Preventing substance use among urban, African American youth: The potential of mentor-mentee conversations

Background: Early adolescence is a critical time for preventing substance use onset. Mentoring can help protect youth via social influence; however, little is currently known about direct mentor-mentee interactions around substance use. To investigate this topic, interviews were conducted with mentors to explore their comfort with, and perceived barriers and facilitators to, discussions about substance use with youth mentees. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 26 adults serving as mentors to African American youth ages 12–14 in programs in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area. Themes were identified through qualitative analysis and pertained to comfort and engagement, commonly discussed topics, and barriers and facilitators. Results: Although mentors expressed comfort with the idea of talking about substance use with their mentees, there also was an equally salient theme of having not actually done so beyond relatively cursory conversations. Salient expressed barriers to substance use discussions with mentees included fear of overstepping unclear boundaries in the mentor role and concern about having accurate information. Facilitators included training provided by programs, personal or familial experience with substance use, and concern with disparate legal ramifications for youth of color if caught in possession of, using, or selling drugs. Mentors also were in general agreement that a digital app could serve as a useful resource for discussing substance use with mentees. Conclusions: These results suggest mentors of urban youth of color may benefit from additional training and support for engaging them in discussions about substance use as well as useful topics to address in this regard.