Information for Peer Education Advisors

College and university administrators have long believed that peers can play a uniquely effective role in encouraging their peers to consider, talk honestly about, and develop responsible attitudes and lifestyles regarding a number of topics from alcohol to multiculturalism. The strength of peer influence has several benefits on the outcomes of student learning, attitudes, and behaviors. In fact, peers play the most significant role in an undergraduates growth and development during college (Astin, 1993; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005).

Despite the fact that a large percentage of colleges and universities in the United States have invested in peer education, little is known about the outcomes that peer education has on being a peer educator. Some researchers have examined the effects of participating in peer education training on peer educators themselves, but most of the information gathered about the outcomes of being a peer educator has been anecdotal.

The unique impact that college peers have on each other is widely acknowledged and cited in the higher education literature (Astin, 1993; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). College undergraduate peers have such an important impact on each other; they are the single most potent source of influence on undergraduate student affective and cognitive growth and development during college (Astin, 1993; Kuh, 1993; Whitt, Edison, Pascarella, Nora, & Terenzini, 1999). Furthermore, the frequency and quality of students’ interactions with peers extends to a positive association with college student persistence (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Tinto, 1993).

College and university administrators recognized the important effect that peers have on one another and as a result look to these students to play a pivotal role in enhancing students’ undergraduate education. Peers serve in a variety of leadership and mentoring capacities (e.g., health peer educators, resident assistants) and present numerous programs to enhance the development of college and university students. Many programs are designed to change perceptions, behavior, and tolerance regarding issues such as alcohol and other drugs, smoking, unsafe sex, sexual assault, racism, and homophobia. The implementation of these programs by peers made the role that peer educators play on the campus community an important part of students’ undergraduate experiences and development.

Peer education programs gained popularity on college campuses (Gould & Lomax, 1993) because peer educators can communicate with other students in ways that faculty and administrators cannot. Peer education programs continue to grow exponentially because college-age students often feel more comfortable talking with peers when it comes to sensitive issues such as sexuality and drug use (Sawyer, Pinciaro, & Bedwell, 1997). In addition to how peers assist other students, peer educational programs are economical and provide leadership opportunities for students (Nichols & Lumley, 1999). Consequently, peer educators quickly become valued and respected student leaders on many college campuses.

Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gould, J. & Lomax, A. (1993). The evolution of peer education: Where do we

go from here? Journal of American College Health, 45, 235-240.

Kuh, George D. (1993) In Their Own Words: What Students Learn outside the Classroom. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), pp. 277-304

Pascarella, Ernest T. & Terenzini, Patrick T. How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. Volume 2, Jossey-Bass.

Tinto, Vincent (1993) Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Second Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Whitt, Elizabeth J.; Edison, Marcia; Pascarella, Ernest T.; Nora, Amaury; Terenzini, Patrick T. (1999) Interactions with Peers and Objective and Self-Reported Cognitive Outcomes across 3 Years of College. Journal of College Student Development, v40 n1 p61-78 Jan-Feb 1999

Peer Educator Effectiveness Books and Articles

Books

Students Helping Students: A Guide for Peer Educators on College Campuses

Written by Steven Ender and Fred Newton

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999

Helping and Human Relations: A Primer for Lay and Professional Leaders (Vol. 1): Selection and Training

Written by Robert R. Carkhuff

New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1969

Peer Helping: A Promising Strategy For Effective Health Education

Written John Sciacca and Tina Appleton

The Peer Facilitator Quarterly, Winter 1996

A Review of Evaluations of Peer Education Programs

Written by Reginald Fennell

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Students as Paraprofessionals in Four-Year Colleges and Universities: Current Practice Compared to Prior Practice

Written by A.W. Carns, M.R. Carns, and J. Wright

Journal of College Student Development, Volume 34, Pages 358-363, 1993

Student User Evaluations of Peer Advisor Services

Written by R.H. Frisz and J.R. Lane

Journal of College Student Personnel, Volume 28, Pages 241-245, 1987

Evaluation of Peer Advisor Effectiveness

Written by J.H. Russell and R.R. Skinkle

Journal of College Student Development, Volume 31, Pages388-394, 1990

Evaluation of a Program of Peer Helping for First-Year Students

Written by J.H. Russell and D. Thompson

Journal of College Student Personnel, Volume 28, Pages 330-336, 1987

The Message and the Messengers

Written by D. Hellstrom

The Peer Educator, Denver, September 1999

Effects of Racial Similarity and Interviewer Intimacy in a Peer Counseling Analogue

Written by J.H. Berg and C. Wright - Buckley

Journal of Counseling Psychology, Volume 35, Pages 377-384, 1988

Pioneering New Support Systems for Non - Traditional Baccalaureate Students

Written by M.A. Brenden

NACADA Journal, Volume 6, Pages 77-82, 1986

Effectiveness of Paraprofessionals: The Evidence

Written by W.F. Brown

Personnel and Guidance Journal, Volume 53(4), Pages 257-563, 1974

Lay Mental Health Counseling: The Effects of Lay Group Counseling

Written by R.R. Carkhuff andC.B. Truax

Journal of Counseling Psychology, Volume 29, Pages 426-431, 1965

Facilitating the Freshman Experience

Written by G.L Kramer and H.N. Hardy

College and University, Volume 60, Pages 242-251, 1985

Using Student Paraprofessionals in the Treatment of Eating Disorders

Written by G. Lenihan and W.G. Kirk

Journal of Counseling and Development, Volume 68, Pages 332-335, 1990

Freshman Registration and Advisement

Written by L. Lonabocker

College and University, Volume 62, Pages 341-344, 1987

Peer Consultants: A New Role for Student Paraprofessionals

Written by N.R. Presser, T.B. Miller and L.S.Rapin

Journal of College Student Personnel, Volume 25, Pages 321-326, 1984

The Power of Peer Health Education

Written by Beverlie Conant Sloane and Christine G. Zimmer

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Total Quality Assurance and Peer Education

Natalie Croll, Elaine Jurs and Susan Kennedy

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Primary Prevention in University Residence Halls: Paraprofessional-led Relationship Enhancement Groups for College Roommates

Journal of Counseling and Development, Volume 67, Pages 465-472, 1989

Use of Student Paraprofessionals in Divisions of College Student Affairs

Written by R.B. Winston Jr. and S.C. Ender

Journal of Counseling and Development, Volume 66, Pages 466-473, 1988

Creating A Home, Making A Difference: Studying Our Network

Written by David Hellstrom

The Peer Educator, September 1999

Students Helping Students: The Emergence of Paraprofessionals in Campus Activities

Written by G. Yamauchi

Campus Activities Programming, Volume 25, Pages 430-436, 1986

Comparative Effectiveness of Student and Professional Counselors

V.G. Zunker and W.F.Brown

Personnel and Guidance Journal, Volume 44(7), Pages 738-743, 1966

Evaluating Peer Education, Studying our Network: a look at the 1998 educator survey

Written by D. Hunter

The Peer Educator, October 1998

Peer Education That Works--Evaluation Results From Three American Red Cross Youth Peer Education Programs

Written by Elizabeth Roundtree. American Red Cross

Presentation to the Centers for Disease Control, 1996

Peer Education in the Residential Context

Written by Dallas W. Bauman III

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Planning for the Future of Peer Education

Written by Myra Ellen Edelstein and Pamela Gonyer

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Developing A Training Program for Peer Leadership Educators

Written by Tricia Nolfi

Campus Activities Programming, March 1994

An Integrated Theoretical Model for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention on the College Campus

Written by Gerardo M. Gonzalez

Journal of College Student Development, November 1989

Complex Issues for Sexual Assault Peer Education Programs

Written by Toby Simon

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Training Opinion Leaders to Promote Safer Sex

Written by Paul M. Grossberg, Timothy S. Tillotson, Craig M. Roberts, Kathy J. Roach, and Brenda A. Brault

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

A Case Study of a Successful Health Advocate Program

Written by Nancy J. Allen

Journal of American College Health, May 1993

Are Peer Educators Really Peers?

Written by Amy Bradura Brack, Michele Millard, and Kinjal Shah

Journal of American College Health, Vol. 56, No. 5, 2008

What Peer Educators and Resident Advisors (RAs) Need to Know About College Drinking

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/NIAAACollegeMaterials/peerBrochure.aspx

What Colleges Need to Know Now: An Update on College Drinking Research

NIAAA (2007). Discusses the research on use of college peers in screening and brief interventions.

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/1College_Bulletin-508_361C4E.pdf

Effects of Peer Education Training on Peer Educators: Leadership, Self-Esteem, Health Knowledge, and Health Behaviors

Badura, A. S., Millard, M., Peluso, E. A., Ortman, N. (2000)

Journal of College Student Development, 41, 471-478.

Peer Education in the '90's: A Literature Review of Utility and Effectiveness

Bernert, D. J. & Mouzon, L. D. (2001).

Health Educator: Journal of Eta Sigma Gamma, 33, 31-37

Peer-Based HIV Risk Assessment: A Step-By-Step Guide Through the Teachable Moment

Journal of American College Health, 45, 297-299

The Evolution of Peer Education: Where Do We Go From Here?

Gould, J. & Lomax, A. (1993)

Journal of American College Health, 45, 235-240

Understanding Volunteer Peer Health Educators' Motivations: Applying Social Learning Theory