Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan 5;18(1):102.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-5003-3.

Youth with chronic health problems: how do they fare in main-stream mentoring programs?

Ellen L Lipman  1 , David DeWit  2 , David L DuBois  3 , Simon Larose  4 , Gizem Erdem  5
Affiliations

Youth with chronic health problems: how do they fare in main-stream mentoring programs?

Ellen L Lipman et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Youth with chronic physical health problems often experience social and emotional problems. We investigate the relationship between participation in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada community-based mentoring programs (BBBS) and youth social and mood outcomes by youth health status.

Methods: Youth newly enrolled in BBBS were classified by health status (one or more chronic physical health problems without activity limitation, n = 191; one or more chronic physical health problems with activity limitation, n = 94; no chronic health problem or activity limitation, n = 536) and mentoring status (yes/no) at 18 month follow-up. Youth outcomes measured at follow-up were social anxiety, depressed mood, and peer self-esteem.

Results: Youth with chronic health problems and activity limitation were more likely to live with two biological parents, use mental health or social services, and have parents who reported difficulties with depressed mood, social anxiety, family functioning and neighbourhood problems. At 18 month follow-up, mentored youth in this health status group experienced fewer symptoms of social anxiety and higher peer self-esteem compared to non-mentored youth. Mentored youth with chronic health problems without activity limitation and mentored youth with no health problems or limitations did not show significant improvements in social anxiety and peer self-esteem. Regardless of their health status, mentored youth reported fewer symptoms of depressed mood than non-mentored youth.

Conclusions: Youth with chronic health problems, particularly those with activity limitation as well, demonstrate a capacity to experience social and mood benefits associated with mentoring.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Research Ethics Board, and consent to participate was obtained.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Social Anxiety. χ2 = 261.62, df = 211, p = .0101. RMSEA = .030, CI 90% .015-.041, p = .999, CFI = .972, TLI = .958. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. Standardized structural coefficients adjusted for youth and parent baseline demographics and personal/environmental characteristics. Standard errors adjusted for design effects
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Depressed Mood. χ2 = 427.64, df = 339, p = .0008. RMSEA = .031, CI 90% .021-.040, p = 1.00, CFI = .954, TLI = .940. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. Standardized structural coefficients adjusted for youth and parent baseline demographics and personal/environmental characteristics. Standard errors adjusted for design effects
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Peer Self-esteem. χ2 = 275.26, df = 211, p = .0019. RMSEA = .033, CI 90% .021-.044, p = .997, CFI = .926, TLI = .89. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. Standardized structural coefficients adjusted for youth and parent baseline demographics and personal/environmental characteristics. Standard errors adjusted for design effects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Halfon N, Newacheck PW. Evolving notions of childhood chronic illness. JAMA. 2010;303(7):665–666. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.130. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Van Cleave J, Gortmaker SL, Perrin JM. Dynamics of obesity and chronic health conditions among children and youth. JAMA. 2010;303(7):623–630. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.104. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dick BD, Riddell RP. Cognitive and school functioning in children and adolescents with chronic pain: a critical review. Pain Res Manage. 2010;15(4):238–244. doi: 10.1155/2010/354812. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Emerson ND, Distelberg B, Morell ER, Williams-Reade J, Tapanes D, Montgomery S. Quality of life and school absenteeism in children with chronic illness. J Sch Nurs. 2016;32(4):258–266. doi: 10.1177/1059840515615401. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pinquart M, Yuhui Shen MS. Behavior problems in children and adolescents with chronic physical illness: a meta-analysis. J Pediatr Psychol. 2011;36(9):1003–1016. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsr042. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types