About
Michael Lyons is an Associate Professor in the Clinical & School Psychology Program at the UVA School of Education and Human Development. His research focuses on the social-emotional development of middle and high school students within a positive psychological and traditional mental health framework. He is particularly interested in understanding the mechanisms and practices in school settings that promote student well-being and school-relevant outcomes such as grades and behavior, using an ecological model. Lyons has a special interest in school-based mentoring programs as a means to enhance student well-being and academic outcomes. His work in this area has been published in journals including School Psychology, the American Journal of Community Psychology, and Applied Developmental Science. He is a member of the National Mentoring Resource Center research board and serves on the editorial boards for the journals Psychology in the Schools and School Psychology. Additionally, Lyons co-directs the Virginia Partnership for School Mental Health with Julia Taylor, which aims to address the statewide shortage of school mental health providers by connecting graduate students to area school divisions and supporting evidence-based mental health services for students in Virginia. He is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion through his research, teaching, and service, emphasizing building on student strengths and competencies and recognizing aspects of identity as assets for positive development.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Medicine
- Psychology
- Nursing
- Political Science
- Psychiatry
- Applied psychology
- Medical education
- Business
Selected publications
2026-01-08
articleOpen accessSenior authorRising mental health concerns among youth are widely reported with growing disparities in outcomes and access among racially and ethnically minoritized youth (Hoffman et al., 2022). Although evidence-based school- and community-based interventions show promise for reducing mental health concerns, implementing these approaches with fidelity remains difficult. Barriers to implementing school- and community-based mental health services include 1) limited acceptability to the youth and families served, 2) challenges accessing necessary training and materials for mental health professionals to implement services, and 3) regulatory and statutory barriers involved in providing mental health services (Damschroder et al., 2022). One solution, which is the focus of this manuscript, is to engage diverse community stakeholders (youth, families, mental health professionals, policymakers) in the co-design and co-implementation of a research agenda intended to redress mental health disparities through improved service delivery and coordination. The current paper describes an application of Liberatory Design to plan a research project focused on integrating school-based and after-school services intended to promote student mental health outcomes. Liberatory Design is an approach intended to engage diverse stakeholders, and address equity challenges through a flexible and iterative design process that centers human relationships and equity concerns. The current study presents stakeholder perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that surfaced through the design process. Implications for researchers considering Liberatory Design are discussed.
Education Sciences · 2026-04-01
articleOpen accessSenior authorYouth mentoring is a popular means for preventing negative psychosocial outcomes (e.g., high-risk behaviors, school dropout) and promoting positive ones (e.g., matriculation, goal setting). Mentors matched with youth through formal programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, are uniquely positioned to promote the development of the mentee’s positive educational attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (EABBs; e.g., academic engagement, grit, growth mindset). While school staff, such as school psychologists, are often unable to directly serve all students in need of support due to lack of time or large caseloads, youth mentoring may be a means to target EABB development. However, a critical precursor to leveraging mentoring for this purpose is understanding whether and how mentoring relationships influence youth EABBs. Despite extensive research on youth mentoring, relatively little work has examined mentoring outcomes specifically in relation to EABBs. This study addresses this gap by examining how young people benefit from mentoring relationships in relation to EABBs. A scoping review was conducted to determine the effects of program-sponsored mentoring relationships on EABBs, as well as which factors influence these effects. Results from 17 studies indicate small to moderate positive effects of youth mentoring on EABB development. Several factors, such as the relational context, the ecological context, and mentoring processes, appear to impact these effects. We highlight practical implications for how school personnel may use this information to partner with community-based mentoring programs to promote EABBs.
PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · 2026-01-08
preprintOpen accessRising mental health concerns among youth are widely reported with growing disparities in outcomes and access among racially and ethnically minoritized youth (Hoffman et al., 2022). Although evidence-based school- and community-based interventions show promise for reducing mental health concerns, implementing these approaches with fidelity remains difficult. Barriers to implementing school- and community-based mental health services include 1) limited acceptability to the youth and families served, 2) challenges accessing necessary training and materials for mental health professionals to implement services, and 3) regulatory and statutory barriers involved in providing mental health services (Damschroder et al., 2022). One solution, which is the focus of this manuscript, is to engage diverse community stakeholders (youth, families, mental health professionals, policymakers) in the co-design and co-implementation of a research agenda intended to redress mental health disparities through improved service delivery and coordination. The current paper describes an application of Liberatory Design to plan a research project focused on integrating school-based and after-school services intended to promote student mental health outcomes. Liberatory Design is an approach intended to engage diverse stakeholders, and address equity challenges through a flexible and iterative design process that centers human relationships and equity concerns. The current study presents stakeholder perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that surfaced through the design process. Implications for researchers considering Liberatory Design are discussed.
Exploring Profiles of Risk and Protective Factors Among Youth Mentees: For Whom Does Mentoring Work?
Prevention Science · 2026-01-16
articleOpen accessSenior authorYouth mentoring programs are an increasingly popular intervention and prevention strategy to promote positive youth development and to address a range of youth needs. Past research shows positive, albeit moderate, effects of mentoring across multiple domains, but there is evidence that suggests heterogeneity in treatment outcomes. Several studies have examined the role of risk factors in mentoring outcomes, but less is known about the role of protective factors. This study examines the extent to which ecological factors outside of the mentoring relationship, specifically, youth risk factors and existing social support, play a role in the effectiveness of mentoring in promoting adaptive coping outcomes, as measured by academic achievement, self-efficacy, and expectations. Using a person-centered approach, we examined (1) whether there were distinct profiles of youth participating in mentoring using mentee risk factors and existing social support as indicators; (2) associations between profiles and youth race/ethnicity and gender; and (3) whether profiles differed in post-program adaptive coping outcomes. Two classes of youth were identified. One class reported higher risk factor presence and higher social support and was more likely to be youth of color. The second class reported lower risk factor presence and lower social support. Classes did not differ in their adaptive coping outcomes. The implications of these findings for mentoring programs and further research are discussed.
Psychology in the Schools · 2026-04-22
articleOpen accessSenior authorABSTRACT In‐service training for school staff, generally referred to as professional development (PD), may bolster a school's capacity for implementing school mental health (SMH) services. However, not all PD results in knowledge or behavior change. In one model of PD, Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO), participants collaborate with each other and a panel of SMH experts on case consultation and didactics. Although ECHO has shown to have positive effects on school staff's knowledge and self‐efficacy to implement SMH, the effects of ECHO may differ depending on participants' professional background or prior experiences. To test this hypothesis, the current study explored whether role, years of experience, and pre‐test levels of school mental health professional (SMHP) skills predicted key SMH competencies (i.e., clinical self‐efficacy, supervisory self‐efficacy, multicultural skills and knowledge, knowledge of evidence‐based practices, and interprofessional collaboration) at post‐test among SMHPs ( N = 47) who participated in ECHO‐based PD. The results indicated that school counselors reported greater clinical self‐efficacy and multicultural skills post‐ECHO compared to other SMHPs, controlling for baseline scores. Knowledge of evidence‐based practices was greater for school psychologists post‐ECHO compared to school counselors, controlling for baseline scores. Years of experience did not significantly predict any outcome measures. The findings suggest that SMHPs may benefit differently from ECHO training based on role. Researchers and educational leaders may wish to consider further developing ECHO to be accessible and relevant to various school‐based professions.
Scholar Commons (University of South Carolina) · 2026-04-01
articleOpen accessSenior authorYouth mentoring is a popular means for preventing negative psychosocial outcomes (e.g., high-risk behaviors, school dropout) and promoting positive ones (e.g., matriculation, goal setting). Mentors matched with youth through formal programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, are uniquely positioned to promote the development of the mentee’s positive educational attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (EABBs; e.g., academic engagement, grit, growth mindset). While school staff, such as school psychologists, are often unable to directly serve all students in need of support due to lack of time or large caseloads, youth mentoring may be a means to target EABB development. However, a critical precursor to leveraging mentoring for this purpose is understanding whether and how mentoring relationships influence youth EABBs. Despite extensive research on youth mentoring, relatively little work has examined mentoring outcomes specifically in relation to EABBs. This study addresses this gap by examining how young people benefit from mentoring relationships in relation to EABBs. A scoping review was conducted to determine the effects of program-sponsored mentoring relationships on EABBs, as well as which factors influence these effects. Results from 17 studies indicate small to moderate positive effects of youth mentoring on EABB development. Several factors, such as the relational context, the ecological context, and mentoring processes, appear to impact these effects. We highlight practical implications for how school personnel may use this information to partner with community-based mentoring programs to promote EABBs.
Social and Emotional Learning Research Practice and Policy · 2026-04-25
articleOpen accessSenior authorRising mental health concerns among youth are widely reported with growing disparities in outcomes and access among racially and ethnically minoritized youth (Hoffman et al., 2022). Although evidence-based school- and out–of-school time (OST) program interventions show promise for reducing mental health concerns, promoting positive mental health of youth, and expanding access, the effectiveness of programs to equitably support students is limited, in part, because of limited coordination of services across settings (Authors et al., 2025). This perspective piece provides an example of how Liberatory Design can be used as a research tool to address complex systems-level challenges such as integrating school mental health and OST systems to improve access, quality, and equity of mental health supports for youth. Drawing on our year-long, collaborative design process, we detail our approach to many of the key stages of Liberatory Design, demonstrating how we partnered with community-experts (e.g., youth, mental health providers, OST staff, researchers) to define the problem of limited school and OST coordination and co-develop solutions. This example illustrates how Liberatory Design can serve as a practical, equity-centered research methodology for developing sustainable, systems-level solutions to pressing challenges.
American Journal of Community Psychology · 2026-05-06
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingThe current study seeks to explore the reciprocal associations between mentor-mentee relationship strength and relationships with parents and peers across 2 years of mentoring. It is a secondary analysis of data collected by a national mentoring organization from youth (N = 1368; M age = 11.5 years; 59% female; White [n = 629], 30% Black [n = 410], 16% Hispanic [n = 219], and 8% multiracial or other racial identities [n = 110]) participating at program sites across a Midwestern state. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models test associations and control for between-person variability. No significant cross-lag associations were observed between mentoring relationship strength and relationships with parents (βs = .03 to 19, p > .05) or peers (β = -.25 to .09, p > .5) over 2 years of mentoring. However, youth reports of dynamic changes within mentoring relationships were observed, with effects becoming stronger over time (β = .22, p < .05). Findings suggest that long-term mentoring relationships may not directly influence parent or peer relationships alone but demonstrate meaningful growth over multiyear periods. Results underscore the potential of mentoring relationships to dynamically grow as an end unto themselves.
Children and Youth Services Review · 2026-01-26
articleSenior authorSSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01
preprintOpen accessSenior author
Frequent coauthors
- 13 shared
E. Scott Huebner
University of South Carolina
- 11 shared
Kimberly J. Hills
University of South Carolina
- 8 shared
Samuel D. McQuillin
University of South Carolina
- 6 shared
Xu Jiang
- 5 shared
Faith Zabek
University of Virginia
- 4 shared
R. Matthew Coward
- 4 shared
J. Abram McBride
Baylor College of Medicine
- 4 shared
Julia V. Taylor
University of Virginia
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