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
. 2023 Dec;72(3-4):395-408.
doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12701. Epub 2023 Aug 21.

Project DREAM: Iterative development of an afterschool program with an emphasis on youth-adult relationships

Noelle M Hurd  1 , Janelle Billingsley  2
Affiliations

Project DREAM: Iterative development of an afterschool program with an emphasis on youth-adult relationships

Noelle M Hurd et al. Am J Community Psychol. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

The current manuscript describes the iterative development of an afterschool intervention aimed at fostering supportive relationships between adolescents and adults from their everyday lives. Project DREAM (Developing Resourcefulness, Engagement, Acceptance, and Mentoring) is a novel afterschool preventive intervention aimed at promoting youths' improved academic outcomes via gains in social and emotional development and their connectedness with nonparental adults. The purpose of the iterative development process was to improve the intervention to make it maximally usable and acceptable to the intended users and participants. The iterative development process was informed by data collected from advisory boards, focus groups, interviews, and observations of program sessions. In the current article, we describe the methods implemented as part of this process and fully describe the resulting intervention revisions completed across the 2-year period. We also summarize lessons learned.

Keywords: afterschool program; iterative development; middle school; youth-adult relationships.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Albright, J. N., Hurd, N. M., & Hussain, S. B. (2017). Applying a social justice lens to youth mentoring: A review of the literature and recommendations for practice. American Journal of Community Psychology, 59(3-4), 363-381.
    1. Allen, J. P., & Land, D. (1999). Attachment in adolescence. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment theory and research (pp. 319-335). Guilford Press.
    1. Benson, P. L. (2003). Developmental assets and asset-building community: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In R. M. Lerner & P. Benson (Eds.), Developmental assets and asset-building communities: Implications for research, policy, and programs (pp. 19-46). Kluwer Academic.
    1. Bernstein, L., Rappaport, C. D., Olsho, L., Hunt, D., & Levin, M. (2009). Impact evaluation of the US department of education's student mentoring program: Final report. NCEE 2009-4047. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
    1. Billingsley, J. T., Rivens, A. J., Charity-Parker, B. M., Chang, S. H., Garrett, S. L., Li, T., & Hurd, N. M. (2022). Familial mentor support and Black youths' connectedness to parents across adolescence. Youth & Society, 54(4), 547-572.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources