Right Skills, Right Time: Just-in-Time Trainings For Mentors

Hart, M. J., McQuillin, S. D., Iachini, A., Cooper, D. K., & Weist, M. D. (2025). The efficacy and usability of motivational interviewing just-in-time trainings for youth mentors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1–12.

Introduction

As youth psychosocial needs continue to outpace the capacity of school-based professionals, creative, scalable approaches are urgently needed. Hart and colleagues (2025) tackle this challenge by examining whether brief, asynchronous “just-in-time trainings” (JITTs) in motivational interviewing (MI) can enhance the skills of youth mentors. 

The authors situate their study in the broader context of workforce shortages in school mental health services and the rise of “task-shifting”, a public health strategy in which duties are delegated to less specialized personnel. Youth mentors, particularly those in structured, instrumental mentoring programs, are increasingly seen as viable partners in this work. When equipped with evidence-based techniques like MI, mentors can support youth in developing agency, articulating values, and committing to behavioral goals.

However, traditional MI training methods are lengthy and resource-intensive, creating a barrier to widespread adoption. The idea of using JITTs—brief, just-in-time refreshers or mini-lessons—represents an innovative strategy for reinforcing MI skills without overburdening mentors or programs.

Methods

This randomized pilot trial involved 63 undergraduate mentors participating in AMPED (Academic Mentoring Program for Education and Development), a school-based intervention that combines MI with structured academic skill-building for middle school students. All mentors completed standard pre-service training, but only half were randomly assigned to receive JITT videos before two specific sessions: one focused on values clarification, and the other on goal-setting and change talk.

These mentors received short, asynchronous video modules embedded in weekly emails, timed to reinforce the core MI skills needed for upcoming sessions. Meanwhile, the control group only received standard training. Pre- and post-test assessments measured MI knowledge, attitudes, and skills using a combination of adapted questionnaires and open-ended scenario responses. Usability of the JITT videos was also assessed via a standardized rating scale completed by mentors in the intervention group.

Findings

Mentors who received the JITTs demonstrated significantly stronger reflective listening skills, a core component of MI. Despite improvements on other measures, MI knowledge and the use of open-ended questions, affirmations, and summaries (OARS) were not statistically significant, and showed moderate effect sizes in the expected direction. Importantly, mentors overwhelmingly rated the JITT videos as acceptable, understandable, and feasible to implement. Scores on the usability scale’s “system climate” subscale were particularly high, suggesting that these trainings align well with existing organizational norms and expectations.

Attrition, largely driven by COVID-related logistical challenges, limited statistical power. Even so, effect sizes suggest meaningful impacts on skill development, and the qualitative feedback points to real-world applicability.

Discussion

The most striking finding is the boost in reflective skill, a fundamental aspect of MI and one of the more challenging for new practitioners to master. The authors suggest this may be due to the strategic placement and reinforcement of reflection content in both initial training and the JITT videos. That this occurred in an asynchronous, video-based format is especially encouraging for programs with limited staff or scheduling constraints.

Moreover, mentors perceived the videos as useful and relevant. Training tools must not only work, but must be usable, accessible, and viewed as legitimate by those asked to use them.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

For program directors and practitioners, this study offers several practical takeaways. First, embedding MI-aligned JITT videos into existing mentoring infrastructures can reinforce key skills without significantly increasing training burden. Second, JITTs may be especially useful when timed to correspond with session content that demands specific relational competencies, such as goal setting or navigating ambivalence.

Finally, while this pilot focused on just two sessions, future programs could explore more comprehensive integration of JITTs throughout a mentoring cycle. Combining JITTs with brief coaching or supervision could further solidify learning and offer an accessible path to high-fidelity delivery of evidence-based practices.

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