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…

At the heart of afterschool programs are the relationships that form between the children and youth who participate in these programs and the adults who lead them. To be effective, adults working in afterschool settings must be able to engage youth in growth-promoting relationships. This article identifies and describes four foundational ways of…

An estimated three million American youth are in formal, one-to-one mentoring relationships, and countless more have meaningful, natural mentoring relationships with extended family members, teachers, neighbors, coaches and other caring, non-parental adults. The empirical literature generally indicates that close and enduring mentoring…

In this study, we examined the characteristics of adolescents' deep interests or "sparks," the role of relationships in supporting the development of sparks, and whether having a spark was associated with positive developmental outcomes. Participants included 1,860 15 years olds from across the United States who participated in the…

In the present study, the authors examined the role of child-related stressors in the psychological adjustment of lower-income, primarily unmarried and African American, mothers (N = 386). All participants lived in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, and about a third were also exposed to Hurricane Rita (30.3%, n = 117). Lacking knowledge of a…

Anecdotal reports of the protective qualities of mentoring relationships for youth are corroborated by a growing body of research. What is missing, however, is research on the processes by which mentors influence developmental outcomes. In this article, we present a conceptual model of the mentoring process along with a delineation of some of the…