If Momma Ain't Happy With the Mentoring Relationship, Ain't Nobody Happy With the Mentoring Relationship: Parental Satisfaction as a Predictor of Mentoring Match Strength and Length

• NCJ Number: 255869
• Journal: Journal of Community Psychology Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: 2019 Pages: 879-890
• Author(s): Stephen R. Shamblen; Matthew W. Courser; April M. Schweinhart; Kirsten Thompson
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-JU-FX-0010
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Since relatively little is known about whether parental perceptions of the mentoring match (i.e., whether the match is meeting their goals) impacts the length and strength of mentoring relationships, the current study examined this factor in a sample of 350 newly formed youth–mentor matches, based on multiple measures of match strength and satisfaction with the match.

Abstract

Parents/guardians were also surveyed about their level of satisfaction with the match. The primary finding of this study was that parent/guardian dissatisfaction with the match relationships meeting goals was the only significant predictor of a higher likelihood of match closure. Although youth and mentor self-reports of satisfaction with how match time was spent were the strongest predictors of volunteer and youth match strength ratings, parent/guardian satisfaction with the match relationship also remained a strong predictor of match strength. The implications of these findings are discussed. (publisher abstract modified)