By Jean Rhodes For the most part, the field of mentoring has not yet specified the precise conditions under which different approaches to mentoring “work.” Psychologist, Patrick Tolan and his colleagues have argued that the mentoring field’s resistance to identifying, implementing, and adhering to standards, including specifying how program inputs relate to outcomes, stems from […]
By Jean Rhodes Big Picture The demand for child mental health services vastly exceeds the supply. Fewer than half of young people who need services actually receive treatment, and this gap is expected to widen as rates of mental health problems continue to climb. Mentors can help, particularly if the field more fully embraces what […]
by Jean Rhodes When I was growing up Allendale, NJ in the 1960’s and 70’s, a family’s social class didn’t define life and determine social mobility the way it does now. Resources varied pretty widely across neighborhoods and families, but Allendale’s 6,000 residents all seemed to know each other. We all spent our long, unscheduled […]
By Jean Rhodes Findings from an important new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “The Surprise of Reaching Out” highlights the psychological benefits of simply checking in with the people in our lives with brief texts and phone calls. Indeed, these small, casual acts of kindness can have profoundly positive effects. Participants […]
Jean Rhodes Despite strenuous efforts, many mentoring programs struggle to recruit enough volunteers for all of the youth who need them. A major barrier is the fact that, unlike other forms of volunteering, mentoring requires a sustained and relatively intensive commitment. In some mentoring programs, for example, volunteers are expected to meet with their mentees […]
By Jean Rhodes Since the early 1990’s, the major risks facing young people have shifted from physical struggles like teen pregnancy and substance to mental health struggles like anxiety, depression, suicide and self-harm. Indeed, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued a report noting that “mental health disorders are the most common cause cause of […]
By Cyanea Poon and Jean Rhodes Mentoring programs and researchers often try to get some sense of the “risk factors” facing their mentees. To do so, they often tally up everything from family poverty and marginalization to personal struggles with mental health or friendship. In a recent study (Poon, Herrera, Jarjoura, Keller, McQuillin, Keller, T., […]
By Jean Rhodes The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recent released a report warning of a worsening mental health crisis among adolescents. In a recent large survey ( N =7,700), more than 40% of young people reported feeling “persistently sad or hopeless,” with 20% saying they have contemplated suicide. As the Deputy Director noted, […]
by Jean Rhodes Even the most caring, consistent mentors may struggle to connect with certain youth, while other matches just seem to click from the start. Researchers have found that the quality of adult-youth relationships is conditioned by a wide range of individual, family, and contextual influences, including: 1. Interpersonal History Children and adolescents who […]
By Jean Rhodes An estimated two-thirds U.S. children and adolescents who suffer from mental health problems will never receive professional care. What’s more BIPOC youth are about half as likely as White youth to access services and receive evidence-based care. As my colleagues and I have argued, the field of mentoring is well-positioned to step […]
MentorPROFebruary 21, 2023 - MentorPRO is a leading digital tool platform to support educators to build developmental relationships with their students in easy and fun ways.
AlongMarch 30, 2022 - In support of our continued conversation on how to support today’s youth, this issue of the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring is proudly sponsored by Along, a free digital tool designed to support educators to build developmental relationships with their students in easy and fun ways.
MENTOR: The National Mentoring PartnershipNovember 12, 2014 - MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) is the unifying champion for expanding quality youth mentoring relationships in the United States. For nearly 25 years, MENTOR has served the mentoring field by providing a public voice, developing and delivering resources to mentoring programs nationwide and promoting quality for mentoring through standards, cutting-edge research and state of the art tools.
Academic Web PagesAugust 6, 2012 - Academic Web Pages is the leading provider of customized websites for researchers, centers, nonprofits, and universities. AWP designed and has contributed generously to the creation of the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring.
