Targeted Mentoring

Questions for Dr. Rebecca L. Stelter: A randomized controlled trial of enhanced mentoring program practices for children of incarcerated caregivers

Interviewed By Saniya Soni 1. Several meta-analyses have found that targeted mentoring programs have better outcomes. Your recent paper looked at a targeted mentoring approach for COIP and found that it was indeed more effective for COIP. Why do you think programs are hesitant to become more targeted when the research clearly points to better […]

Finding a balance: The benefits of integrating youth- and goal-focused approaches in youth mentorships

Werntz, A., Poon, C. Y. S., & Rhodes, J. E. (2023). Striking the balance: The relative benefits of goal- and youth-focused approaches to youth mentoring relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01751-4 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: Evidence suggests that targeted, goal-focused mentoring approaches are more effective than non-specific mentoring approaches in promoting a variety […]

Youth-initiated mentoring: A scalable approach to addressing mental health problems

Viewpoint (Reprinted from the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, Published online April 28, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.0490) By Levi van Dam,  Jean Rhodes, and Renée Spencer, Although adolescents have lower COVID-19 infection rates compared with adults, the pandemic is taking a toll on young people’s mental health. There have been multiple reports of increases in […]

Want to double your effects? Hopeful lessons from a new meta-analysis

By Jean Rhodes and Kirsten Christensen In a recent study of nearly 2,000 mentors from thirty nationally representative youth mentoring programs operating across the United States, mentors were asked how they spent time with their mentees (Jarjoura et al., 2018). The responses reflected a “non-specific”  approach that emphasized friendship and broad (as opposed to more […]

Relying on youth mentoring programs for mental health services: Challenges and implications

by Jean Rhodes In a recent issue of  Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology  psychologists Miguel Villodas and Alejandro Vázquez, published a study that has important implications for the future of youth mentoring programs. Their survey of nearly 750 caregivers to adolescents revealed that black caregivers were far less likely than white caregivers to perceive […]

Two new studies highlight the need for more targeted mentoring

by Jean Rhodes Doctoral student, Alejandro Vázquez, and his faculty mentor, Professor Miguel Villodas had a hunch. They suspected that caregivers were seeking out volunteer mentoring programs as an alternative to traditional mental health services. Villodas, a clinical psychologist, had served as a mentor to several youth, and Vasquez, a doctoral student, was studying patterns […]