Recent Research

Public/Private Ventures in Philadelphia completed an independent study of Big Brothers Big Sisters' school-based mentoring program in December 2005. Results of the study showed the following improvements for youth who were matched with a mentor for 6 months or longer:

Teacher-reported outcomes

• Increased scholastic efficacy (feeling more confident academically)
• Decrease in days of school skipped
• The presence of a caring adult in their lives - someone they can talk to about personal problems, who encourages them to do their best, and who influences the choices they make.

Youth-reported outcomes

• Overall academic performance, specifically in science and written and oral language
• Improvements in quality of assignments turned in
• Increase in number of assignments turned in
• Decrease in serious school infractions

Initial Study

Big Brothers Big Sisters' one-to-one youth mentoring has been shown to have a significant and positive impact on the lives of children, according to the first-ever nationwide impact study of a mentoring organization.

The Study

During 1992 and 1993, Public/Private Ventures, a Philadelphia-based national research organization, looked at 959 boys and girls, ages 10 to 16, through Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in Phoenix, Ariz.; Wichita, Kan.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Rochester, N.Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Houston and San Antonio, Texas.

The agencies were selected for their large size and geographic diversity.
Of the young people taking part in the study, more than 60 percent were boys, and more than 50 percent were minorities. Most came from low-income households, and many lived in families with histories of substance abuse and/or domestic violence.

The Results

Researchers found that after 18 months of spending time with their Bigs, the Little Brothers and Little Sisters were:

• 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
• 27% less likely to begin using alcohol
• 52% less likely to skip school
• 37% less likely to skip a class
• more confident of their performance in schoolwork
• one-third less likely to hit someone
• getting along better with their families

Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers had the greatest impact in the area of alcohol and substance abuse prevention. For every 100 youth between ages 10 and 16 who start using drugs, the study found, only 54 similar youth who are matched with a Big will start using drugs. Minority boys and girls were the most strongly influenced; they were 70 percent less likely than their peers to initiate drug use.

"These dramatic findings are very good news, particularly at a time when many people contend that 'nothing works' in reaching teenagers," Public/Private Ventures President Gary Walker added. "This program suggests a strategy the country can build on to make a difference, especially for youth in single-parent families."