Pygmalion in the Program: The Role of Teenage Peer Mentors' Attitudes in Shaping Their Mentees' Outcomes

Toward building a better scaffold: how types of mentor support inform mentor-mentee match relationship quality

In the field of youth mentoring, mentor support, as an important scaffold for youth development, is linked to match relationship quality between mentors and mentees. This study examined associations between the support provided by different categories of mentors and internal match quality among 240 mentors in youth mentoring programs. Four clusters of mentors emerged, representing different combinations of purposes for mentor-mentee interactions. Mentors who focused less on the character development of their mentees showed reduced benefits in other forms of interactions, such as fun, sharing, future outlook, or academics in promoting high overall mentor-mentee internal match quality, including relational quality and instrumental quality. While mentors who focused less on future outlook in their mentoring interactions showed reduced benefits for other purposes in promoting internal instrumental quality. These findings were not influenced by mentors' demographic differences such as gender, age, race, and educational background. The significance of the findings for future research and practice is discussed.

Initial perception of the mentoring role and related mentors' approach of autonomy support or control in formal youth mentoring relationships

Mentors' initial perceptions of the mentoring role in formal youth mentoring bonds; and the subsequent characteristics of autonomy support or autonomy control in mentoring interactions developed by mentors after 5 months of mentoring experience are discussed in this paper. The data is drawn from a longitudinal phenomenological study conducted in the Czech mentoring scheme between 2010 and 2017. In-depth semi-structured interviews were collected with 10 mentoring matches over 1 year of mentoring involvement. The results of Interpretive phenomenological analysis showed differences in mentors' initial perceptions of the role, and related autonomy-supportive or autonomy-controlling characteristics in mentors' approach. The benefits and risks of resulting autonomy support or control in mentoring interactions are discussed. The results argue for the theoretical conceptualisation of a child-centred perspective in youth mentoring that aims at mentees' support of autonomy, active agency and empowement, thus arguing for further in-depth exploration of natural mentoring principles in child-centred perspective, supporting approaches such as youth-initiated mentoring, and broadening the discussion on good evidence-based mentoring practice in the EU context.

Identifying predictors of psychological well-being among volunteer mentors in Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) facilitates mentoring relationships between youth and volunteer mentors. Although research has examined outcomes for youth in BBBS, relatively less investigation has been undertaken for volunteer outcomes. This study explored factors associated with changes in psychological well-being among BBBS volunteer mentors. Participants included 593 mentors (Mage = 31) surveyed at study baseline and 15-month follow-up. A classification and regression decision tree approach was used to predict residualized change in psychological well-being from study baseline with match length included as the first split variable, and demographic, individual, and relationship variables included as candidate predictors. Analyses indicated that mentors with longer relationships (>4.5 months) reported more positive change in psychological well-being compared with mentors with shorter relationships. Perceived quality of program supervision was a further predictor within both groups of volunteers. Findings suggest that longer relationships and greater program support may contribute to mentor well-being.

Striking the Balance: The Relative Benefits of Goal- and Youth-Focused Approaches to Youth Mentoring Relationships

Targeted, goal-focused approaches to mentoring can improve behavioral and mental health outcomes than more recreational, non-specific approaches. However, a focus on goals needs to be balanced with openness to including mentees' preferences. This study builds on prior work by exploring the benefits of goal- and youth-focused approaches to mentoring relationships from the youth mentee's perspective, including their associations with relationship measures (closeness and tension) and mental health outcomes (i.e., conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and depressive symptoms). This study was a secondary analysis of data from 2165 youth participating in thirty nationally representative mentoring programs in the United States. On average, youth were 12.3-years-old (SD = 1.43, range = 9-16) and the majority were female (55%); 36.7% were Black/African American, 22.4% were White, and 23.5% were Latino/Hispanic. Path analyses revealed 1) youth- and goal-focused approaches were positively associated with closeness, 2) youth-focused approaches were negatively associated with tension, 3) goal-focused approaches were positively associated with tension. At follow-up, a stronger mentoring relationship (less tension and greater closeness) was related to positive youth outcomes. As the field of mentoring corrects for an overemphasis on intuitive approaches and moves towards more targeted directions, it should resist veering too far from what sets the field apart from skills-training models: the role of a caring relationship.

University Mentoring Programmes for Gifted High School Students: Satisfaction of Workshops

This paper analyses the degree of participant (mentees, mentors, and technical-research team) satisfaction with two university mentoring programmes for pre-university students with high intellectual capacities in Spain. Three versions of a Likert-type scale questionnaire were applied (mentees, mentors, and technical-research team), resulting in a total sample of 43 questionnaires from mentors, 314 from mentees, and 43 from the technical-research team in 43 workshops offered by the GuíaMe-AC-UMA Programme; and 27 questionnaires from mentors, 203 from mentees, and 27 from the technical-research team in the 27 workshops offered by the Amentúrate Programme. The results indicate a high level of satisfaction with the development of the workshops offered by both programmes, on the part of all participants. No significant differences were found in terms of thematic area or gender, although there were differences in age. The participation of the three agents involved in this training offer was very successful, and our results supported the findings of previous investigations. More work is required on the transfer and maintenance of the impact that this type of programme can have on young pre-university students with high abilities.

Adolescent Reactive and Proactive Aggression, and Bullying in Hong Kong: Prevalence, Psychosocial Correlates, and Prevention

The negative impacts of aggressive bullying behavior by adolescents on both the bullies and victims are being increasingly recognized as social and economic problems. At the same time, there are alarming trends in face-to-face and online aggression and bullying behavior in Hong Kong. Since the 1970s, prevention and intervention programs to reduce bullying behavior have been implemented in schools in Western countries; however, antibullying and antiaggression programs in Hong Kong schools only began in the 2000s. There are two ways of defining the target groups for these intervention programs. Programs using a one-factor model categorize the adolescents who exhibit bullying behavior into a single group, bullies, whereas two-factor models distinguish two subtypes of aggression: reactive and proactive aggression. The former approach is emphasized in the Restorative Whole-school Approach with Shared Concern method, which uses mediation to reduce bullying in schools. The two-factor approach differentiates adolescents' behaviors into reactive, proactive, or occurring reactive-proactive aggression based on the functions and underlying goals of their actions. Specific interventions are then designed to address the particular features and psychosocial correlates of reactive and proactive aggression. The aim is to develop the positive development attributes related to specific types of aggression and thus reduce aggressive behavior in schools.

Youth's Adjustment to Cancer: Examination of Patterns of Adjustment and the Role of Peer Relations

Objective

Examine unique forms of peer relations (i.e., peer group vs. friendships) in relation to patterns of youth's resilience and challenge-related growth in the context of cancer.

Methods

In all, 279 youth (cancer, n = 156; control, n = 123) completed measures of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and perceived positive changes. Youth also reported on their peer relations. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to examine patterns of youth's adjustment. Peer relations were examined as predictors of youth's adjustment.

Results

LPA revealed three profiles (42.1% resilient high growth, 21.4% resilient low growth, and 36.5% mild distress with growth). Youth's peer relations, demographic factors, and disease-related factors predicted assignment to profiles. Differences in adjustment emerged depending on youth's connection with their peers versus their friends.

Summary

Peer relations serve an important role in youth's adjustment to stressful life events. Assessment of peer and friend support may provide a more nuanced understanding of adjustment processes.

Results of a utilization-focused evaluation of a Right To Play program for Indigenous youth

This paper presents an evaluation of the Promoting Life Skills for Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program that is operated by Right to Play (RTP). The focus of the program is to help youth develop a variety of life skills and become leaders within their communities. Piloted in 2010 with 2 communities, the program is now implemented in 88 communities in Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alberta. This study applies a utilization-focused evaluation to examine staff perceptions related to program implementation. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis was performed. Themes emerged related to: 1) Integrating program flexibility to help facilitate community ownership, 2) Building capacity through skills training for Community Mentors (CMs), 3) Having a motivated staff and organizational learning, 4) Balancing the integration of culture and 5) Challenges related to adapting to multiple stakeholders and program pace. Findings are discussed in relation to relevant literature and recommendations for program improvements are provided. We also describe program improvements that were made as a result of applying the findings. This research contributes to the expanding literature related to programming for youth and evaluation practice within Indigenous communities.

Youth Mentoring Relationships in Context: Mentor Perceptions of Youth, Environment, and the Mentor Role

Youth mentoring is primarily understood as a relationship between mentor and mentee, yet mentors often enter into home, school, and other community settings associated with youth they serve, and interact regularly with other people in mentees' lives. Understanding how and why mentors negotiate their role as they do remains underexplored, especially in relation to these environmental elements. This qualitative study drew on structured interviews conducted with professional mentors (N = 9) serving youth at risk for adjustment problems to examine how mentors' perceptions of their mentees and mentee environments informed their sense of how they fulfilled the mentoring role. Mentors commonly characterized problems youth displayed as byproducts of adverse environments, and individual-level strengths as existing "in spite of" environmental inputs. Perceptions of mentees and their environments informed mentors' role conceptualizations, with some mentors seeing themselves as antidotes to environmental adversity. Mentors described putting significant time and effort into working closely with other key individuals as well as one-on-one with mentees because they identified considerable environmental need; however, extra-dyadic facets of their roles were far less clearly defined or supported. They described challenges associated with role overload and opaque role boundaries, feeling unsupported by other adults in mentees' lives, and frustrated by the prevalence of risks. Community-based mentoring represents a unique opportunity to connect with families, but mentors must be supported around the elements of their roles that extend beyond mentor-mentee relationships in order to capitalize more fully on the promise of the intervention.

Profiles of Connectedness: Processes of Resilience and Growth in Children With Cancer

OBJECTIVE

Identified patterns of connectedness in youth with cancer and demographically similar healthy peers.

METHOD

Participants included 153 youth with a history of cancer and 101 youth without a history of serious illness (8-19 years). Children completed measures of connectedness, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and benefit-finding. Parents also reported on children's PTSS.

RESULTS

Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles: high connectedness (45%), low connectedness (6%), connectedness primarily to parents (40%), and connectedness primarily to peers (9%). These profiles did not differ by history of cancer. However, profiles differed on PTSS and benefit-finding. Children highly connected across domains displayed the lowest PTSS and highest benefit-finding, while those with the lowest connectedness had the highest PTSS, with moderate PTSS and benefit-finding for the parent and peer profiles.

CONCLUSION

Children with cancer demonstrate patterns of connectedness similar to their healthy peers. Findings support connectedness as a possible mechanism facilitating resilience and growth.

Youth mentoring: what is it and what do we know?

This article serves as a review of the mentoring literature. Specifically, it seeks to review discussions on the issues, particularly the difficulties of defining the term mentor. Next there is an examination of any empirical evidence of possible benefits resulting from mentoring relationships. Lastly, the article explores the mentoring relationship in an effort to determine which, if any, specific characteristics may impact any positive outcomes.

Pathways of influence in school-based mentoring: the mediating role of parent and teacher relationships

This study explores the pathways through which school-based mentoring relationships are associated with improvements in elementary and high school students' socio-emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes. Participants in the study (N=526) were part of a national evaluation of the Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring programs, all of whom had been randomly assigned to receive mentoring at their schools over the course of one academic year. Students were assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. The results of structural equation modeling showed that mentoring relationship quality, as measured by the Youth-Centered Relationship scale and the Youth's Emotional Engagement scale, was significantly associated with positive changes in youths' relationships with parents and teachers, as measured by subscales of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, the Teacher Relationship Quality scale, and the Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness. Higher quality relationships with parents and teachers, in turn, were significantly associated with better youth outcomes, including self-esteem, academic attitudes, prosocial behaviors, and misconduct. The effect sizes of the associations ranged from 0.12 to 0.52. Mediation analysis found that mentoring relationship quality was indirectly associated with some of the outcomes through its association with improved parent and teacher relationships. Implications of the findings for theory and research are discussed.

The test of time in school-based mentoring: the role of relationship duration and re-matching on academic outcomes

The influence of match length and re-matching on the effectiveness of school-based mentoring was studied in the context of a national, randomized study of 1,139 youth in Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. The sample included youth in grades four through nine from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. At the end of the year, youth in intact relationships showed significant academic improvement, while youth in matches that terminated prematurely showed no impact. Those who were re-matched after terminations showed negative impacts. Youth, mentor, and program characteristics associated with having an intact match were examined. Youth with high levels of baseline stress and those matched with college student mentors were likely to be in matches that terminated prematurely, while rejection-sensitive youth and mentors who had previous mentoring experience were more likely to be in intact relationships. Implications for research and practice are discussed.