Naida Silverthorn

• Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology)
• Senior Researcher at University of Illinois Chicago

Background: The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding adolescent substance use. Objectives: We examined mechanisms by which a TTI-guided social-emotional and character development program, Positive Action (PA), influences adolescent substance use. Study data come from the PA-Chicago, longitudinal mat...

Reports an error in "Do mentor support for ethnic-racial identity and mentee cultural mistrust matter for girls of color? A preliminary investigation" by Bernadette Sánchez, Julia Pryce, Naida Silverthorn, Kelsey L. Deane and David L. DuBois (Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Oct 01, 2018, np). In this...

Objectives: The aim of this repeated-measures study was to examine the roles of cultural mistrust and perceived mentor support for ethnic–racial identity in a sample of girls of color. It was hypothesized that mentors’ support for ethnic–racial identity measured at baseline would influence relationship quality, as well as the girls’ ethnic identity...

This study evaluated effects of Positive Action (PA), a school-based social-emotional and character development program, on self-esteem levels and processes among minority, low-income, urban youth. A matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in 14 Chicago Public Schools with outcomes assessed longitudinally for a cohort of you...

We describe challenges in the 6-year longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT) of Positive Action (PA), a social–emotional and character development (SECD) program, conducted in 14 low-income, urban Chicago Public Schools. Challenges pertained to logistics of study planning (school recruitment, retention of schools during the trial, c...

There is considerable research that suggests that school-based social-emotional programs can foster improved mental health and reduce problem behaviors for participating youth; in contrast, much less is known about the impact of these programs on physical health, even though some of these programs also include at least limited direct attention to p...

This study evaluated effects of Positive Action, a school-based social-emotional and character development intervention, on indicators of positive youth development (PYD) among a sample of low-income, ethnic minority youth attending 14 urban schools. The study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled design at the school level. A multiple...

Organizational climate has been proposed as a factor that might influence a school's readiness to successfully implement school-wide prevention programs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of teachers' perceptions of three dimensions of school organizational climate on the dosage and quality of teacher implementation of Positive Ac...

School-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) programs can influence not only SECD but also academic-related outcomes. This study evaluated the impact of one SECD program, Positive Action (PA), on educational outcomes among low-income, urban youth. The longitudinal study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled design. St...

We examined the effects of Positive Action (PA), a school-based social-emotional learning and health promotion program, on the emotional health of predominately low-income and ethnic minority urban youth. The study was a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled trial involving 14 Chicago public schools. Outcomes were assessed over a 6-year perio...

Background: Youth problem behaviors remain a public health issue. Youth in low-income, urban areas are particularly at risk for engaging in aggressive, violent, and disruptive behaviors. Purpose: To evaluate the effects of a school-based social-emotional learning and health promotion program on problem behaviors and related attitudes among low-i...

Mitigating and preventing substance use among adolescents requires approaches that address the multitude of factors that influence this behavior. Such approaches must be tested, not only for evidence of empirical effectiveness, but also to determine the mechanisms by which they are successful. The aims of the present study were twofold: 1) To deter...

Review of the LiteratureConclusions

During the past decade, mentoring has proliferated as an intervention strategy for addressing the needs that young people have for adult support and guidance throughout their development. Currently, more than 5,000 mentoring programs serve an estimated three million youths in the United States. Funding and growth imperatives continue to fuel the ex...

Mitigating and preventing substance use among adolescents requires approaches that address the multitude of factors that influence this behavior. Such approaches must be tested, not only for evidence of empirical effectiveness, but also to determine the mechanisms by which they are successful. The aims of the present study were twofold: 1) To deter...

The authors examine GirlPOWER! an innovative program that uses structure and group-based activities to enhance one-to-one mentoring relationships for young adolescent girls from the perspective of the focus, purpose, and authorship dimensions of mentoring relationships that Karcher and Nakkula described. The discussion draws on several sources of d...

Mentoring programs for youth have grown tremendously in popularity in recent years and in many important respects reflect core principles of community psychology. Mentoring of youth is a complex phenomenon, however, with a range of significant processes occurring at the levels of individual youth and their mentors, youth–mentor relationships and ot...

The authors investigated the relationship between self-perceptions of ability and achievement in math, science, and English from Grades 8 to 11 (N = 342). A state-trait model that included an association between stable (i.e., trait-like) components of self-perceptions and achievement as well as time-specific (i.e., state-like) effects during the tr...

This research investigated characteristics of natural mentoring relationships (mentor role, frequency of contact, closeness, duration) as predictors of adjustment outcomes among older adolescents and young adults (N = 2,053) in the Add Health study. Outcomes were assessed in the domains of education/work, problem behavior, psychological well-being,...

We used nationally representative data to examine the impact of natural (or informal) mentoring relationships on health-related outcomes among older adolescents and young adults. We examined outcomes from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health as a function of whether or not respondents reported a mentoring relationship. L...

Gender differences and similarities in the relations of key constructs in Eccles and colleagues (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) model of achievement were examined as predictors of math grades and enrollment intentions for Grade 9 boys (n = 263) and girls (n = 277). A number of gender similarities were found, particularly in the prediction of math grades....

We investigated bias in self-perceptions of competence (relative to parent ratings) for family, school, and peer domains as predictors of adjustment problems among 139 young adolescents over a 1-year period using a prospective design. Regressions examined measures of bias at Time 1 (T1) as predictors of ratings of internalizing and externalizing pr...

We investigated deviant peer associations as a mediator of the influences of general and peer-oriented self-esteem on problem behavior using data from a 2-year longitudinal study of 350 young adolescents. Measures of problem behavior included substance use (alcohol use, smoking) and antisocial behavior (fighting, stealing). Using latent growth curv...

The purpose of the present study was to explore the influence of individual and contextual factors on students' assessments of their own participation in the university classroom and of their professor's classroom behaviors. Classroom participation is considered by both female and male students to be one of the factors related to effective learning...

Results of regression analyses on data from 96 first-year undergraduates indicated that social desirability (Jackson and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scales), particularly scores on the Jackson scale, is related strongly to scores on measures of adjustment (Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire), self-efficacy (Hale-Fibel Generalized Ex...

Social-Emotional Learning and Character Development (SECD) [1] and related approaches [2] have been proposed to improve both student behavior and academic achievement, and a major meta-analysis suggest their effectiveness in multiple domains of behavior and performance [3]. Positive Action is a comprehensive SECD program that involves teacher/staff...