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MentoringRelationshipsand
ProgramsforYouth
JeanE.Rhodes
1andDavidL.DuBois
21UniversityofMassachusetts,Boston,and
2UniversityofIllinoisatChicago
ABSTRACTŠ
Mentoringisoneofthemostpopularsocial
interventionsinAmericansociety,withanestimatedthree
millionyouthinformalone-to-onerelationships.Studies
haverevealedsigniÞcantassociationsbetweenyouth
involvementinmentoringrelationshipsandpositive
developmentaloutcomes.Theseassociationsaremodest,
however,anddependonseveralinterveningprocesses.
Centrallyimportantistheformationofclose,enduring
connectionsbetweenmentorsandyouththatfosterpositive
developmentalchange.Effectsofmentoringprograms
likewisetypicallyhavebeensmallinmagnitude,butthey
increasesystematicallywiththeuseofprogrampractices
likelytosupportrelationshipdevelopment.Gapsbetween
researchandpracticeareevidentbothintheindiscrimi-
nateuseoftheterm
mentoring
inthepreventionÞeldand
inafocusonthegrowthandefÞciencyofmentoringpro-
gramsattheexpenseofquality.Continuedexpansion
ofeffectivementoringwillrequireabetteralignmentof
researchandpractice.
KEYWORDSŠ
mentoring;preventiveintervention;nonpar-
entadults;youth
OrganizedapproachestomentoringyouthintheUnitedStates
datebacktoreform-orientedinitiativesinthejuvenilecourt
systemmorethanacenturyago.TheseeffortsgaverisetoBig
BrothersBigSistersofAmerica(BBBSA),thelargestandmost
well-knownprogramofitskind.Thepastdecadehaswitnessed
aremarkableproliferationofsimilarlyfocusedprogramsthat
paircaring,adultvolunteerswithyouthfromat-riskback-
grounds.Anestimatedthreemillionyouthareinformalone-to-
onementoringrelationshipsintheUnitedStates,andfunding
andgrowthimperativescontinuetofuelprogramexpansion
(MENTOR,2006).Evenlargernumbersofyouthreportexpe-
riencingmentoringrelationshipsoutsideofthesetypesof
programswithadultssuchasteachers,coaches,neighbors,and
extendedfamily.
Anecdotalaccountsoftheprotectivequalitiesofmentoringre-
lationshipsandtheirlife-transformingeffectsonyoungpeople
aboundinthemedia.YouthmentoringhasenteredtheAmerican
lexicon,appearingonaU.S.postagestampandincountlesspublic
serviceannouncements.Federalfundingformentoringprograms
hasincreasedsubstantiallyaswell,withannualcongressional
appropriationsof$100millionsince2004.Itisonlyrelatively
recently,however,thatsocialandbehavioralscientistshavefo-
cusedtheirattentiononamorerigorousexaminationofmentoring
forchildrenandadolescents.Inthisarticle,wereviewthehigh-
lightsofthisresearch.Wethencriticallyexaminerecenttrendsin
practiceandpolicyinviewofcurrentdirectionsinresearch.
MENTORINGRELATIONSHIPSANDYOUTH
OUTCOMESNumerousstudieshaveexaminedmentoringrelationshipsand
theirconsequencesforyouthdevelopment.Illustratively,ina
longitudinalstudyofanationallyrepresentativesampleofyoung
adults,DuBoisandSilverthorn(2005)foundthatthosewhore-
portedhavinghadamentoringrelationshipduringadolescence
exhibitedsigniÞcantlybetteroutcomeswithinthedomainsof
educationandwork(high-schoolcompletion,collegeatten-
dance,employment),mentalhealth(self-esteem,lifesatisfac-
tion),problembehavior(gangmembership,Þghting,risktaking),
andhealth(exercise,birthcontroluse).(Theycontrolledwhere
possibleforthesameorrelatedmeasuresatthestartofthestudy
aswellasindicesofindividualandenvironmentalrisk.)The
magnitudeoftheseassociations,however,wasfairlysmall,with
thereductioninriskfornegativeoutcomesattributabletohaving
amentortypicallylessthan10%.SimilarÞndingshaveemerged
inevaluationsofprogramsinwhichmentoringrelationshipsare
arrangedandsupportedbyprogramstaff.Ameta-analysisof
55mentoringprogramevaluations(DuBois,Holloway,Valen-
tine,&Cooper,2002)foundbeneÞtsofparticipationintheareas
ofemotional/psychologicalwell-being,involvementinproblem
orhigh-riskbehavior,andacademicoutcomes.Yet,incompar-
AddresscorrespondencetoJeanRhodes,DepartmentofPsychology,
UniversityofMassachusetts,100MorrisseyBlvd,Boston,MA02125;
e-mail:jean.rhodes@umb.edu.
CURRENTDIRECTIONSINPSYCHOLOGICALSCIENCE
254Volume17ÑNumber4
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