Posts

Profiles in Mentoring: A conversation with Tom Rosenberg of the American Camp Association

                            Written by Rachel Rubin Tom Rosenberg is the President/CEO of the American Camp Association (ACA), a community of summer camp professionals working to promote youth development through the preservation, promotion, and improvement of the camp experience. In addition to his variety […]

[The Credible Messengers Podcast] Episode 4: Credible Messengers in K-12 Schools

Do Credible Messengers play a role in K-12 schools? Tune in to the fourth episode of The Credible Messengers Podcast to learn about the current landscape in traditional and alternative public schools with the host, Brittany LaMarr. Guest speakers include… Leighton Johnson (Ice The Beef) – a mentor at an alternative high school in New […]

Profiles in Mentoring: Timothy Cavell on mentoring aggressive children, chronically bullied children, and next steps for the field

Timothy Cavell is a Professor of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas’ J. William Fulbright college of Arts & Sciences. He has been a speaker and presenter at mentoring conferences, summits, and institutes around the country. Professor Cavell’s research interests focus on how mentoring relationships with children who are highly aggressive or chronically bullied […]

New study explores the contexts, barriers, and motivations of friend’s parents and family friends as natural youth mentors

Christensen, K. M., & Poon, C. Y. S. (2021). Exploring Friend’s Parents and Family Friends as Natural Mentors for Youth: Contexts, Motivation, and Barriers. Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02153-5 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: Natural mentorships are a viable way to provide emotional, social, functional, and instrumental support for youth. Granovetter’s model is […]

Study explores underrepresented students’ connections with college-based mentors

Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., Sánchez, B., Salusky, I., & Schwartz, S. E. O. (2021). Historically underrepresented college students and institutional natural mentors: An ecological analysis of the development of these relationships at predominantly White institutions. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22682 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: Although college is an opportunity for the upward mobility of underrepresented youths, […]

New study finds Dutch youth were more likely to adhere to COVID-19 measures if they had a natural mentor

Koning, N., Hagedoorn, N., Stams, G.-J. J. M., Assink, M., & van Dam, L. (2021). What makes Dutch youth comply with preventive COVID-19 measures? An explorative study. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22651 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Taking preventative measures is necessary to limit the spread of COVID-19. This explorative study explores which factors […]

New case study explores fictive kinship in a Black adolescent’s natural mentoring relationship

Scott, E. D., & Deutsch, N. L. (2021). Conferring Kinship: Examining Fictive Kinship Status in a Black Adolescent’s Natural Mentoring Relationship. Journal of Black Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984211002613 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Although researchers are interested in understanding how youth create and maintain natural mentorships, little is known about youths’ experiences within these relationships. This […]

Someone who ‘gets’ me: How mentees’ perceived positive regard from natural mentors impact youth outcomes

Ben-Eliyahu, A., Sykes, L. A. Y., & Rhodes, J. E. (2021). Someone who ‘gets’ me: Adolescents’ perceptions of positive regard from natural mentors. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 29(3), 305–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2021.1927438 Summarized by Ariel Ervin  Notes of Interest:  Despite the overall benefits of natural mentoring relationships for youth development, the presence of natural mentors appears to […]

New study investigates how natural mentoring affects college students’ mental health

Le, T. P., Hsu, T., & Raposa, E. B. (2021). Effects of Natural Mentoring Relationships on College Students’ Mental Health: The Role of Emotion Regulation. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12504 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Although social support is a major protective factor of college-related stressors, not many studies explore the impact natural mentoring […]

Are supportive relationships enough? The great debate continues

by Jean Rhodes In their provocative new paper, Back to the Future: Mentoring as Means and End in Promoting Child Mental Health, mentoring experts Tim Cavell, Renée Spencer & Sam D. McQuillin make the case for several approaches, including the “supportive mentoring” approach, wherein the “mentoring relationship is not intended as a targeted intervention designed to produce […]