lead investigators conducted the interviews. Child and family participation • Children and parents were interviewed about their backgrounds, feelings and behaviors. Interviews took place immediately after they entered the study (before pairing with an adult volunteer/mentor) and every six months until the end of the study, whether they were paired or not. Participants were interviewed six times over a 30‐month period. • Paired children and parent caregivers also reported information about their experiences in the mentoring relationship and with the BBBS agency at each follow‐up interview. Volunteer/mentor participation Adult volunteers/mentors completed questionnaires about their experiences in the mentoring relationship and with the local BBBS agency. What were some other major findings? At the 18‐month interview, researchers also compared children paired with an adult volunteer/mentor (647 children) with never‐mentored kids (212 children) with respect to various behavioral and social outcomes. (Note: By 18 months, 647 children had a mentor out of 700 at the end of the study, so virtually all were paired by this point). Mentoring had a number of positive effects, with some differences between girls and boys. After taking into account each child’s personal background and family circumstances, results showed that: • Mentored girls experienced significantly fewer conduct problems than non‐mentored girls. • Mentored girls were more likely to display stronger social skills than non‐mentored girls. • Mentored boys experienced significantly fewer symptoms of emotional problems and depression than non‐mentored boys. • Mentored boys experienced significantly fewer symptoms of social anxiety (pervasive fears) than non‐mentored boys, and significantly fewer symptoms/fears of negative evaluations by peers. For more information, contact Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations 416‐595‐6015 [email protected]