Culturally Smart Relationships Study (CSR)

Evaluation of a Cultural Humility and Social Justice Training Program for Volunteer Mentors of Youth of Color

The aim of this study is to examine whether and how the provision of a cultural humility and social justice training and support program to volunteer mentors can change their interactions with youth, improve the effectiveness of programs and foster positive outcomes for low-income youth of color. Mentor-youth dyads (N=240) will be randomly assigned either to an intervention that includes cultural humility and social justice training and enhanced support or to a control group. Survey and interview data will be collected from a variety of sources, including mentors, youth, parents and case managers. Case records about mentor-youth dyads will also be collected.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Racism
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Culturally Smart Relationships

Detailed Description

The aim of this study is to examine whether and how the provision of a cultural humility and social justice training and support program to volunteer mentors can change their interactions with youth, improve the effectiveness of programs and foster positive outcomes for low-income youth of color. The study's specific aims are to investigate:

1. The impact of a cultural humility and social justice training and supports for BBBS mentors of youth of color on:

   1. mentor's cultural humility and social justice knowledge, attitudes and approach to their mentoring relationships,
   2. the quality of the mentor-youth relationships, and
   3. youth's developmental outcomes
2. The processes through which the intervention achieves the above effects.

The study is being conducted in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) and participants will be recruited from 7 BBBSA affiliates located in different regions of the U.S. Participants will include 240 mentor-youth dyads and their case managers and youth's parents. Youth will be low-income, youth of color between the ages of 9 and 17 years. Mentor-youth dyads will be randomly assigned either to an intervention that includes cultural humility and social justice trainings and enhanced support or to a control group (business as usual). Mentors will complete survey measures at baseline, 4 months and 12 months. Youth and case managers will complete survey measures at baseline and 12 months, while parents complete a baseline survey. Program case records will be examined as well. A subset of mentor-youth dyads (n=24) and their case managers and parents will participate in a qualitative longitudinal study. The qualitative methods will include two individual interviews of youth and mentors, a virtual dyadic interview of the mentoring dyad, interviews with parents and case managers as well as recorded supervisory contacts with mentors.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 813
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60607
      • University of Illinois at Chicago

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 16 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• youth is between 9 and 17 years of age
• youth is eligible for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) program as determined by initial assessment of program staff
• youth is a member of a racial/ethnic minority group, such as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American/Native Alaskan/Native Hawaiian, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern/North African or Arab American
• Parents of the above youth who are able to complete study measures in English or Spanish
• Mentors are eligible for the study if they are applying and accepted to the CBM program and are eventually matched with a youth who meet the study criteria above or currently in an existing match with a youth who meet eligibility criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

• anyone who doesn't meet the above inclusion criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Culturally Smart Relationships; The mentors assigned to this group will receive additional trainings and support related to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI).	Behavioral: Culturally Smart Relationships; Mentors assigned to the intervention will receive the following trainings and support: Online Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) trainings (self-paced); Culturally Smart Relationships Training (live, virtual); JEDI enhanced monthly supervision from case managers; Monthly emails with activity suggestions for mentors and youth
No Intervention: Control Group; The mentors assigned to this group will NOT receive an intervention. They will receive the regular training activities that the agency provides.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cultural Humility	Mentor report - Empathic Feeling and Expression Subscale from Ethnocultural Empathy Scale (Wang et al., 2003) - 15 items - mean scores range from 1 to 6; 2 reversed scores items; higher scores reflect higher empathic feeling and expression	4 months
Self-efficacy beliefs for providing ethnic/racial support	Mentor report - 6-item scale (Anderson et al., 2018) - mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect higher self-efficacy	12 months
Perceived Knowledge	Mentor report - Adapted measure of Multicultural awareness, knowledge and skills scale (D'Andrea et al., 2003) - 13 items. Items were added and adapted to reflect the current intervention. Mean scores range from 1 to 4. Higher scores reflect higher perceived knowledge.	4 months
Colorblind racial attitudes	Mentor report - Unawareness of Racial Privilege subscale of the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS; Neville et al., 2000) - 7 items - Mean scores range from 1 to 6; 6 items are reverse scored; higher scores reflect more unawareness of racial privilege	4 months
Mentor support for ethnic/racial identity	Youth reported scale (Sanchez et al., 2018) - adapted for the current study and added 5 items for a total of 11 items - 1 reversed scored item; Mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate more support from mentors on youth's ethnic/racial identity.	12 months
Mentor support for coping with discrimination	Youth-reported 8-item scale created for this study (Sanchez, Herrera, DuBois, & Anderson, 2021); 3 reversed scored items; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate more support from mentors on youth's coping with discrimination.	12 months
Youth-centered relationships	Youth reported - Youth Centered Relationships Subscale of Youth Survey - 5 items. Youth-reported scale; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate a more youth-centric mentoring relationship.	12 months
Activities and discussions on race and social justice issues - Mentor	Mentor reported - 11-item scale created for this study (Sanchez, Herrera, DuBois, & Anderson, 2021). Mean scores range from 0 to 3; Higher scores indicate more frequent engagement in activities and discussions about race and social justice.	12 months
Activities and discussions on race and social justice issues - Youth	Youth reported - 11-item scale created for this study (Sanchez, Herrera, DuBois, & Anderson, 2021). Mean scores range from 0 to 3; higher scores indicate more frequent engagement in activities and discussions about race and social justice.	12 months
Activities/discussions on racial/ethnic socialization	mentor reported - 6-item scale created for this study (Sanchez, Herrera, DuBois, & Anderson, 2021). Mean scores range between 0 and 3. Higher scores reflect more frequent racial/ethnic socialization activities and discussions.	12 months
Mentor Attunement Scale	Mentor reported scale - 7 item scale(Pryce & Deane, 2019). Mean scores range between 1 and 6. Higher scores reflect higher mentor attunement.	12 months
Mentor Attunement Scale - Youth Version	Youth reported scale - MAS-Y; Pryce & Deane, 2019; 15 items. Mean scores range from 1 to 6; higher scores indicate higher mentor attunement.	12 months
Cultural clashes	Mentor Reported Challenges Scale - 3 items (Herrera et al., 2014); mean scores range between 1 and 4; higher scores reflect more cultural clashes in the relationship.	12 months
Openness to adult support	Youth reported - Interpersonal Trust Scale (DuBois, 2006) - 5 items. modified some items and response scale for this study; 1 reversed scored item; mean scores range between 1 and 4; higher scores reflect more trust towards adults.	12 months
Community connectedness	Youth reported measure; Whitlock, 2007; 5 items; modified the response scale for this study; 1 reversed scored item; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect higher community connectedness.	12 months
Mattering	Youth reported measure; Sense of Mattering Scale (Rosenberg, 1981) - 5 items - modified items and response scale for this study; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect higher perceptions that youth matters to adults outside their family.	12 months
Ethnic/racial identity (MIBI - T) - Private Regard	youth reported - Private Regard Subscale of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity- Teen (MIBI-T) - 3 items (Scottham, Sellers, & Nguyen, 2008; Rivas-Drake, Hughes, & Way, 2009); mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect more positive perceptions about one's ethnic/racial group.	12 months
Ethnic/racial identity (MIBI - T) - Public Regard	youth reported - o Public Regard Subscale of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity- Teen (MIBI-T) - 3 items (Scottham, Sellers, & Nguyen, 2008; Rivas-Drake, Hughes, & Way, 2009); mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect more positive societal perceptions about one's ethnic/racial group.	12 months
Ethnic identity (exploration)	youth reported - Ethnic Identity Scale - exploration subscale Brief - 2 items (Douglass & Umaña-Taylor, 2015); mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect higher engagement in activities that explore one's ethnic/racial group	12 months
Ethnic identity (affirmation)	youth reported - affirmation subscale brief - 3 items (Douglass & Umaña-Taylor, 2015); all items are reversed scored; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate higher affirmation about one's ethnic/racial group	12 months
Coping efficacy with discrimination	youth reported - 3 items adapted for this study (Sandler et al., 2000; Sanchez et al., 2017); mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate higher efficacy in coping with racial discrimination.	12 months
Cultural Mistrust	Youth reported - Cultural Mistrust Inventory for Adolescents (Terrell & Terrell, 1981) - cultural mistrust in interpersonal relationships subscale modified by Sanchez & DuBois (2006) - 11 items; 5 reversed scored items; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate more cultural mistrust towards White people	12 months
Self-efficacy beliefs for engaging in conversations about racial injustice	Mentor report - 4-item scale created for this study (Sánchez et al., 2021) - mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores reflect higher self-efficacy	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Bias Awareness	Mentor reported - Bias Awareness Scale (Perry et al., 2015) - 4 items - response scale was adapted; one item is reversed scored; mean scores range from 1 to 6; higher scores indicate higher awareness of bias.	4 months
Social Justice interest	Mentor reported - Social Justice Interest subscale of the Social Issues Questionnaire (Miller et al., 2009) - 6 items - adapted for the current study to assess mentor's interest in engaging in social justice activities with their mentee; mean scores range from 1 to 9; higher scores indicate higher interest in engaging in social justice activities with mentees.	4 months
Authentic self	Youth reported scale - Level of Adolescent Voice Scale (Harter, 2000) - with 13 items (3 were added by current investigators); 8 reversed scored items; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate that youth are able to be their authentic self around the mentors.	12 months
Emotional Closeness - Mentor	Mentor reported scale - Match Characteristics Questionnaire - Closeness subscale - 5 items (Harris & Nakkula (2004). Mean scores range between 1 and 6; higher scores reflect closer mentoring relationships.	12 months
Emotional Closeness - Youth	youth reported scale - Relational Satisfaction Subscale (Harris & Nakkula, 2004) - 6 items; mean scores range between 1 and 4; higher scores reflect closer mentoring relationships.	12 months
Relationship satisfaction - youth	Youth Report of Measure of Growth/Goal Focus in Youth Mentoring Relationships (DuBois, 2008) - 6 items; mean scores range between 1 and 4; higher scores reflect more growth/goal focus in mentoring relationship	12 months
Match duration	Duration of mentor-youth relationships gathered from case records; duration is reported in number of months.	12 months
Academic performance	Youth self-reported grades for 4 subjects: math, reading, social studies and science. A through F scale	12 months
Risky behaviors	Youth - behaviors that youth has gotten in trouble for in the last 3 months: substance use (4 items - adapted from Clasen, Brown, & Eicher (1986), status offenses (3 items - created for this survey), school discipline (4 items - adapted from Vandell et al. (2013)); o In the past 3 months, I got in trouble or could have gotten in trouble for… Responses are a 3-point scale: 0 times, 1 or 2 times, 3 or more times (0 to 2 scale). Higher mean scores reflect more risky behaviors. o In the past 3 months, I got in trouble or could have gotten in trouble for…Responses are a 3-point scale: 0 times, 1 or 2 times, 3 or more times.	12 months
Bullying	Youth reported - In the past month, I got in trouble for or could have gotten in trouble for…adapted from Bosworth, Espelage, & Simon (1999) and Dahlberg, Toal, & Behrens (1998). 5 items - Responses are on 3 point scale (0 times, 1 or 2 times, 3 or more times; 0 to 2 scale); higher mean scores reflect more risky behaviors Responses are on 3 point scale (0 times, 1 or 2 times, 3 or more times)	12 months
Police & Juvenile Justice Contact	Youth reported - "In the past 3 months, I:" Responses are on a 2-point scale (Yes = 1, No = 0); Higher sum score reflect more police and juvenile justice contact. 3 items	12 months
Emotional regulation	Youth reported - Adapted from the Middle School Youth Survey, originally from Prior et al. (2000); Responses are on a 4-point scale (Not at all true, A little true, Mostly true, Totally true); Mean responses range from 1 to 4 with higher scores reflecting higher emotional regulation. 4 items	12 months
Depressive symptoms	Youth reported - Taken from the Health Measures' PROMIS Pediatric Depressive Symptoms instrument (2013). Responses are on a 5-point scale (Never, Almost Never, Sometimes, Often, Almost Always); 2 reversed scored items; Mean responses range from 1 to 5 with higher scores reflecting more depressive symptoms 10 items	12 months
Loneliness	youth reported - Loneliness Questionnaire-Short Version (Ebesutani et al., 2012) - 9 items; modified the response scale; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores mean higher loneliness.	12 months
Hopeful future expectations	Youth reported - Abbreviated Version of the Hopeful Future Expectations (HFE) Scale (Callina et al., 2016) - adapted - 8 items; 1 reversed scored item; mean scores range between 1 and 5; higher scores mean more hopeful future.	12 months
Critical reflection	Youth reported - Critical Reflection Subscale; Diemer et al., 2020) - 3 items; modified the response scale and excluded a survey item for this study; mean scores range between 1 to 4; higher scores mean higher level of critical analysis of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequalities.	12 months
System Justification Scale	Youth reported - (Kay & Jost, 2003) - 10 items - adapted the response scale for this study; mean scores range between 1 to 4; higher scores mean stronger beliefs that the world is a fair and just place.	12 months
Adolescent Critical Consciousness	Youth reported - Critical Agency Subscale; Critical Behavior Subscale; McWhirter & McWhirter, 2016) - 10 items; modified response scale for this study; mean score range between 1 to 4; higher scores mean higher critical agency and behavior.	12 months
Growth mindset	Youth reported - Revised Implicit Theories of Intelligence (Self-Theory; DaCastella & Byrne, 2015) Scale - 8 items; adapted the response scale for this study; mean scores range between 1 to 4; higher scores mean higher academic growth mindset	12 months
Academic self efficacy	Youth reported - Academic Self-Efficacy Subscale-Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale (Midgley et al., 2000) - 5 items; mean scores range between 1 and 4; higher scores mean higher academic self-efficacy.	12 months
Relationship satisfaction - mentor	Satisfaction Subscale of the Investment Model Scale - 5 items (Rusbult et al., 1997; see Drew et al., 2020); mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate greater perceived mentee support-seeking behaviors.	12 months
Mentor advocacy	mentor reported - Mentoring Processes Scale (MPS) - 6 items (Tolan et al., 2020); 1 reversed scored item; mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate higher mentor advocacy for mentees.	12 months
Support seeking	mentor reported - Mentee Support Seeking Scale - 4 items (Karcher et al., 2005); mean scores range from 1 to 4; higher scores indicate more mentee support-seeking behaviors perceived by mentors.	12 months
Mentoring activities	Mentor reported - Adapted Activity Log - 4 items (Karcher et al., 2010); mean scores range from 1 to 5; higher scores reflect more frequent mentoring activities.	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Chicago
• Collaborators: William T. Grant Foundation; Big Brothers Big Sisters of America; Herrera Consulting Group, LLC
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Bernadette Sanchez, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago; Principal Investigator: David L DuBois, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago; Principal Investigator: Carla Herrera, PhD, Herrera Consulting Group, LLC

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Sanchez B, Anderson AJ, Herrera C, DuBois DL, Bourke KT, Sack JK, Lee SJ, Burchwell K, Monjaras-Gaytan LY, Garcia-Murillo Y. The effectiveness of providing training and ongoing support to foster cultural humility in volunteers serving as mentors to youth of color: a mixed-methods study protocol. BMC Public Health. 2025 Jan 24;25(1):294. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21508-x.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 16, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 20, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 21, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 21, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): May 26, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 11, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: prevention; mentoring
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Social Behavior; Prejudice; Social Discrimination; Racism
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2021-0495; 190902 (Other Grant/Funding Number: William T. Grant Foundation)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No