Examining the impact of mentoring relationships in a school-based drug rehabilitation program : a longitudinal study

Abstract

The rising numbers of young drug abusers in Hong Kong have attracted much concern by the government. Unfortunately, there are few established studies that have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing rehabilitation and treatment programs. The dearth of research in this area can compromise the potential for the improvement of current services and hinder the development of new intervention strategies. The present study aimed to help filling in this gap in the literature through the evaluation of Christian Zheng Sheng College, a school-based rehabilitation program. Across a year of observation, we documented the students’ improvements on a range of outcomes (i.e. self-efficacy, school engagement, civic responsibility, perceived social support and religious coping). We also examined whether the perceived quality of natural mentoring relationships established within Zheng Sheng were related to these changes. Across the four waves, the overall population displayed significant linear growths in all measured outcomes apart from civic responsibility and perceived social support. Results also revealed that the perceived closeness with an identified mentor in Zheng Sheng accounted for differential impact toward youth’s self-efficacy, civic responsibility and perceived social support. Implications of the findings were discussed in particular reference to other drug rehabilitation programs in Hong Kong.