SynthesisJournal of youth and adolescence2020
Non-Specific versus Targeted Approaches to Youth Mentoring: A Follow-up Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of youth and adolescence, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Meta-analysis of the Effects of Mentoring on Youth in Foster Care.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2021Pooled it
- Youth Initiated Mentoring: A Meta-analytic Study of a Hybrid Approach to Youth Mentoring.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2021Pooled it
- The efficacy and usability of motivational interviewing just-in-time trainings for youth mentors.American journal of community psychology · 2025Trial
- Long-term impact of the Fostering Healthy Futures for Preteens program on suicide-related thoughts and behaviors for youth in out-of-home care: A randomized controlled trial.American journal of community psychology · 2024Trial
- Investigating Effects of Mentoring for Youth with Assault Injuries: Results of a Randomized-Controlled Trial.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2022Trial
- Mentoring Children in Foster Care: Examining Relationship Histories as Moderators of Intervention Impact on Children's Mental Health and Trauma Symptoms.American journal of community psychology · 2022Trial
- Fostering Healthy Futures Preventive Intervention for Children in Foster Care: Long-term Delinquency Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2021Trial
- Does Organizing Mentor-Mentee Matches into Small Groups Enhance Treatment Effects in a Site-Based Mentoring Program for Adolescents? Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2020Trial
- Can I Help With That? The Role of Goal Setting in a Technology-Enabled Peer Mentoring Program.Journal of community psychology · 2026Article
- A mixed methods evaluation of a pilot open trial of a mentor-guided digital intervention for youth anxiety.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Friends in Our Lives: Perspectives of Young People Who Participated in a Professional Mentoring Program.Journal of applied youth studies · 2025Article
- A scoping review of therapeutic mentoring for youth mental health.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of a multidisciplinary treatment with youth-initiated mentoring for youths with mental health needs from multi-problem families: a quasi-experimental study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Striving for safety, impact, and equity: A critical consideration of AJCP publications on formal youth mentoring programs.American journal of community psychology · 2023Review
- Co-Regulation as a Support for Older Youth in the Context of Foster Care: a Scoping Review of the Literature.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2023Article
- Striking the Balance: The Relative Benefits of Goal- and Youth-Focused Approaches to Youth Mentoring Relationships.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2023Article
- Implementation of a Technology-Enhanced Peer Mentor Referral System for First-Year University Students.Journal of technology in behavioral science · 2023Article
- PROTOCOL: The effectiveness, implementation and cost effectiveness of mentoring programmes in reducing anti-social, violent and offending behaviour in children aged 17 years and below: A mixed method systematic review.Campbell systematic reviews · 2022Article
- Can peer mentoring improve online teaching effectiveness? An RCT during the COVID-19 pandemic.Labour economics · 2022Article
- The Comparative Roles of Mentor Self-Efficacy and Empathy in Fostering Relationship Quality with Youth.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite decades of increased research and funding, youth mentoring programs, overall, yield small effects on youth outcomes. As a result, there are growing calls for programs to utilize the mentoring relationship as context for intentional, targeted skills development, in which mentors employ targeted skills designed to match the presenting concerns of mentees. This targeted approach contrasts with the historically dominant, non-specific friendship model, which holds that a supportive relational bond-alone-promotes positive developmental change. The current study is a follow-up meta-analysis using a comprehensive dataset of all intergenerational, one-on-one mentoring program evaluations published between 1975 and 2018, investigating the comparative impact of targeted, skills-based versus non-specific, relational approaches to mentoring. Analyses of 48 mentoring studies of youth outcomes (average youth age of 12.25 years old) revealed the overall effect size of targeted programs to be more than double that of non-specific relational approaches, with significant moderator effects on academic, psychological, and social functioning. Findings suggest that youth mentoring programs can promote positive outcomes, particularly when mentors employ targeted approaches matched to the needs of their mentees.
Indexed as
Identifiers
32297173What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.