Development and Influence of Mentor-Child Relationships

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children who demonstrate healthy social and emotional adjustment despite facing environmental risk and adversity are commonly distinguished by reliable support from a caring and competent adult. Non-parental adults who establish enduring, emotionally close relationships with children may play a role in preventing mental health problems and promoting positive development. Several preventive interventions emphasize the development and maintenance of supportive intergenerational relationships. This prospective study will focus on relationships created in a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program to investigate basic interpersonal processes in the development and influence of children's relationships with non-parental adults. Interviews will be conducted with child participants, their patents/guardians, and volunteer mentors prior to the introduction of child and mentor and again ten months after the initiation of the match. The study will evaluate whether the child's attachment security with parent is associated with the child's subsequent pattern of relating to the mentor and the extent to which the child uses the mentoring relationship as a resource. The contribution of the mentor's working model of attachment to the development of the relationship will also be examined. In addition, the study will determine whether the quality of the mentoring relationship is associated with child behavior and mental health, controlling for baseline assessments. Several potential protective mechanisms describing interaction between the mentor-child relationship and the environmental risk will be modeled. For example, the value of a relationship established with a supportive, non-parental adult may depend upon the ways in which a mentoring relationship may have an effect. The influence of the mentoring relationship may be mediated through functional support that the mentor provides to help the child cope with stress. The mentoring relationship also may enhance the child's self-concept and self-efficacy, thereby improving the child's capacity to face adversity. Insights into the interpersonal processes involved in the formation and function of children's relationships with significant non-parental adults should translate into more effective preventive interventions.