Abstract
LGBTQ youth have a greater likelihood of lacking accepting, supportive, and affirming adult relationships that will help them transition successfully into adulthood. Natural mentoring relationships have been shown to be a corrective attachment experience and to mitigate negative health outcomes among at-risk youth. The purpose of this systematic review is to critically examine studies regarding natural mentoring relationships among LGBTQ youth to understand their potential as a prevention and intervention strategy. Through a PRISMA-guided search of five databases, eight eligible peer-reviewed studies were found. The studies were published between 2009 and 2018, cross-sectional, and were of quantitative (n = 4), qualitative (n = 3), and multiple-method (n = 1) design. Qualitative analyses highlighted their characteristics and functions, and the processes by which natural mentoring relationships are formed. Quantitative analyses assessed the effects of natural mentoring relationships on a variety of outcomes (e.g., substance use, suicidality, educational attainment) and the likelihood of having a natural mentoring relationship according to demographics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. Overall, analyses revealed that natural mentoring relationships significantly buffered risk and increased the likelihood that LGBTQ youth graduated high school and attended college, particularly if the natural mentoring relationship was emotionally close and with a nonparental family member. Recommendations for future research are provided, which include a stronger integration of developmental and critical theories, a focus on assessing natural mentoring relationships among a variety of LGBTQ youth populations (e.g., sexual minority females of color and transgender youth), and the examination of these relationships over time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainsworth, M. (1989). Attachments beyond infancy. American Psychologist, 44, 709–716.
Asendorpf, J. B., Conner, M., De Fruyt, F., De Houwer, J., Denissen, J. J. A., Fiedler, K., et al. (2013). Recommendations for increasing replicability in psychology. European Journal of Personality, 27(2), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1919.
Baiocco, R., Fontanesi, L., Santamaria, F., Ioverno, S., Baumgartner, E., & Laghi, F. (2016). Coming out during adolescence: Perceived parents’ reactions and internalized sexual stigma. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(8), 1809–1813. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105314564019.
Beadle, A. D. (2002). Gay policy debate ensnares big brothers. Youth Today.
Bowlby, J. (1977). The making and breaking of affectional bonds: I. Aetiology and psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 130(3), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.130.3.201.
Bregman, H. R., Malik, N. M., Page, M. J. L., Makynen, E., & Lindahl, K. M. (2013). Identity profiles in lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth: The role of family influences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(3), 417–430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9798-z.
Bruce, M., & Bridgeland, J. (2014). The mentoring effect: Young people’s perspectives on the outcomes and availability of mentoring a report for MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership by Civic Enterprises in association with Hart Research Associates. Retrieved September 12, 2018 from www.civicenterprises.net/Education.
Burton, C. M., Marshal, M. P., Chisolm, D. J., Sucato, G. S., & Friedman, M. S. (2013). Sexual minority-related victimization as a mediator of Mental Health Disparities in sexual minority youth: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(3), 394–402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9901-5.
Choi, S. K., Wilson, B. D. M., Shelton, J., & Gates, G. (2015). Serving our youth 2015: The needs and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth experiencing homelessness. Retrieved May 10, 2018 from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Serving-Our-Youth-June-2015.pdf.
Crenshaw, K. (2018). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics [1989]. In K. Bartlett (Ed.), Feminist legal theory (pp. 57–80). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429500480-5.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2017). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Los Angeles: Sage.
Drevon, D. D., Almazan, E. P., Jacob, S., & Rhymer, K. N. (2016). Impact of mentors during adolescence on outcomes among young gay adults. Journal of Homosexuality, 63(6), 821–837. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2015.1112583.
DuBois, D. L., Portillo, N., Rhodes, J. E., Silverthorn, N., & Valentine, J. C. (2011). How effective are mentoring programs for youth? A systematic assessment of the evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12(2), 57–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100611414806.
Garringer, M., McQuillin, S., & McDaniel, H. (2017). Examining youth mentoring services across America: Findings from the 2016 National Mentoring Program Survey. Retrieved September 10, 2018 from https://www.mentoring.org/new-site/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mentor-Survey-Report_FINAL_small.pdf.
Garringer, M., Rummell, C., Bourgoin, J., Bardwell, H., & Mitchell, J. (2018). LGBTQ supplement to the elements of effective practice for mentoring. Retrieved April 23, 2019 from www.mentorist.org.
Gastic, B., & Johnson, D. (2009). Teacher-mentors and the educational resilience of sexual minority youth. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 21(2–3), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720902772139.
Goldner, L. (2017). Mentors’ attachment dimensions, the quality of mentoring relationship and protégés’ adjustment: A moderated mediation model. Child & Family Social Work, 22(1), 364–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12249.
Grossman, J. B., & Rhodes, J. E. (2002). The test of time: Predictors and effects of duration in youth mentoring relationships. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(2), 199–219. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014680827552.
Hagler, M. A., & Rhodes, J. E. (2018). The long-term impact of natural mentoring relationships: A counterfactual analysis. American Journal of Community Psychology, 62(1–2), 175–188. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12265.
Harris, K. M., Halpern, C. T., Whitsel, E., Hussey, J., Tabor, J., Entzel, P., et al. (2009). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health: Research Design [WWW document]. Retrieved April 4, 2019 from http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/design.
Human Rights Campaign. (2012). Growing up LGBT in America: HRC Youth Survey Report key findings. Washington D.C. Retrieved September 10, 2018 from https://www.hrc.org/youth-report.
Human Rights Campaign. (2018). Gender-expansive youth report. Washington D.C. Retrieved May 30, 2019 from https://www.hrc.org/resources/2018-gender-expansive-youth-report.
Hurd, N. M., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2014). An analysis of natural mentoring relationship profiles and associations with mentees’ mental health: Considering links via support from important others. American Journal of Community Psychology, 53(1–2), 25–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9598-y.
Iorio, P. (2018). How Big Brothers and Big Sisters is making its mentoring programs more inclusive for LGBTQ people. Retrieved September 30, 2018 from https://youthtoday.org/2018/06/how-big-brothers-big-sisters-is-making-its-mentoring-programs-more-inclusive-for-lgbtq-people/.
Johns, M. M., Lowry, R., Andrzejewski, J., Barrios, L. C., Demissie, Z., McManus, T., et al. (2019). Transgender identity and experiences of violence victimization, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors among high school students—19 states and 10 large urban school districts, 2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6803a3.
Johnson, D., & Gastic, B. (2015). Natural mentoring in the lives of sexual minority youth. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(4), 395–407. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21692.
Klein, A., & Golub, S. A. (2016). Family rejection as a predictor of suicide attempts and substance misuse among transgender and gender nonconforming adults. LGBT Health, 3(3), 193–199. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2015.0111.
Mallory, C., Sears, B., Hasenbush, A., & Susman, A. (2014). Ensuring access to mentoring programs for LGBTQ youth. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Access-to-Youth-Mentoring-Programs.pdf.
McConnell, E. A., Birkett, M. A., & Mustanski, B. (2015). Typologies of social support and associations with mental health outcomes among LGBT youth. LGBT Health, 2(1), 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2014.0051.
McConnell, E. A., Birkett, M., & Mustanski, B. (2016). Families matter: Social support and mental health trajectories among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(6), 674–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.07.026.
McDonald, S., & Lambert, J. (2014). The long arm of mentoring: A counterfactual analysis of natural youth mentoring and employment outcomes in early careers. American Journal of Community Psychology, 54(3–4), 262–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9670-2.
Meltzer, A., Muir, K., & Craig, L. (2018). The role of trusted adults in young people’s social and economic lives. Youth & Society, 50(5), 575–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X16637610.
Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097.
Morse, J. M., Barrett, M., Mayan, M., Olson, K., & Spiers, J. (2002). Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2), 13–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690200100202.
Mulcahy, M., Dalton, S., Kolbert, J., & Crothers, L. (2016). Informal mentoring for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. The Journal of Educational Research, 109(4), 405–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.979907.
Mustanski, B., & Liu, R. T. (2013). A longitudinal study of predictors of suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(3), 437–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0013-9.
Papageorgiou, G., Grant, S. W., Takkenberg, J. J. M., & Mokhles, M. M. (2018). Statistical primer: How to deal with missing data in scientific research? Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery, 27(2), 153–158. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivy102.
Puckett, J. A., Horne, S. G., Surace, F., Carter, A., Noffsinger-Frazier, N., Shulman, J., et al. (2017). Predictors of sexual minority youth’s reported suicide attempts and mental health. Journal of Homosexuality, 64(6), 697–715. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1196999.
Putnam, R. D. (2015). Our kids: The American dream in crisis. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general public. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306.
Raposa, E. B., Rhodes, J., Stams, G. J. J., Card, N., Burton, S., Schwartz, S., et al. (2019). The effects of youth mentoring programs: A meta-analysis of outcome studies. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48, 423–443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-00982-8.
Reed, S. J., Strzyzykowski, T., Chiaramonte, D., & Miller, R. L. (2018). If it weren’t for them, I’d probably be lost: The diversity and function of natural mentors among young black men who have sex with men. Youth & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X18771246.
Rhodes, J. E. (2002). Stand by me: The risks and rewards of youth mentoring relationships. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rhodes, J. E. (2005). A model of youth mentoring. In D. L. Dubois & M. J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (p. 608). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Rhodes, J. E., Spencer, R., Keller, T. E., Liang, B., & Noam, G. (2006). A model for the influence of mentoring relationships on youth development. Journal of Community Psychology, 34(6), 691–707. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20124.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rummell, C. L. (2016). Mentoring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and gender nonconforming youth: National Mentoring Resource Center population review. Retrieved from http://nationalmentoringresourcecenter.org/images/PDF/LGBTQ_Population_Review.pdf.
Ryan, C., Huebner, D., Diaz, R. M., & Sanchez, J. (2009). Family rejection as a predictor of negative health outcomes in white and Latino lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults. Pediatrics, 123(1), 346–352. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2007-3524.
Ryan, C., Russell, S. T., Huebner, D., Diaz, R., & Sanchez, J. (2010). Family acceptance in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(4), 205–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2010.00246.x.
Scales, P.C., Boat, A., & Pekel, K. (2020). Defining and measuring social capital for young People: A practical review of the literature on resource-full relationships. Minneapolis: Search Institute. Report for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Singer, E. R. (2015). Resilience among sexual minority youth: The role of natural mentors in improving mental health and substance abuse outcomes. Boston College. Retrieved September 29, 2018 from https://search.proquest.com/openview/746bdab9cde1937d6cfa68f252608c26/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y.
Snapp, S. D., Watson, R. J., Russell, S. T., Diaz, R. M., & Ryan, C. (2015). Social support networks for LGBT young adults: Low cost strategies for positive adjustment. Family Relations, 64(3), 420–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12124.
Sterrett, E. M., Birkett, M., Kuhns, L., & Mustanski, B. (2015). Non-parental adults in the social and risk behavior networks of sexual minority male youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHILDYOUTH.2015.05.007.
Stewart, D., & Klein, S. (2016). The use of theory in research. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, 38(3), 615–619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-015-0216-y.
Torres, R. S., Harper, G. W., Sánchez, B., & Fernández, M. I. (2012). Examining natural mentoring relationships (NMRs) among self-identified gay, bisexual, and questioning (GBQ) male youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHILDYOUTH.2010.12.018.
Van Dam, L., Smit, D., Wildschut, B., Branje, S. J. T., Rhodes, J. E., Assink, M., et al. (2018). Does natural mentoring matter? A multilevel meta-analysis on the association between natural mentoring and youth outcomes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 62(1–2), 203–220. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12248.
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315421056.
Zimmerman, M. A. (2013). Resiliency theory: A strengths-based approach to research and practice for adolescent health. Health Education & Behavior: The Official Publication of the Society for Public Health Education, 40(4), 381. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198113493782.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Steven Harris and Tabitha Grier-Reed for their feedback and input on earlier drafts of this review.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
KB conceived of the study, participated in its design, carried out the methodology, and drafted the manuscript. LW assisted in its design, helped with interpretation, and revised the manuscript. Both authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Burningham, K., Weiler, L.M. Natural Mentoring and LGBTQ Youth: A Systematic Review. Adolescent Res Rev 6, 391–407 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-020-00146-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-020-00146-x