Two years and counting: The dynamics of long-term youth mentoring and association with parent and peer relationships.

Adolescent Brain Development: Variations in Peer and Parental Contributions

ABSTRACTObjectivePerceived parental relationship characteristics, such as maternal overprotection, rejection or neglect, and peer victimisation, are suggested to be more common in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) than in healthy controls. This study compares parental and peer relationships in adolescent patients with AN to those in a clinical control group (CC; a matched group of patients with other mental disorders) and investigates their association with AN severity.MethodSelf‐reported parental and peer relationships were compared between adolescents with AN (n = 43) and CC (n = 127), matched for age, sex and global functioning. Multiple linear and logistic regression were used to analyse the association between parental and peer relationships and AN severity.ResultsThe AN group exhibited a more positive overall evaluation of parental relationships (b = 18.34, p = 0.002), particularly with fathers (b = 5.30, p = 0.028), fewer parental discrepancies (b = −7.67, p = 0.013), less peer victimisation (OR = 0.43, p = 0.030) and perpetration (OR = 0.26, p = 0.006) than the CC group. No significant associations were identified between these relationships and AN severity.ConclusionsIn contrast to previous studies comparing social relationships in patients with AN and healthy controls, our findings suggest that increased positive parental and peer relationships may serve as a resource, irrespective of symptom severity.

The present study was designed to investigate stability and changes in prosocial behavior and the parent and peer correlates of prosocial behavior in rural adolescents. Participants were from a rural, low SES community in the Eastern United States. The participants were in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades at Time 1 and 10th, 11th, and 12th grades at Time 4, and completed measures of prosocial behavior and quality of parent and peer relationships. Latent growth curve modeling revealed that despite moderate stability in individual differences in prosocial behavior and slight increases in quality of peer and parent relationships, level of prosocial behavior declined until late high school with a slight rebound in grade 12. Furthermore, increases in the quality of peer relationships predicted decreases in prosocial behavior for girls but not boys. Discussion focuses on continuity and change in prosocial behavior and the gender‐based relations between quality of parent and peer relationships and prosocial behaviors in adolescence.

Mentoring programs are a popular approach for supporting youth through relationships with adult mentors, but few mentoring studies have included the mentor perspective. The present study comprised 80 undergraduate mentors (M age = 19.83, 52.5% White, 76.3% female) and elementary-aged mentees (M age = 10.61, 91.3% Black, 53.8% female). Mentee and mentor perceptions of the mentoring relationship and their other adult social supports were assessed over an academic year, in addition to mentor internalizing problems. It was hypothesized that mentor and mentee mentoring relationship quality would both be predicted by and predict the other variables of interest. For mentees, cross-lagged panel models indicated pre-existing adult social supports were positively associated with perception of the mentoring relationship, while for mentors, multiple regression highlighted the negative association of mentor internalizing problems with perceived mentoring relationship quality. These findings highlight the need for dyadic perspectives in future mentoring research.

This study longitudinally examined associations between parent and peer relationships, childhood maltreatment, and adolescents' psychopathology. We expected lower perceived parental relationship quality to predict greater symptomatology and higher perceived friendship quality to buffer this association, with greater buffering effects for maltreated participants. We assessed 545 participants (295 maltreated, 250 non-maltreated; 60.2% male; 52.8% Black, 27.5% White, 12.8% Bi-racial, 13.4% Latin@) across two timepoints (Wave 1, Mage = 13.8 years, Wave 2,Mage = 16.2 years). Department of Human Services records indicated maltreatment status prior to Wave 1. Adolescents self-reported Wave 1 parental relationship and friendship quality and Wave 2 internalizing/externalizing symptoms. Parental relationship quality did not predict psychopathology, and this association did not differ by maltreatment status. We found a significant three-way interaction between maternal relationship quality, maltreatment, and friendship quality on internalizing (β = .10, p = .037) and externalizing (β = .12, p = .010) symptoms. For non-maltreated adolescents, parental relationships and friendship quality differentially predicted symptomatology. Maltreated adolescents with low maternal relationship and friendship quality exhibited the most symptoms, whereas those with low maternal relationship quality and high friendship quality exhibited the least. Findings invite inquiry into parent and peer relationships' differential roles in adolescents' psychopathology.

This study investigates the role of parental and peer relationships’ quality on homophobic victimization and possible consequences on mental health during adolescence. Participants were 394 adolescents, (41.6% male and 58.4% female) aged 15–20 years (M = 16.55; SD = 0.85), attending the third and fourth classes of public high schools in Italy. Participants completed the Homophobic Bullying Scale to evaluate homophobic victimization toward gays and lesbians or assumed homosexuals, the Symptom Check-list-90 to evaluate mental health, and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment to investigate the quality of peer and parental relationships (in terms of communication, disaffection, and trust). Results show how the quality of peer relationships is not connected with victimization, but the quality of parental relationships is linked with homophobic victimization. Finally, the victimization is connected with anxiety and somatization problems. Theoretical and educational implications were discussed.

To investigate associations between suicidal behaviours, including suicidal ideation and attempts, and poor peer and parental relationships in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adolescents aged 12 to 13 years. We used Statistics Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth as the dataset. This cross-sectional sample included 1049 girls and 1041 boys aged 12 to 13 years. We obtained answers to self-report questionnaires that included measures of peer relationships, parental nurturance, and parental rejection, as well as information regarding suicidal ideation and attempts. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were used for the analysis. We included depression in the multiple logistic regression analysis. Analyses were run separately for boys and girls. The unadjusted logistic regression models found that, among early adolescent boys and girls, depression, poor peer relationships, decreased parental nurturance, and increased parental rejection were all significantly associated with suicidal ideation and attempts. However, after adjusting for all other variables in the multiple logistic regression models, poor peer relationships were no longer significantly associated with suicidal ideation among early adolescent boys and were only weakly associated among early adolescent girls. Poor parental relationships and depression were more powerfully associated with suicidal ideation and attempts than were peer relationships in a nationally representative sample of boys and girls aged 12 to 13 years, and these factors may be important early intervention targets.

Positive relationships with parents and nonparental adults have the potential to bolster Black adolescents' socio-emotional well-being. Though each type of intergenerational relationship has been linked to more positive youth outcomes, few studies have examined the interactive influences of parenting and natural mentoring relationships on the socio-emotional development of Black youth. In the current study, we examined associations between involved-vigilant parenting and the psychological well-being and social skills of Black early adolescents (n = 259; 58 % female; mean age = 13.56, SD = .96) across types of natural mentoring relationships. Using K-means cluster analysis, we identified two types of mentoring relationships (less connected and more connected) based on relationship length, involvement, closeness, and frequency of contact. Youth with more connected mentoring relationships (n = 123) had higher psychological well-being and social skills than youth with no mentor (n = 64) or less connected mentors (n = 72). Youth without a natural mentor and youth with less connected mentors did not differ in their levels of social skills or psychological well-being. Structural equation modeling was conducted to determine if associations between involved-vigilant parenting and youths' psychological well-being and social skills varied among youth with a more connected mentoring relationship in comparison to youth without a mentor or with a less connected mentor, controlling for participants' gender, age, school, and parental education. The positive associations between involved-vigilant parenting and adolescents' psychological well-being and social skills were weaker among adolescents with a more connected mentoring relationship in comparison to their peers without or with a less connected mentoring relationship. These results suggest that youth may be more strongly influenced by involved-vigilant parenting in the absence of a strongly connected natural mentoring relationship.

BackgroundAdolescence is characterized by developmental changes in social relationships, which may contribute to, or protect against, psychopathology and risky behaviors. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one type of risky behavior that typically begins during adolescence and is associated with problems in relationships with family members and peers. Prior research on social factors in adolescent NSSI has been limited, however, by a narrow focus on specific interpersonal domains, cross-sectional methods, retrospective self-report of childhood experiences, and a failure to predict NSSI onset among as-yet-unaffected youth.MethodsWe investigated these relationships in 2127 urban-living adolescent girls with no NSSI history at age 13, who were participating in a longitudinal cohort study (Pittsburgh Girls Study). We used discrete-time survival analyses to examine the contribution of time-varying interpersonal risk factors, assessed yearly at ages 13–16, to NSSI onset assessed in the following year (ages 14–17), controlling for relevant covariates, such as depression and race. We considered both behavioral indicators (parental discipline, positive parenting, parental monitoring, peer victimization), and cognitive/affective indicators (quality of attachment to parent, perceptions of peers, and perceptions of one’s own social competence and worth in relation to peers) of interpersonal difficulties.ResultsParental harsh punishment, low parental monitoring, and poor quality of attachment to parent predicted increased odds of subsequent adolescent NSSI onset, whereas positive parenting behaviors reduced the odds of next year NSSI onset. Youth who reported more frequent peer victimization, poorer social self-worth and self-competence, and more negative perceptions of peers were also at increased risk of NSSI onset in the following year. When tested simultaneously, no single parenting variable showed a unique association with later NSSI onset; in contrast, peer victimization and poor social self-worth each predicted increased odds of later NSSI onset in an omnibus model of peer and parent relationship characteristics.ConclusionsIn this urban sample of adolescent girls, both peer and parent factors predicted new onset NSSI, although only peer factors were associated with subsequent NSSI in combined multivariate models. Results further suggest that both behavioral and cognitive/affective indicators of interpersonal problems predict NSSI onset. These findings highlight the relevance of family and peer relationships to NSSI onset, with implications for prevention of NSSI onset among at-risk youth.

A critical mechanism through which mentors are thought to influence developmental outcomes is the mentee-mentor relationship. Attachment theories suggest that a mentee’s perceptions of other relationships in her life may impact the quality of the mentor-mentee relationship. This study tests this hypothesis. Data were drawn from a sample of 205 early adolescent girls who received a college-aged mentor through the Young Women Leaders Program for one academic year. In this exploratory study, we examine the association between mentees’ relationship characteristics (i.e., perceptions of, feelings about maternal and peer relationships) and mentoring relationship satisfaction. Results of multiple linear regressions revealed that less maternal quality communication and trust was associated with lower quality mentoring relationships (β = .258, p < .05). Higher levels of maternal alienation were associated with higher quality mentoring relationships (β = .241, p < .05). Results can inform mentor training to support strong mentoring relationships with girls experiencing a variety of attachment-related challenges with their mothers.

The study's goal was to examine the impact of parent and peer relationships on health behaviors and psychological well-being of those with and without Type 1 diabetes over the transition to emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood is an understudied developmental period and a high-risk period--especially for those with Type 1 diabetes. Youth with (n = 117) and without Type 1 diabetes (n = 122) completed questionnaires during their senior year of high school and 1 year later. Measures included supportive and problematic aspects of parent and peer relationships, health behaviors, psychological well-being, and, for those with diabetes, self-care behavior and glycemic control. Prospective multiple and logistic regression analysis revealed that friend conflict was a more potent predictor than friend support of changes in health behaviors and psychological well-being. Parent support was associated with positive changes in psychological well-being and decreases in smoking, whereas parent control was related to increases in smoking and depressive symptoms. There was some evidence of cross-domain buffering such that supportive relationships in one domain buffered adverse effects of problematic relationships in the other domain on health outcomes. This longitudinal study showed that parent relationships remain an important influence on, and peer relationships continue to influence, the health behaviors and psychological well-being of emerging adults with and without Type 1 diabetes. Parent relationships also have the potential to buffer the adverse effects of difficulties with peers.

Adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) often exhibit deficits in emotion recognition, strained parent and peer relationships, and elevated social stress. This randomized controlled trial tested Impact VR, a brief, immersive socioemotional intervention, with the aim of building protective factors and improving socioemotional functioning among youth with CD. A total of 110 adolescents with CD (Mage = 13.79; 58% male) were randomized to either the Impact VR intervention or an active control. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up, including emotion recognition accuracy (ER40 total and subscales: fear, sadness, anger, happy, neutral), self-reported peer relationships, parent relationships, and social stress. Mixed-effects models controlled for baseline scores. Impact VR produced significant improvements in ER40 total accuracy (d = 0.74, p < .001), with specific gains for fear (d = 0.54, p < .001), sadness (d = 0.75, p < .001), and anger (d = 0.50, p = .014). No group differences emerged for happy (p = .126) or neutral (p = .050). Impact VR participants also reported stronger peer relationships (d = 0.58, p = .002) and parental relationships (d = 0.54, p < .001), and reductions in social stress at the 3-month follow-up (d = 0.53, p < .001). Findings demonstrate that even brief, scalable interventions delivered through immersive virtual experiences can yield meaningful improvements in socioemotional functioning for adolescents with CD. Impact VR represents a promising, engaging, and developmentally sensitive addition to the prevention science toolbox.

Although health effects of social relationships are well-researched, long-term health consequences of adolescent family as well as peer relationships are poorly understood. The aim of the study was to explore the prospective importance of parental and peer social relationships in adolescence on internalising and functional somatic symptoms in adulthood. Data were drawn from four waves of the Northern Swedish Cohort Study, response rate 94.3%, N=1001. Outcome variables were internalising and functional somatic symptoms at the ages of 21, 30 and 42. Relationship variables at age 16 were poor parental contact and three indicators of poor peer relationships. Associations were assessed in multivariate ordinal logistic regressions with adjustment for confounders and baseline health. Results show that the main relationships-related predictors of adult internalising symptoms were self-rated poor peer relationships in terms of spending time alone during after-school hours and poor parental relationship. Functional somatic symptoms on the other hand were most strongly associated with poor parental contact and not being happy with classmates at age 16. The quality of parental and peer relationships in adolescence predicts adult mental and functional somatic health as much as 26 years later, even when accounting for confounders and adolescent symptomatology. This study extends past research by exploring how both adolescent parental and peer relationships (self-reported as well as teacher reported) predict adult self-reported health.

The Mentoring Relationship Challenges Scale: The impact of mentoring stage, type, and gender

While both mentoring and peer relationships exist among some auditors in public accounting, little is known about these relationships. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on perceived barriers to mentoring and peer relationships in public accounting. Analysis of responses indicated three interpretable factors representing barriers to forming mentoring relationships. First, participants without a mentor perceived greater barriers from access to mentors and from willingness of the mentor. Gender differences were significant in all three factors. Partners perceived barriers from access to mentors to be lower than those perceived by the other ranks. Finally, willingness of the mentor was perceived to be a greater barrier by local firm participants than by intermediate or Big 5 firm participants.