The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
“It's Not What I Expected”: A Qualitative Study of Youth Mentoring Relationship Failures
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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In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“Interviews with adult male mentors and adolescent boys paired in BBBS America indicated that boys, similar to girls, valued emotional closeness in their mentoring relationships [117,154].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]
In the citing paper
“Another qualitative study reported that early terminations were more likely to occur when mentors perceived the program caseworker in BBBS America involvement as either excessive or scanty [117].”
From Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review (2021) · cites this paper as [117]
Citations
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Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice
Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2002) · Cited by 2,708
Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: A meta-analytic review
DuBois, D. L., Holloway, B. E., Valentine, J. C., & Cooper, H. (2002) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1014628810714 · Cited by 1,544
Diversified Mentoring Relationships in Organizations: A Power Perspective
Ragins, B. R. (1997) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1997.9707154067 · Cited by 724
The Test of Time: Predictors and Effects of Duration in Youth Mentoring Relationships
Grossman, J. B., & Rhodes, J. E. (2002) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1014680827552 · Cited by 678
Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific Research on Adolescent Development
Scales, P. C., & Leffert, N. (2004) · Cited by 617
Research works printed but not linked: 8
- Barrett, B., 2004, Little moments big magic: Inspirational stories of Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the magic they create
- Flaxman, E., 1988, Youth mentoring: Programs and practices
- Freedman, M., 1993, The kindness of strangers: Adult mentors, urban youth, and the new volunteerism
- Johnson, J.M. (2002). In-depth interviewing. In J. F. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 103–119). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications .
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mentoring Relationships and Programs for Youth
Rhodes, J. E., & DuBois, D. L. (2008) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00585.x · Cited by 348
Ahrens, K. R., DuBois, D. L., Garrison, M., Spencer, R., Richardson, L. P., & Lozano, P. (2011) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.01.006 · Cited by 204
Youth Initiated Mentoring: Investigating a New Approach to Working with Vulnerable Adolescents
Schwartz, S. E. O., Rhodes, J. E., Spencer, R., & Grossman, J. B. (2013) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10464-013-9585-3 · Cited by 189
Administering Quantitative Instruments With Qualitative Interviews: A Mixed Research Approach
Frels, R. K., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2013) · Journal of Counseling & Development · doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00085.x · Cited by 434
Natural mentoring among older youth in and aging out of foster care: A systematic review
Thompson, A. E., Greeson, J. K. P., & Brunsink, A. M. (2016) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.12.006 · Cited by 172
Metadata
- 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
- 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
- Locations
- Journal of Adolescent Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Mentoring and Academic Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Career Development and Diversity
- Keywords
- youth mentoring, breakup, abandonment, unfulfilled expectations, cultural differences, family interference, agency support, community mentoring
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