Entries by Emily.Buss001@umb.edu

Profiles in Mentoring: A Conversation with Amanda Davis on Autonomy Support in Youth Mentoring Relationships

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Dr. Davis is a school psychologist whose research focuses on strengthening supportive relationships in schools, drawing on her clinical work with children and families in schools, youth mentoring programs, and other community-based settings to better understand what makes these relationships nurturing and effective. She is especially interested in how to measure the quality and quantity […]

First-Gen Students Need a Mentoring Network, Not Just One Mentor, Study Finds

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Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., Sánchez, B., Raposa, E. B., Lovell, C., & Salusky, I. (2026). The role of institutional natural mentors in first-generation college students’ social belonging and academic outcomes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 77, 385–396. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70038 Introduction First-generation college students, those whose parents never completed a four-year degree, continue to graduate at markedly lower […]

The Cost of Rejection: What Happens When Youth-Initiated Mentoring Fails

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Dantzer, B., Perry, N., & Church-Duplessis, V. (2026). Youth-initiated mentoring: Exploring the experiences of youth and caregivers who were unable to secure their own mentors. Journal of Adolescent Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584261455598 Introduction Youth-initiated mentoring (YIM) has been gaining ground as an alternative to traditional matched mentoring: instead of a program assigning a volunteer, […]

New Research Shows Attunement Training Reshapes How Staff Support Mentors

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Pryce, J., Gentile, J., Lotz, C., Colindres Thulin, M., & Gilkerson, L. (2026). Staff development through attunement: Applying the mentoring FAN in youth services. Children and Youth Services Review, 190, 109242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2026.109242 Introduction Mentoring is among the most widely used and cost-effective youth development strategies, pairing adults with young people across school, community, and workplace […]

September Is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

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September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about suicide prevention, reduce stigma around mental health struggles, and share resources that can help save lives. Mentors are often trusted adults in a young person’s life and may be among the first to notice changes in mood or behavior, so knowing where to […]

Global Study Finds Children of Incarcerated Parents Share Strength Across Cultures

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Poehlmann, J., Brookes, L., Gordon, L., Park, K. H., Ssuubi, F., Sevenants, K., Carcedo González, R. J., Anandha Krishnan, C., Kahya, O., Pritzl, K., Loucks, N., Cadoni, L., & Lee, J. S. (2026). Children with incarcerated parents across the globe: Challenges and flourishing in five countries. Children and Youth Services Review, 188, Article 109104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2026.109104 […]

Can a Mentor Fix a Teen’s Health Habits? New Study Says Maybe

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Arlinghaus, K. R., Stuenkel, K., Gadient, J., Bell, A. N., Goodman, L. P., Sherwood, N. E., & McMorris, B. J. (2026). “DiscoverU”: Formative development and mixed-methods evaluation of an afterschool health and well-being mentoring program for adolescents. Journal of Community Psychology, 54, e70137. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.70137 Introduction Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools faced two intertwined […]

New Review Highlights What Makes Nature-Based Youth Programs Actually Work

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Garst, B. A., Vanic, M., Melton, T. N., Foster, C., & Bowers, E. P. (2025). Principles and practices of impactful nature-based positive youth development programs. Current Opinion in Psychology, 65, 102048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2025.102048 Introduction Youth development programs have long used nature as a setting for growth, but the field has lacked a unifying framework for explaining […]

Can E-Mentoring Reach Struggling Families? New Findings Say It Already Does

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Kaufman, M. R., Wright, K., Palen, L.-A., Al Kibria, G. M., Simon, J., DuBois, D. L., & Latkin, C. (2026). Parent perspectives on e-mentoring for urban youth to address substance use, violence, and other youth challenges. Substance Use: Research and Treatment, 20, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/29768357261478677 Introduction Youth mentoring organizations increasingly deliver services through digital platforms, hoping […]

New Research Pinpoints the Ideal Mentoring Dose for Undergraduates

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Zhi, R., & Pan, Q. (2026). Too much of a good thing: The impact of mentoring on innovation capacity among undergraduate students—Evidence from a provincial University in China. Acta Psychologica, 268, 107284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107284 Introduction As universities push to cultivate innovation capacity earlier in students’ academic careers, faculty mentoring is often treated as a straightforward lever: […]