Promoting Positive Development Among Racially and Ethnically Marginalized Youth: Advancing a Novel Model of Natural Mentoring.

Racism and other forms of oppression threaten the well-being of racially and ethnically marginalized youth. Models of risk and resilience for marginalized youth have stressed the importance of addressing contextual and structural risk while emphasizing promotive factors such as cultural capital within their communities. Increasingly, research has focused on collective antiracist action as a form of coping with structural oppression. Importantly, supportive intergenerational relationships that develop within youths' everyday contexts may play a key role in catalyzing and reinforcing youths' engagement in antiracist action. This review advances a novel model for understanding how supportive nonparental adults from youths' everyday lives (i.e., natural mentors) influence youths' positive developmental outcomes and participation in antiracist action and how collective antiracist action, in turn, fosters liberation and racial justice. The creation of a more just and equitable society contributes to positive development among racially and ethnically marginalized youth.

A mixed-methods exploration of autonomy-supportive parenting, confidence, and natural mentoring relationships among Black adolescents.

The current study examined whether autonomy-supportive parenting practices may be associated with Black adolescents' quantity of natural mentors (i.e., adults from youths' everyday lives who youth go to for support and guidance) via adolescents' confidence. This study employed survey data from 216 Black youth and qualitative interviews from a subsample of youth (n = 25), their primary caregivers (n = 25), and one nonparental adult relative with whom the youth reported feeling close (n = 25). Comparative analyses were then completed among a subset of 10 family triads corresponding to youth from the qualitative subsample who had the highest (n = 5) and the lowest (n = 5) scores on a survey measure of adolescents' confidence. Study findings suggest that Black adolescents' confidence may be an explanatory link in the association between autonomy-supportive parenting practices among primary caregivers and Black adolescents' quantity of natural mentoring relationships. Moreover, we found that a range of autonomy-supportive parenting practices may be associated with youth confidence, which may, in turn, inform how Black adolescents engage with adults in their social networks.

Exploring how naturally occurring mentorships emerge within a Mexican cultural context.

Natural youth mentoring focuses on cross-age relationships that develop organically outside the construct of youth programs. In the United States, research has demonstrated the positive impact of these mentorships and scholars have applied natural concepts to formal mentoring schema. Little work has been done to examine how these relationships emerge and the factors that impact their development. This study, designed in partnership with a school in rural México, aimed to unpack these questions using grounded theory. Participants were students, alumni, and teachers. Data were collected through semistructured interviews. Findings indicate that despite adults' interest to create mentorships, adolescents and emerging adults will likely not be receptive until they are cognitively and emotionally ready. This study illuminated three factors of readiness-inhibitors, promoters, and activators-which contribute to this state of readiness at which point engagement with an adult seems to elevate from the typical bounds of youth-adult relationships to the natural mentorship level.

What makes Dutch youth comply with preventive COVID-19 measures? An explorative study.

The measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 are challenging for youth, especially the social isolation measures. These measures are antagonistic to healthy youth development, which requires sufficient social contact with peers and adults. This explorative study examined what factors are associated with adherence to COVID-19 measures in a sample of Dutch youth (N = 263; 79.8% female) with ages ranging between 16 and 24 years (M = 21.1 years; SD = 2.44 years), who completed an online questionnaire about their compliance to measures, resilience, coping strategies, mental health, and availability of a natural mentor. Results showed that youth with fewer depressive symptoms adhered better to measures of social distance. Youth who were less suspicious, more resilient, and those with an active coping strategy or a natural mentor more often complied with COVID-19 measures. These results can be used to help youth comply with the COVID-19 measures.

Historically underrepresented college students and institutional natural mentors: An ecological analysis of the development of these relationships at predominantly White institutions.

Despite studies examining outcomes associated with having a natural mentoring relationship with an institutional agent in a higher education setting, few studies have investigated the formation of these relationships among historically underrepresented college students. Institutional agents refer to any instructor, staff, or administrator on the college campus. This cross-sectional study used an ecological approach to explore the factors associated with natural mentoring relationships between historically underrepresented college students and institutional agents. Participants were 521 college students (75% female, Mage = 20.27) across two predominantly White institutions. Multiple logistic regression demonstrated that older age, more positive help-seeking attitudes toward adults, stronger instructor relationships, having an off-campus mentor, and a higher sense of belonging on campus were associated with having an institutional natural mentor. Findings from this study contribute to the growing area of research on mentoring relationships of historically underrepresented college students. Implications are discussed.

Latinx adolescents' trust in adults: A precursor to psychological well-being via mentoring relational quality and self-esteem.

This study aimed to test a longitudinal model of trust in adults and psychological well-being among Latinx adolescents, a population that has received little attention in the trust literature. The participants were urban, low-income Latinx (N = 294) students at two urban, Midwestern high schools who indicated they had at least one natural mentor in 9th grade. Participants completed surveys at two-time points, in 9th and 10th grade, and responded to measures of their feelings toward adults, quality of their natural mentoring relationships, self-esteem, intrinsic academic motivation, and coping self-efficacy. More trust in adults was indirectly, but not directly, associated with higher coping self-efficacy via higher mentoring relational quality and self-esteem. Positive expectations of adults may open Latinx youth to closeness in natural mentoring relationships and positive self-perceptions, which may, in turn, bolster coping ability.

Act, Talk, Reflect, Then Act: The Role of Natural Mentors in The Critical Consciousness of Ethnically/Racially Diverse College Students.

The current mixed-method study examined the role of natural mentors in the cyclical process of college students' sociopolitical development, particularly their critical consciousness. College students (N = 145) completed surveys at two time points over a one-year period. Path analyses indicated that critical action and perceived inequalities were significantly associated with more social justice conversations with mentors and that having more social justice conversations with mentors was significantly associated with more critical action and perceived inequality. Further, mentoring conversations and sociopolitical efficacy helped to explain the positive role of perceived inequality and action on later attitudes around perceived inequalities and critical action. Qualitative one-on-one interviews of a subset of participants (n = 30) expanded findings from the quantitative data and revealed detailed information about how mentors supported youth critical consciousness. Specifically, mentors engaged in 1) dialogue and reflection, 2) information and resource sharing, 3) nonjudgmental, comfortable conversations, and 4) role modeling. Findings inform the iterative nature of critical consciousness and on how older adolescents leverage support from natural mentors in this process.

Youth Initiated Mentoring: A Meta-analytic Study of a Hybrid Approach to Youth Mentoring.

Youth initiated mentoring is a hybrid approach that empowers youth to identify and recruit natural mentors, potentially combining the strengths of informal mentoring relationships with the infrastructure and support provided by formal mentoring programs. This meta-analytic review examined the association between youth-initiated programs and youth outcomes across four domains: academic and vocational functioning, social-emotional development, physical health, and psychosocial problems. Results indicated that youth-initiated programs are significantly associated with positive youth outcomes. There was a small-to-medium effect size of g = 0.30 for youth-initiated programs overall, which was based on 14 studies with 11 independent samples (3594 youth and 169 effect sizes) from 2006 to 2019. The effect size was somewhat larger (g = 0.40) when controlling for possible selection bias, and was moderated by participant gender and year of publication. Implications for theory and practice regarding this relatively new approach to mentoring are discussed.

Predictors of natural mentoring relationships and students' adjustment to college.

Little research exists that examines natural mentoring relationships (NMRs) during the college transition. We examine the role of parental attachment and help-seeking behaviors in students' development of new NMRs and the role NMRs have on students' outcomes. Included in the study were 215 first-year students at a large, urban, private university. Participants completed surveys at the beginning (Time 1) and at the end (Time 2) of the school year. We used structural equation modeling to test a hypothesized model that included predictors (i.e., attachment to parents and help-seeking behaviors) of NMRs and social and academic adjustment in college. Findings show a path relationship connecting the attachment to parents to help-seeking behaviors, and then to the number of reported NMRs. Help-seeking behaviors mediated the association between attachment and NMRs. The number of NMRs is associated with higher social adjustment, but not academic adjustment by the end of students' first year of college. Based on these results, we discuss the theoretical implications of newly formed NMRs and provide guidance for institutional interventions targeting first-year college students to assist with transition challenges.

The Long-Term Impact of Natural Mentoring Relationships: A Counterfactual Analysis.

Previous research suggests that youth's natural mentoring relationships are associated with better academic, vocational, and psychosocial functioning. However, little is known about the extent to which the impact of mentoring endures beyond adolescence and early adulthood. Furthermore, most natural mentoring research is confounded by selection bias. In this study, we examined the long-term impact of mentoring using the nationally representative, longitudinal Add Health dataset. We conducted counterfactual analysis, a more stringent test of causality than regression-based approaches. Compared to their unmentored counterparts, adults (ages 33-42) who had a natural mentor during adolescence or emerging adulthood reported higher educational attainment, more time spent volunteering, and more close friends, after controlling for a range of confounding factors. However, outcomes differed when mentors were classified as "strong ties" (e.g., grandparents, friends) or "weak ties" (e.g., teachers, coaches, employers). Having a strong-tie mentor was associated with having more close friends and a lower income. In contrast, having a weak-tie mentor was associated with higher educational attainment, higher income, and more time spent volunteering. These findings suggest that natural mentoring relationships can exert lasting influence on young people's developmental trajectories, providing strong rationale for efforts to expand their availability and scope.

Processes of Natural Mentoring that Promote Underrepresented Students' Educational Attainment: A Theoretical Model.

Longitudinal studies suggest that naturally occurring mentoring relationships are associated with positive, long-term educational outcomes, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying these potential effects. Predominant theories and research methods portray natural mentoring as a static, one-to-one phenomenon and are removed from specific sociocultural and developmental contexts. Thus, the current paper critically reviews existing literature and proposes a dynamic, network-based process model of mentoring. Building on Rhodes' (2005, Handbook of youth mentoring, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 30) theoretical model, the proposed model integrates sociological, educational, and psychological research to examine developmental pathways through which natural mentoring relationships might promote underrepresented (e.g., low-income, ethnic/racial minorities) students' educational persistence and success. In particular, mentoring relationships might enhance students' positive help-seeking beliefs and trust in nonparent adults. These mentors may possess key cultural capital and knowledge that help underrepresented students navigate White, upper- or middle-class cultural norms. Mentors may also cultivate students' school-relevant selves and bicultural identities, facilitating integration into mainstream academia while affirming cultures of origin. Through these processes, previous mentoring experiences may promote the formation of new mentoring relationships, enabling youth to build dynamic support networks. Unfortunately, on a larger scale, advantage and disadvantage persist due to inequitable access to mentoring in educational settings.

Does Natural Mentoring Matter? A Multilevel Meta-analysis on the Association Between Natural Mentoring and Youth Outcomes.

In this meta-analytic review, we examined the relation between natural mentoring and youth outcomes in four domains: academic and vocational functioning, social-emotional development, physical health, and psychosocial problems. Natural mentoring relationships are thought to foster positive youth development and buffer against the risks associated with the tumultuous years of adolescence. Two separate meta-analyses were conducted on the presence of a natural mentor and the quality of the natural mentoring relationship, including thirty studies from 1992 to present. The findings indicated that the presence of a natural mentor was significantly associated with positive youth outcomes (r = .106). A larger effect size was found for the quality of the natural mentoring relationship in terms of relatedness, social support, and autonomy support (r = .208). The largest effect sizes were found for social-emotional development and academic and vocational functioning. Risk-status (e.g., teenage mothers, homeless youth, youth in foster care, and youth of alcoholic parents) did not moderate the relation between presence and quality of natural mentoring relationships and youth outcomes, which may indicate that natural mentors are generally beneficial for all youth regardless of risk-status. Implications for theory and practice concerning the quality of the natural mentoring relationship are discussed.

Appraisal Support from Natural Mentors, Self-worth, and Psychological Distress: Examining the Experiences of Underrepresented Students Transitioning Through College.

The current study explored whether cumulative appraisal support from as many as five natural mentors (i.e., nonparental adults from youth's pre-existing social networks who serve a mentoring role in youth's lives) led to reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety via improved global self-worth among underrepresented college students. Participants in the current study included 340 college students (69% female) attending a 4-year, predominantly White institution of higher education. Participants were first-generation college students, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and/or students from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups. Participants completed surveys during the Fall and Spring of their first year of college and in the Spring of their second and third years of college. Results of the structural equation model (including gender, race/ethnicity, and extraversion as covariates) indicated that greater total appraisal support from natural mentoring relationships predicted decreases in students' psychological distress via increases in self-worth (indirect effects assessed via boot-strapped confidence intervals; 95% CI). The strength of association between appraisal support and self-worth was not moderated by the proportion of academic natural mentors. Findings from the current study extend previous research by measuring multiple natural mentoring relationships and pinpointing supportive exchanges that may be of particular consequence for the promotion of healthy youth development. Institutional efforts to reinforce pre-existing natural mentoring relationships and encourage the onset of new natural mentoring relationships may serve to bolster the well-being and success of underrepresented students attending predominantly White universities.

Examining Natural Mentoring Relationships (NMRs) among Self-Identified Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning (GBQ) Male Youth.

Scholars have identified the presence of natural mentoring relationships (NMRs) as one of a set of protective factors that promote and protect the health and well-being of "at-risk" and marginalized youth. While this work has informed our understanding of the importance of NMRs for supporting youth and promoting positive development, it has only just begun to extend its inquiry focus onto the lives of same-sex attracted (SSA) youth (e.g., gay and bisexual youth). Thirty-nine in-depth interviews with self-identified gay, bisexual, and questioning (GBQ) male youth (ages 15 - 22) were qualitatively analyzed for the presence, form, and function of NMRs. Results from this inquiry revealed that participants identified a diverse range of "natural mentors" and that the provision of social support was of thematic prominence in these relationships. Results from this effort are here presented. Clinical and programming implications, as well as directions for future work are discussed.

Natural mentoring relationships among survivors of caregiver childhood abuse: findings from the Add Health Study.

Social support promotes resilience to adverse childhood events, but little is known about the role of natural mentors-caring, nonparental adults-in the lives of childhood abuse survivors. The current study draws from a large, longitudinal, nationally representative sample (Add Health) to examine the prevalence and characteristics of natural mentoring relationships for adolescents with a history of caregiver childhood abuse, and the extent to which these relationships are associated with psychological and health outcomes in adulthood. Among the sample (n = 12,270), 28.82% and 4.86% reported caregiver childhood physical and sexual abuse, respectively. Youth who reported caregiver childhood physical abuse were more likely than those who did not endorse abuse to report having a natural mentor, but their mentoring relationships were characterized by lower interpersonal closeness, shorter duration, and less frequent contact. Exposure to caregiver childhood abuse was associated with adverse outcomes during adulthood, including antisocial behavior, physical health limitations, and suicidality; the presence of a natural mentor did not buffer the negative impact of trauma on adult outcomes. However, longer mentoring relationships during adolescence buffered the strength of the association between both caregiver physical and sexual abuse during childhood and suicidality during early adulthood.

Predictors of close faculty-student relationships and mentorship in higher education: findings from the Gallup-Purdue Index.

College students' supportive relationships with mentors-professors, advisors, and other caring adults to whom students turn as they develop their interests and career paths-are critical to their development and academic success. The current study sought to explore factors that promote or impede the formation of positive mentor-student relationships during college using a large, nationally representative sample of 5,684 college graduates from the Gallup-Purdue Index. Linear regression models revealed that first-generation college students, as well as students attending larger institutions, rated faculty and other college staff as less caring and supportive, and were less able to identify a supportive mentoring relationship during college. Greater engagement at college, including participation in faculty research, academic internships, long-term projects, and extracurricular clubs or activities, was associated with stronger perceptions of faculty support and mentorship while in college. Interestingly, demographic characteristics moderated the effects of some extracurricular activities on students' experiences. For example, participants with more student loans showed a stronger positive association between participation in long-term academic projects and perceptions of faculty support, relative to students with few loans. These findings have important implications for policies designed to foster sustained and meaningful faculty-student relationships for all students, including those traditionally marginalized on college campuses.

One Adult Who Is Crazy about You: Can Natural Mentoring Relationships Increase Assets among Young Adults With and Without Foster Care Experience?

During emerging adulthood, most youth receive family support to help them weather the difficulties associated with transitioning to independence. When foster youth emancipate, they confront the challenges associated with emerging adulthood, and are at risk of having to transition without family support. Many are in danger of failing to meet minimal levels of self-sufficiency. A caring adult who offers social support is normative for adolescent development and protective for youth across many risk conditions. Natural mentoring can cultivate such relationships. This study examines the association between natural mentor relationship characteristics, and material hardship and asset-related outcomes during the emerging adulthood period in both a normative sample of young adults and young adults identified as former foster youth. This study also considers the potential mediating effect of future expectations. Data from Wave 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that pertain to 15,197 respondents are used. Path models with categorical dependent variables were estimated using a Maximum Likelihood method with standard errors that are robust to non-normality and non-independence of observations. "Like a parent," "role model," and "guidance/advice" were significantly associated with assets among both groups. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on natural mentoring and former foster youth, and highlights the value of increasing our understanding of natural mentor roles for intervention development. The focus on assets-related outcomes is a novel approach to investigating the benefits of natural mentoring to the healthy development of youth. This paper is the first to consider the association between natural mentoring and assets building among both former and nonformer foster youth.