Constructs of Interest

CONSTRUCTS OF INTEREST

MENTOR

MENTOR BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

Demographics
Life Stressors

RELATIONSHIP EXPERIENCE

Mentor Program Experiences (Parra)
Types of activities and topics discussed (Parra)
Relationship closeness (see Renee)
Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang)

LIFE ORIENTATION

Perceived-Efficacy (Parra)
Self-Esteem
Emotional intelligence
School Connectedness/Relevance
Scholastic Efficacy
Relationships with Peers/Adults

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YOUTH SCALES

LIFE ORIENTATION

Self-Esteem
Emotional intelligence
School Connectedness/Relevance
Scholastic Efficacy
Relationships with Peers/Adults

ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Believe You Are “College-Bound”
School Performance
Academic Habits
School Value

PERSONAL SUCCESS

Self-Worth/Self-Esteem
Risky Behaviors
Social Capital
Engagement in Productive Activities

RELATIONSHIP SKILLS

Self-Worth/Self-Esteem
Risky Behaviors
Social Capital
Engagement in Productive Activities
Self-Efficacy
Emotion Regulation

In the next pages, we outline the specific scales we’ve been considering to measure each of these constructs. Several constructs have more than one scale listed here—at this point we’re trying to select the strongest of those listed. Where available, alphas and sources for each scale are in parentheses. We also note whether the scale was used in:

(1)P/PV’s Community-Based and School-Based Mentoring Impact studies

(2)Renee Spencer’s evaluation of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass BAY

(3)MentorPro

(4)Other Mentoring Studies

YOUTH BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

LIFE STRESSORS

Youth: Life Stress (Adapted from Holmes and Rahe, 1967)

Have you moved or changed where you live in the last year?
Have you changed schools in the last year?
Has a parent or guardian started working in the last year?
Has a parent or guardian stopped working or lost his/her job in the last year?
Was someone you know well hurt badly or very ill in the last year?
Did someone you know well die in the last year?

Have your parents separated in the last year?
Have you been picked on or bullied at school in the last year?

21ST CENTURY SKILLS

Awareness about college / career PLANNING

College knowledge, expectations and aspirations scales (Watt, Huerta, Lozano, 2007): College Knowledge Subscale = Items 19 and 21

19. Are you aware of any of the following college entrance requirements?

(Check all that apply)

a. Admissions applications _

b. Financial aid applications _

c. Application deadlines _

d. Cut-off scores for standardized tests (SAT, ACT) _

e. Recommended high school curriculum _

f. Student housing _

21. Are you aware of any of the following financial assistance available for college students?

(Check all that apply)

a. Loans _

b. Scholarships _

c. Work Study (student employment on campus) _

d. Grants _

Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale – Short Form (Taylor and Betz, 1983)

(RESPONSE OPTIONS: Complete Confidence, Much Confidence, Moderate Confidence, Very Little Confidence, No Confidence at All)

Find information in the library about occupations you are interested in.
Select one major from a list of potential majors you are considering.
Make a plan of your goals for the next five years
Determine the steps to take if you are having academic trouble with an aspect of your chosen major.
Accurately assess your abilities
Select one occupation from a list of potential occupations you are considering.
Determine the steps you need to take successfully complete your chosen major
Persistently work at your major or career goal even when you get frustrated.
Determine what your ideal job would be.
Find out the employment trends for an occupation over the next 10 years.
Choose a career that will fit your preferred lifestyle.
Prepare a good resume.
Change majors if you do not like your first choice.
Decide what you value most in an occupation
Find out about the average yearly earnings of people in an occupation.
Make a career decision and then not worry whether it was right or wrong
Change occupations if you are not satisfied with the one you enter
Figure out what you are and are not ready to sacrifice to achieve your career goals.
Talk with a person already employed in a field you are interested in.
Choose a major career that will fit your interests.
Identify employers, firms and institutions relevant to your career possibilities.
Define the type of lifestyle you would like to live.
Find information about graduate or professional schools
Successfully manage the job interview process.
Identify some reasonable major or career alternatives if you are unable to get your first choice.

Career Importance (Skorikov)

L1. The occupation I have in mind is the only one I really know anything about

L5. I don’t think that my life will be strongly affected by what I will choose to do

L7. I will only work if I have to

L9. I seldom think about my future occupation

Career Planning (Skorikov)

L2. I know what’s the best career for me to pursue in the future

L3. I feel confident that I can do well in my chosen occupation in the future

L6. I have a plan for where I want to be in my career ten years from now

L8. I know what to do to accomplish my occupational goals

L10. I plan to take additional training to advance in my career

L15. I have discussed with other people what I want for an occupation

L18. I feel pretty good about the career I choose for myself as an adult

L19. I will probably have similar occupational interests twenty years from now

Career Confidence (Skorikov) (General Career Self-Efficacy)

L11. I don’t know what will be expected of me in my chosen occupation

L13. I often question whether I have the ability to succeed in my chosen occupation

L14. I feel that my occupational plans may be impossible to accomplish

L16. I don’t know what occupation will fit into the ‘big picture’ in the future

L20. I am not sure I will be satisfied with my future occupation

INTERNET KNOWLEDGE/SKILLFULLNESS

Internet Self-Perception Scale (Hinson 2003)

Comparison with Others

I seem to know more about using the internet than other kids.
I can use the internet faster than other kids.

When I use the internet, I can figure out how to find information better than other kids.
I am better at using the internet than other kids in my class.

I use the internet more than other kids.

My classmates think that I am good at using the internet.

SELF-PROMOTION

Impression Management Scale –Self-Promotion Subscale (Bolino and Turnley, 1999)

Respond to the following statements by thinking about "how often you behave this way”

Self-Promotion (.83)

1. Talk proudly about your experience or education.

2. Make people aware of your talents or qualifications.

3. Let others know that you are valuable to the organization.

4. Make people aware of your accomplishments.

LEADERSHIP

This year have you… (modified from P/PV work)

Been a team captain on a sports team in or outside of school?
Trained or supervised a group of youth in some activity?
Helped plan activities or events at an in-school or after-school club or program?
Helped raise money for a team, club or other program?
Held an officer position in a school club?
Been a member of student council or government?
Been a leader of a church/religious youth group?
Been a camp counselor?
Been a peer counselor, tutor or mediator (someone who helps solve fights)?
Helped set rules or decide what happens when someone breaks rules at school or at a program?
Been involved in community service, community volunteer work or efforts to change the community (like [examples from iMentor])?

(other examples of leadership developed for this study)

Have you held a volunteer job or internship in the last 12 months?

Have you held a paid job or internship in the last 12 months?

How many months did you (or have you) held this job?

About how many hours do you work per week?

Were you paid for this job?

What do you do in this job?

Did anyone help you find this job? Who?

AGENCY/LOCUS OF CONTROL/EFFORT

Industry and Persistence (Values in Action Strengths Youth Survey, Peterson and Seligman, 2004)

I keep at my homework until I am done with it.
Once I make an exercise or study plan, I stick to it.
People can count on me to get things done.
If a task is hard, I give up easily.
I am a hard worker.
When I have responsibilities at school or home, I don’t always do them.
I keep trying even after I fail.
Whenever I do something, I put all my effort into it.
I don’t put things off for tomorrow if I can do them today.

Importance of Effort (Institute for Research and Reform in Education, RAPS Manual, 1998; HAP)

If I want to do well on my schoolwork, I just need to try hard.
If I get bad grades, it’s because I didn’t try hard enough.
If I don’t do well in school, it’s because I didn’t work hard enough.
For me to do well in school, all I have to do is work hard.
The best way for me to get good grades is to work hard.
If I don’t do well on my schoolwork, it’s because I didn’t try hard enough.

Short Grit Scale (Duckworth and Quinn, 2009)

RESPONSE OPTIONS: Very much like me, Mostly like me, Somewhat like me, Not much like me, Not like me at all

1. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.*

2. Setbacks don’t discourage me.

3. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.*

4. I am a hard worker.

5. I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one.*

6. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.*

7. I finish whatever I begin.

8. I am diligent.

*Asterisked items are reverse scored.

CNSIE Children’s Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control —1500 studies have used the scale.

Do you believe that most problems will solve themselves if you just don’t fool with them?
Do you believe that you can stop yourself from catching a cold?
Are some kids just born lucky?
Most of the time, do you feel that getting good grades means a great deal to you?
Are you often blamed for things that just aren’t your fault?
Do you believe that if somebody studies hard enough he or she can pass any subject?
Do you feel that most of the time it doesn’t pay to try hard because things never turn out right anyway?
Do you feel that if things start out well in the morning that it’s going to be a good day no matter what you do?
Do you feel that most of the time parents listen to what their children have to say?
Do you believe that wishing can make good things happen?
When you get punished, does it usually seem it’s for no good reason at all?
Most of the time, do you find it hard to change a friend’s (mind) opinion?
Do you think that cheering more than luck helps a team to win?
Do you feel that it’s nearly impossible to change your parent’s mind about anything?
Do you believe that your parents should allow you to make most of your own decisions?
Do you feel that when you do something wrong there’s very little you can do to make it right?
Do you believe that most kids are just born good at sports?
Are most of the other kids your age stronger than you are?
Do you feel that one of the best ways to handle most problems is just not to think about them?
Do you feel that you have a lot of choice in deciding who your friends are?
If you find a four leaf clover, do you believe that it might bring you good luck?
Do you often feel that whether you do your homework has much to do with what kind of grades you get?
Do you feel that when a kid your age decides to hit you, there’s little you can do to stop him or her?
Have you ever had a good luck charm?
Do you believe that whether or not people like you depends on how you act?
Will your parents usually help you if you ask them to?
Have you felt that when people were mean to you it was usually for no reason at all?
Most of the time, do you feel that you can change what might happen tomorrow by what you do today?
Do you believe that when bad things are going to happen they just are going to happen no matter what you try to do to stop them?
Do you think that kids can get their own way if they just keep trying?
Most of the time, do you find it useless to try to get your own way at home?
Do you feel that when good things happen they happen because of hard work?
Do you feel that when somebody your age wants to be your enemy there’s little you can do to change matters?
Do you feel that it’s easy to get friends to do what you want them to?
Do you usually feel that you have little to say about what you get to eat at home?
Do you feel that when someone doesn’t like you there’s little you can do about it?
Do you usually feel that it’s almost useless to try in school because most other children are just plain smarter than you are?
Are you the kind of person who believes that planning ahead makes things turn out better?
Most of the time, do you feel that you have little to say about what yourfamily decides to do?
Do you think it’s better to be smart than to be lucky?

CARALOC locus of control questionnaire (Gammage, 1982, alpha=.66)

1. Do you feel that most of the time it’s not worth trying hard because things never turn out right anyway?

2. Do you feel that wishing can make good things happen?

3. Are people good to you no matter how you act towards them?

4. Do you like taking part in plays or concerts?

5. Do you usually feel that it’s almost useless to try in school because most children are cleverer than you?

6. Is a high mark just a matter of ‘luck’ for you?

7. Are you good at spelling?

8. Are tests just a lot of guess work for you?

9. Are you often blamed for things which just aren’t your fault?

10. Are you the kind of person who believes that planning ahead makes things turn out better?

11. Do you find it easy to get up in the morning?

12. When bad things happen to you, is it usually someone else’s fault?

13. When someone is very angry with you, is it impossible to make him your friend again?

14. When nice things happen to you is it only good luck?

15. Do you feel sad when it’s time to leave school each day?

16. When you get into an argument is it usually the other person’s fault?

17. Are you surprised when your teacher says you’ve done well?

18. Do you usually get low marks, even when you study hard?

19. Do you like to read books?

20. Do you think studying for tests is a waste of time?

Questions 4, 7, 11, 15, and 19 are distractor questions. Each ‘‘No’’ response counts as one point, except for question ten where ‘‘Yes’’ equals one point.

SELF-ADVOCACY

Help-Seeking (Karabenick, 2003)

Instrumental help seeking

•If I were having trouble understanding the material in this class I would ask someone who could help me understand the general ideas.

Getting help would be one of the first things I would do if I were having trouble in this class.

Executive help seeking

•The purpose of asking somebody for help in this class would be to succeed without having to work as hard.

•Getting help in this class would be a way of avoiding doing some of the work.

Help-seeking threat

•I would feel like a failure if I needed help in this class.

•I would not want anyone to find out that I needed help in this class.

•Getting help in this class would be an admission that I am just not smart enough to do the work on my own.

Help-seeking avoidance

•If I didn’t understand something in this class I would guess rather than ask someone for assistance.

•Even if the work was too hard to do on my own, I wouldn’t ask for help with this class.

•I would rather do worse on an assignment I couldn’t finish than ask for help.

Formal versus informal help seeking

•If I were to seek help in this class I would ask the teacher rather than another student.

•I would prefer asking another student for help in this class rather than the instructor. (rev)

•In this class, the teacher would be better to get help from than would a student.

PROBLEM-SOLVING

Creativity (Values in Action Strengths Youth Survey, Peterson and Seligman, 2004 [unsure about authors])

It is difficult for me to come up with new ideas.
I often come up with different ways of doing things.
I always have lots of creative ideas.
I think that I am very creative.
I like to think of different ways to solve problems.
I always like to do things in different ways.
I do not enjoy creating new things.
I like to create new or different things.

FUTURE-ORIENTATION