Abstract

MARINO, Claudia et al. Can mentoring promote self-esteem and school connectedness? An evaluation of the Mentor-UP project. Psychosocial Intervention [online]. 2020, vol.29, n.1, pp.1-8.  Epub Mar 09, 2020. ISSN 2173-4712.  https://dx.doi.org/10.5093/pi2019a13.

Research in the United States has shown that youth mentoring is a promising strategy for increasing self-esteem and school connectedness in at-risk youth. There has been little confirmation of those findings internationally. The current study evaluates the impact of mentoring by trained university students on children's self-esteem and school connectedness compared to schoolmates not involved in the program. Mentor-UP is a school- and community-based weekly mentoring program implemented in northern Italy over a period of seven months. Participants (209 students – 34 in the experimental group and 175 in the comparison group – aged between 11 and 13, 56% male, 27% immigrants) reported their levels of self-esteem and school connectedness at the beginning and at the end of the program. Results showed a significant increase in mentees' self-esteem compared to the control group, while the difference in school-connectedness was nonsignificant. The findings support the effectiveness of Mentor-UP in nurturing youth's self-esteem.

Keywords : Youth mentoring; Self-esteem; School connectedness; Italy; Prevention programs.

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