“If It Weren’t for Them, I’d Probably Be Lost”: The Diversity and Function of Natural Mentors Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine one interpersonal relationship—natural mentoring relationships—that may promote healthy development among young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM), a population at disproportionate risk of multiple psychosocial health issues. We analyzed data from interviews with 168 YBMSM. We used content analysis to identify who participants cited as mentors, their personal characteristics, and the functions they played in youths’ lives. Participants frequently cited women and family members as mentors. Participants preferred as mentors people with whom they shared key attributes and who they considered successful and resilient. Mentors played roles in participant’s identity construction, cognitive development, and emotional development. Findings suggest that mentors have significant influence in the development of YBMSM. Incorporating natural mentors into health promotion interventions may be one means of enhancing the cultural relevance of interventions for this population.

Natural Mentoring and LGBTQ Youth: A Systematic Review

“…Of the eight studies included in this review, four were quantitative (Drevon et al 2016;Gastic and Johnson 2009;Singer, 2015;Sterrett et al 2015), three were qualitative (Mulcahy et al 2016;Reed et al 2018;Torres et al 2012), and one was a mixed-methods design (Johnson and Gastic 2015). All of the studies were cross-sectional and were descriptive and/or associational.…”

“…A broad range of natural mentoring constructs were examined, including their influence on mental health outcomes and substance use (Drevon et al 2016;Singer 2015), how they protect the well-being of sexual minority youth (Torres et al 2012) processes whereby these relationships are established (Mulcahy et al 2016), who participants identify as mentors (Reed et al 2018), mentor characteristics (Reed et al 2018;Sterrett et al 2015), their functions (Reed et al 2018), how they influence education attainment (Drevon et al 2016;Gastic and Johnson 2009), and the timing and context of mentoring relationships (Johnson and Gastic 2015). One study examined additional constructs (Singer 2015), including the effect of natural mentoring relationships according to sexual orientation and a comparison of the benefits of these relationships on health outcomes between sexual minority and heterosexual youth.…”

“…Four main types of social support: -Informational -Emotional -Self-appraisal, and -Unconditional Emotional support was the most often-cited type Most salient mentors were already positioned in typical mentor roles, such as teachers, coaches, and counselors and often referred to as parental figures, mentors, role models, and confidants initial codes used for the deductive coding process in their third research question and mentioned it in their discussion (Reed et al 2018).…”

“My meemaw is a Cool Ass Person”: Family Members as Role Models of Resilience for Sexual and Gender Diverse People of Color

“…Women were more likely to have gender congruent role models than young men (Bird et al, 2012). Young Black men who have sex with men (MSM) often use family as mentors, and 37% of them think of their mother as a mentor (Reed, Strzyzykowski, Chiaramonte, & Miller, 2018). This work suggests the dominance of female family role models, as young Black men selected mentors who share racial identities, are successful and "exemplify strength" (p. 7).…”

Racial and Sexual Minority Scholar Positionality: Advancing Health Status and Life Opportunity Among Sexual Minority Men of Color

“…To date, the dominant trend in health scholarship focusing on BLSMM is to investigate their sexual and behavioral health, with studies often overlooking how improving HSLO may positively influence both outcomes (Auerbach et al, 2011; Hill et al, 2020; Seeley et al, 2012; Wade & Harper, 2017). Although studies identify some strategies for improving HSLO, including improving education (Brockenbrough, 2016), employment (Hill et al, 2020), housing (Adams et al, 2018), and psychosocial outcomes (Felner et al, 2018; Reed et al, 2019), approaches highlighting the influence of racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities in science and public health, are needed. The present article develops a multilevel conceptual model of scholar of color positionality and contends that the perspectives of underrepresented populations, including BLSMM scholars and health service providers are critical, as these perspectives may inform HSLO-related research and public health strategies for improving HSLO among BLSMM.…”