Sarah E. O. Schwartz

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.

“Somebody Who Was on My Side” A Qualitative Examination of Youth Initiated Mentoring

Youth initiated mentoring (YIM) is an innovative approach to mentoring being implemented by the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program in which youth identify and select their mentors. There is great interest in this approach; however, there has been little study of YIM or its implementation in ChalleNGe. Retrospective in-depth qualitative interviews with former ChalleNGe participants (n = 30) were conducted to gain a descriptive understanding of the mentor selection process, the role these relationships played in participants’ experiences of the ChalleNGe program and in their lives more generally, and the nature and strength of these connections. Findings indicate that youth were able to successfully enlist the participation of mentors and YIM yielded enduring and emotionally supportive relationships. That the adults came from within their communities was viewed by these participants as having expedited the development of feelings of trust and contributed to the relevancy and meaningfulness of the guidance and advice offered.

Validating a Mentoring Relationship Quality Scale: Does Match Strength Predict Match Length?

Youth mentoring relationships have significant potential for promoting positive youth development. Nonetheless, the benefits derived from such relationships depend considerably on the length and quality of the bonds that are created between mentors and youth. Although some attention has been paid to youth’s experience of relationship quality, few studies have focused on mentors’ experience of relationship quality. In the context of a national sample of mentor and youth dyads in Big Brothers Big Sisters community-based mentoring programs (N = 5,222), the current study validated a new mentor-reported measure of relationship quality, explored associations between mentor and youth assessments of relationship quality, and investigated the capacity of early assessments of relationship quality to predict mentoring relationship duration. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

An Investigation of Same- Versus Cross-Gender Matching for Boys in Formal School-Based Mentoring Programs

Although assigned mentoring relationships have typically involved same-gender matches, a growing number of programs, particularly those in schools, have begun pairing female mentors with male mentees. This practice stems, in large part, from the relative dearth of male mentors and programs’ efforts to increase the availability of youth mentoring to young males on waiting lists. We drew on secondary data from the two largest random assignment evaluations of school-based mentoring programs, the Department of Educations Student Mentoring Program and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Americas School-based Mentoring, to explore the characteristics and effects of same- versus cross-gender mentoring relationships for male mentees. Our sample included 1,513 male youth from the respective programs. With only a few exceptions, male youth in same- versus cross-gender mentoring relationships experienced similar relationship processes and outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed along with limitations including the nonexperimental design of the study and unmeasured effects of selection bias.

Community Developmental Assets and Positive Youth Development: The Role of Natural Mentors

This study investigates the role of mentoring relationships in explaining associations between youth experiences of community developmental assets (i.e., involvement in structured activities and community attitudes towards youth) and youth outcomes within a national sample of 15-year-olds (n = 1,860). Results indicated that community assets were associated with having a mentor, and that youth perceptions of community attitudes towards youth were associated with higher quality mentoring relationships. Having a mentor significantly mediated the association between community assets and prosocial values. Likewise, mentoring relationship quality mediated the association between community attitudes towards youth and school engagement, mastery, prosocial values, and purpose.

Relational Experiences in School-Based Mentoring The Mediating Role of Rejection Sensitivity

In this study, we examined associations between mentoring relationship quality, rejection sensitivity, and youth outcomes. Participants (N = 446) were part of a national, random assignment evaluation of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America school-based mentoring programs. Youth in more trusting mentoring relationships demonstrated reductions in teacher-reported behavioral evidence of rejection sensitivity. These reductions, in turn, were positively associated with youth’s assertiveness with peers and prosocial behavior. Percentile bootstrap confidence intervals testing indirect effects demonstrated that rejection sensitivity mediated the association between mentoring relationship trust and teacher-reported assertiveness and prosocial behavior. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.