Research

Section Under Construction

Results of Study

Initial Pilot Test of the MentorConnections Program

The initial pilot test of the MentorConnections program involved four elementary schools in the North Thurston school district. This was the first randomized controlled trial to examine the benefits of mentoring as a supportive service for military-connected students.

Method

Students and parents were recruited into the study in fall of 2016 and were mentored primarily during the spring 2017 semester. Outcomes were assessed at baseline (prior to random assignment) and again post-intervention (late April/May of 2017). 48 students were randomly assigned to MentorConnections (n = 27; 13 boys, 14 girls) or a no-mentoring control condition (n = 21; 10 boys, 11 girls). Baseline and post-intervention surveys were obtained from 48 students, 45 parents, and 44 teachers. Qualitative interviews for participants in the MC condition were administered to a subset of students, parents, and mentors.

Proximal Outcomes

Analyses of hypothesized proximal outcomes suggested benefits from MentorConnections students’ perceptions of social support and parents’ ratings of stress in the home.

Distal Outcomes.

Results from analyses of hypothesized distal outcomes were mixed or null, due perhaps to the fact that participating children exhibited limited impairment at baseline.

Program Satisfaction.

Parents, teachers, and mentors who participated in MentorConnections were generally satisfied.

Qualitative Impressions

Students reported enjoying their mentor and the program. Parents greatly appreciated having an additional adult looking after their child at school and found particularly valuable the opportunities to meet and interact with their student’s mentor. Mentors reported enjoying the opportunity to support a military-connected student.

Conclusion

Our study was limited by the size of the sample and by the short duration of the mentoring as well as by numerous significant group differences at baseline. Nevertheless, we found preliminary evidence that MentorConnections can be an effective way for schools to support military-connected students and families.

Presentations

 

Corbell, D.M., Sourk, M., Mapes, A., Mutignani, L., Spencer, R., Slep, A., Herrera, C., & Cavell, T.  A. (2019, April). Do teacher-student relationships moderate the relation between parental stress and school belonging for military-connected students? Poster abstract submitted for presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Baltimore, MD.

Sourk, M., Mapes, A., Mutignani, L., Corbell, D.M., Spencer, R., Slep, A., Herrera, C., & Cavell, T.  A. (2019, April). Peer support and number of family moves as predictors of internalizing symptoms in military-connected students. Poster abstract submitted for presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Baltimore, MD.

Corbell, D.M., Sourk, M., Mapes, A., Mutignani, L., Everly, E., & Cavell, T.  A. (2018, October). Do teacher-student relationships moderate the relation between parental stress and school belonging for military-connected students? Poster presented at the National Conference in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Kansas City, MO.

 Spencer, R., Cavell, T. A., Slep, A., Herrera, C., Gowdy, G., Mutignani, L., Heubach, J. (2018, June). It takes a village: Developing a model for delivering school-based mentoring to military-connected students. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. Washington, DC.

Ocampo, M., Sourk, M., Cavell, T.A., Spencer, R.., Slep, A., Herrera, C., Heubach, J., & Gowdy, G. (2016, October). Supporting military connected students within the school context. Poster presented at the National Conference in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Lawrence, KS.

Cavell, T. A., Spencer, R., Slep, A., & Heubach, J. (2016, June). Military Student Mentoring: Project overview. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.

Spencer, R., Cavell, T. A., Slep, A., Gowdy, G., Ocampo, M., Heubach, J., & Strathdee, R. (2016, June). Keeping it safe and fun: Parent perspectives on school-based mentoring for military-connected youthPoster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.

Spencer, R., Cavell, T. A., Slep, A., Gowdy, G., Ocampo, M., Heubach, J., Herrera, C., & Strathdee, R. (2016, June). Mentoring military-connected youth: A survey of program practicesPoster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.

Cavell, T. A., Spencer, R., Slep, A., Ocampo, M., Herrera, C., Gowdy, G., & Heubach, J. (2016, June). Identifying and describing school-based support for military-connected youth: Who and howPoster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.

Slep, A., Cavell, T. A., Spencer, R., Heubach, J., Ocampo, M., & Gowdy, G. (2016, June). Launching MSM: Year 2 feasibility findingsPoster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.