A CROSS-LAGGED MODEL OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENTOR-MENTEE RELATIONSHIPS AND INTENTIONAL SELF-REGULATION IN ADOLESCENCE Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Intentional self-regulatory, or goal-directed, skills are essential for positive social relationships, success, and well-being during adolescence. Prior theory has suggested that mentoring relationships may provide a key resource for building these skills. However, there is little direct evidence linking mentoring relationships to growth in youth intentional self-regulation (ISR). Accordingly, we examined the bidirectional relations between mentor-mentee relationship and ISR using data from 415 mentor-mentee dyads from programs around the United States. The 415 youth (48% female) ranged in age from 10.14 to 20.65 and were ethnically and socioeconomically diverse. The 114 mentors (58.8% female; 64% Caucasian) were, on average, 33.6 years of age. Results from cross-lagged structural equation modeling indicated that a latent factor of mentor-mentee relationship predicted growth in a latent factor of youth ISR. These findings support the role of mentors in promoting youth ISR. The implications of these findings for the training of practitioners are discussed.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY

author list (cited authors)

  • Bowers, E. P., Wang, J., Tirrell, J. M., & Lerner, R. M.

citation count

  • 12

complete list of authors

  • Bowers, Edmond P||Wang, Jun||Tirrell, Jonathan M||Lerner, Richard M

publication date

  • January 2016

publisher