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Non-Specific versus Targeted Approaches to Youth Mentoring: A Follow-up Meta-analysis

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Despite decades of increased research and funding, youth mentoring programs, overall, yield small effects on youth outcomes. As a result, there are growing calls for programs to utilize the mentoring relationship as context for intentional, targeted skills development, in which mentors employ targeted skills designed to match the presenting concerns of mentees. This targeted approach contrasts with the historically dominant, non-specific friendship model, which holds that a supportive relational bond—alone—promotes positive developmental change. The current study is a follow-up meta-analysis using a comprehensive dataset of all intergenerational, one-on-one mentoring program evaluations published between 1975 and 2018, investigating the comparative impact of targeted, skills-based versus non-specific, relational approaches to mentoring. Analyses of 48 mentoring studies of youth outcomes (average youth age of 12.25 years old) revealed the overall effect size of targeted programs to be more than double that of non-specific relational approaches, with significant moderator effects on academic, psychological, and social functioning. Findings suggest that youth mentoring programs can promote positive outcomes, particularly when mentors employ targeted approaches matched to the needs of their mentees.

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Authors’ Contributions

K.M.C. assisted in the development of coding schemes, co-led data management and coding of relevant studies, wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and coordinated draft revisions; M.A.H. conducted literature searches, identified relevant studies, and contributed to drafts of the manuscript; G.J.J.M.S. consulted on study coding, conducted the statistical analyses, and contributed to drafts of the manuscript; E.B.R. co-led data management, assisted in the development of coding schemes, and contributed to drafts of the manuscript; S.B. assisted in the development of coding schemes and coding of relevant studies; J.E.R. conceptualized the study, oversaw study execution, and contributed to drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Connected Learning and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. The first and second authors would each like to acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

Data Sharing and Declaration

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 William T. Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA, 02125, USA

    Kirsten M. Christensen, Matthew A. Hagler, Samantha Burton & Jean E. Rhodes

  2. University of Amsterdam, 1012 WX, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Geert-Jan Stams

  3. Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA

    Elizabeth B. Raposa

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  1. Kirsten M. Christensen
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Correspondence to Jean E. Rhodes.

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All was conducted in compliance with APA ethical principles. The study consisted of secondary analyses of de-identified data, and therefore did not require formal consent or approval by the University of Massachusetts Boston Institutional Review Board.

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Christensen, K.M., Hagler, M.A., Stams, GJ. et al. Non-Specific versus Targeted Approaches to Youth Mentoring: A Follow-up Meta-analysis. J Youth Adolescence 49, 959–972 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01233-x

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