The Effective Mentor: Non-Parental Mentorship and the Outcomes Across Adolescence

This study aimed to discover the differential effects of mentor involvement in early childhood and young adulthood, as well as to examine the qualities of the most effective mentor on emotional, educational, and interpersonal skill development. Data were collected from 88 college students via online surveys, and from 17 nursery school students via in-person structured interviews. Participants reported on wellbeing, educational engagement, and interpersonal problems. Those who identified mentors reported on mentor involvement as measured by relationship type, respect, information gathering, consistency, and support. Findings showed that mentorship in the college sample had an effect on outcome variables, while none were found for the nursery sample. Greater mentor involvement in the college sample showed greater wellbeing, educational engagement, and lower scores of interpersonal problems. These findings suggest that mentorship may have a greater effect during young adulthood, though low power leads us to conclude this with caution. Results also suggest that greater mentor involvement may increase the effects of the benefitted outcome variables beyond the mere presence of a mentor