“It's Not What I Expected”: A Qualitative Study of Youth Mentoring Relationship Failures

Spencer, Renée

doi:10.1177/0743558407301915

Cited by 266Mentoring and Academic DevelopmentYouth Development and Social SupportCareer Development and Diversity

“It's Not What I Expected”: A Qualitative Study of Youth Mentoring Relationship Failures

Spencer, Renée·2007·Journal of Adolescent Research

DOI 10.1177/0743558407301915

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Abstract

Although estimates are that only about half of youth mentoring relationships established through formal programs last beyond a few months, almost no attention has been paid to understanding mentoring relationship failures. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 adult and 11 adolescent male and female participants in a community-based one-to-one mentoring program whose relationships ended early. Line-by-line coding and a narrative approach to a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts yielded six salient factors that contributed to the demise of these mentoring relationships: (a) mentor or protégé abandonment, (b) perceived lack of protégé motivation, (c) unfulfilled expectations, (d) deficiencies in mentor relational skills, including the inability to bridge cultural divides, (e) family interference, and (f) inadequate agency support.

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Mentors' inability to bridge cultural differences appeared to be a pivotal contributor to the termination of matches.
“Conversely, mentors’ inability to bridge cultural differences appeared to be a pivotal contributor to the termination of matches [117].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]
Mentors in BBBS America who held mentees in positive regard and were capable of engaging authentically and empathically with them were more likely to facilitate the establishment of strong relationships.
“Mentors in BBBS America who held mentees in positive regard and were capable of engaging authentically and empathically with them were more likely to facilitate the establishment of strong relationships [94,117].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]
The perceived similarity between BBBS mentors' ideal versus actual roles were significant predictors of mentors' expressed intentions to preserve the relationship, whereas mentors' feelings of frustration and ineffectiveness compared with their initial expectations were shown to account for early termination.
“The perceived similarity between BBBS mentors’ ideal versus actual roles were significant predictors of mentors’ expressed intentions to preserve the relationship [144], whereas mentors’ feelings of frustration and ineffectiveness compared with their initial expectations were shown to account for early termination, as reported in qualitative studies [116,117,120].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]
Mentors holding negative attitudes toward children and adolescents often found it challenging to connect with or understand them.
“In contrast, mentors holding negative attitudes toward children and adolescents often found it challenging to connect with or understand them [94,117].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]
Questions about whether formal mentors from different cultures provide different kinds of support and how their mentees perceive this support have rarely been addressed.
“questions about whether formal mentors from different cultures provide different kinds of support and how their mentees perceive this support have rarely been addressed [117,164,165].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]

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Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: A Qualitative Interview Study of How and Why Youth Mentoring Relationships End
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It Takes a Village to Break Up a Match: A Systemic Analysis of Formal Youth Mentoring Relationship Endings
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How youth mentoring relationships end and why it matters: a mixed‐methods, multi‐informant study
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“I wished I could have said bye”: exploring youth reactions to formal mentoring relationship endings
Keller, T. E., McCormack, M. J., Miranda‐Díaz, M., Drew, A. L., & Spencer, R. (2025) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108594 · Cited by 1 · see citing works

Authors: Spencer, R.
Affiliations: Boston University (US)
Corresponding author: Spencer, Renée
ORCID: Spencer, Renée
Venue: Journal of Adolescent Research
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2007-07
Volume: 22
Issue: 4
Pages: 331-354
ISSN: 0743-5584 (ISSN-L)
1552-6895
DOI: 10.1177/0743558407301915
OpenAlex: W2022414674
Cited by: 266
References: 34
Citations by year: 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 21
FWCI: 7.34
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Adolescent Research (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mentoring and Academic Development
Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
Keywords: youth mentoring, breakup, abandonment, unfulfilled expectations, cultural differences, family interference, agency support, community mentoring

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“It's Not What I Expected”: A Qualitative Study of Youth Mentoring Relationship Failures

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