Finding the Sweet Spot: Investigating the Effects of Relationship Closeness and Instrumental Activities in School‐based Mentoring

Abstract

School‐based mentoring programs are popular prevention programs thought to influence youth development; but rigorous evaluations indicate that these programs often have small effects on youth outcomes. Researchers suggest that these findings may be explained by (a) mentors and mentees failing to develop a close relationship and (b) mentors not setting goals or focusing on specific skills necessary improve outcomes. We assessed these explanations using data from approximately 1360 mentor and mentee pairs collected through a national study of school‐based mentoring (called, “The Student Mentoring Program”). Specifically, we tested the influence of mentee‐reported relationship quality and mentor‐reported use of goal‐setting and feedback‐oriented activities on academic, behavioral, and social‐emotional outcomes. Results suggested that youth reported relationship quality was associated with small to medium effects on outcomes. Moreover, goal‐setting and feedback‐oriented activities were associated with moderate to large effects on outcomes. We also found significant interactions between relationship quality and goal‐setting and feedback‐oriented activities on youth outcomes. We conclude that there appears to be a “sweet‐spot” wherein youth outcomes are maximized. The results of this study suggest a need for school‐based mentoring programs to monitor and support mentors in developing a close relationship while also providing opportunities to set goals and receive feedback.

Attachment Tendencies, Big 5 Personality Traits, and Self‐Efficacy as Predictors of Mentors’ Relationships with Aggressive Children

“…Our third aim was to investigate whether mentor characteristics could be used to identify poor quality matches. Recent studies indicate that mentor-mentee matches need not be exceptionally strong to be beneficial, suggesting that identifying poor matches is more important than identifying very good matches (e.g., Lyons, McQuillin, & Henderson, 2019). Indeed, a critical aim of mentor screening is reducing the risk of harm that comes when matches end early or when mentors behave in ways that are abusive or exploitive (Garringer et al, 2015).…”

Influence of program staff on quality of relationships in a community‐based youth mentoring program

“…More favorable outcomes tend to be associated with relationships in which young persons report feeling closeness or attachment to their mentors and regard their mentors as displaying qualities such as authenticity, empathy, collaboration, companionship, and attunement 12–14 . Better outcomes also have been observed when relationally oriented activities occur in tandem with goal‐oriented, instrumental activities, especially if the choice of activities is collaborative and centered on the youth's interests 15–18 …”

Predictors of mentoring relationship quality: Investigation from the perspectives of youth and parent participants in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada one‐to‐one mentoring programs

“…In contrast, youth who perceived higher levels of instrumental support may have been paired to mentors who placed a great deal of emphasis on learning a new skill or setting goals. Although empirical evidence supports the benefits of providing mentored youth a balance of both emotional and instrumental support (Lyons, McQuillin, & Henderson, ), mentor commitment to instrumental activities may be influence relationship quality negatively if it does not elicit youth input.…”