This study explored how mentoring begins and the benefits provided for African American sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) youth. Participants were mentors and mentees living in three Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentees (ages 15-21, n = 14) identified as African American; cisgender male, transgender female, or non-binary assigned male; and had sexual…

These days, children are exposed to a variety of information sources and channels, which create more complex interactions than ever before. It is important, therefore, to develop and reinforce children's self-leadership. The present work is a narrative qualitative study focusing on the story of Lile, a 14-year-old Israeli girl who was assessed as…

This study investigates the influence of church mentoring on the psychosocial development of adolescents from immigrant and ethnic minority backgrounds. Framed within ecological systems and sociocultural theories, it examines mentoring processes in fostering positive youth development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen…

This qualitative case study examined leadership development and mentoring in a chapter of Jack and Jill of America (JJOA), a national organization for African-American women and their children focused on leadership, cultural awareness, and civic duty. While JJOA is a national organization, individual chapters are self-governed, and there is no…

This qualitative research aimed to identify factors contributing to the formation and development of effective partnerships that foster positive youth development. The study involved interviews with eight adult military mentors and nine youth cadet mentees to gain various perspectives regarding mentoring relationships within the youth leadership…

In its diverse forms, authentic writing carries the potential to connect literacy practice to an author's 'real world'. While contemporary approaches to authentic writing instruction--advocating writer-centred, intertextual and culturally relevant productions--are most often explored in formal learning contexts like classrooms, this paper seeks to…

The current study seeks to understand the potential benefits of culturally matched cross-age peer mentoring for Black and Latinx adolescent mentors residing in low-income, urban communities. Data for the study were derived from a 4-year longitudinal project examining the effectiveness of community-based cross-age mentoring. Data from the current…

Like many youth development programs, most youth mentoring programs do not have prescribed practices that target specific outcomes. Because the construct of mentoring represents a broad range of potential activities, researchers face a conundrum when making generalizable causal inferences about the effects of this and similar services. On the one…

Accelerating the Boys and Girls Clubs to continued learning and growing in their practices is one key to transforming the young boys and girls which they serve. The purpose of this study was to examine the affects that the Boys and Girls Clubs have had on the membership and to utilize the information learned to endorse the Clubs work going…

A survey of 1,860 15-year-olds from across the United States found that mentees' perceived positive regard from caring adults was associated with a range of personal, school, and civic outcomes. A structural equation modeling analysis found that for youth who have a mentor or other caring adults that they feel "gets them," this perceived…

This mixed method study explored whether and how familial mentor support may have influenced the parent-adolescent relationship, and whether the impact of familial mentor support on the parent-adolescent relationship may have differed across adolescents' developmental stage. Findings from analyses of survey data from 106 Black adolescents…

There is increasing concern raised for youth not in education and employment or training (NEET). Subsequently there is an increased demand for both education and health services that support the development of positive youths' identities, socioemotional and cognitive developmental needs, through youth mentoring strategies (Rhodes & DuBois,…

Youth unemployment refers to young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years who are without work, but are currently available for and actively seeking work (Youth Employment Network, 2011). Despite a mild recovery between 2009 and 2014, where the number of unemployed youth dropped by 3.3 million, finding employment is still an uphill struggle…

Youth who form bonds with supportive, nonparent adults within their existing social networks (i.e., natural mentors) experience a range of positive outcomes, but a relatively minimal amount is known regarding the psychosocial factors that prospectively predict the formation of natural mentoring relationships. Analyzing longitudinal youth data from…

Younger members of the House and Ball Community (HBC) have created an emerging social scene called "Kiki" that has shared elements with the HBC. Given the growing popularity of the Kiki scene in urban communities with large numbers of Black gay, bisexual, and transgender (GBT) adolescents and emerging adults, it is important to…