Mentors in Adolescents' Lives (From Social World of Adolescents: International Perspectives, P 121-139, 1989, Klaus Hurrelmann and Uwe Engel, eds. -- See NCJ-120206)

• NCJ Number: 120214
• Author(s): S F Hamilton; N Darling
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 19 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: New York State College of Human Ecology; Spencer Foundation
• Sale Source: Walter de Gruyter & Co
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: West Germany (Former)
• Note: Earlier version of paper presented at the International Symposium on Unrelated Adults in Adolescents' Lives, Cornell University, March 1988

Annotation

This study of important people in American adolescents' lives investigated the contributions of mentors to adolescent development.

Abstract

Retrospective accounts of important people were collected from 57 male and 69 female third-year students at New York's Cornell University who were recruited from business, natural sciences, and humanities majors. These students filled out questionnaires on important people in their lives before entering college and on relationships with those persons. Of the 127 students, 82 percent named at least one unrelated adult as an important person in their lives, 45 percent had at least one associated who qualified as a mentor, and 24 percent described more than one unrelated adult associate as a mentor. Mentors talked with adolescents about personal matters, including family and friends, politics, ideas, the future, cultural experiences, and outdoor activities. Younger adolescents and females were less likely to have unrelated adult mentors than older adolescents and males, and unrelated adult mentors appeared to complement rather than substitute for parents. 24 references, 2 tables, 2 figures.