Development and Influence of Mentor-Child Relationships

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管面临环境风险和逆境，但表现出健康的社会和情感适应能力的儿童通常得到关心和有能力的成年人的可靠支持。与儿童建立持久、情感亲密关系的非父母成年人可能在预防心理健康问题和促进积极发展方面发挥作用。一些预防性干预措施强调发展和维持支持性代际关系。本研究以“大哥大姐”师徒关系为研究对象，探讨儿童与非父母成人关系发展的基本人际过程及其影响。在介绍孩子和导师之前，以及在比赛开始十个月后，将对儿童参与者、他们的专利/监护人和志愿者导师进行访谈。本研究将评估儿童与父母的依恋安全是否与儿童随后与导师的关系模式有关，以及儿童将师徒关系作为资源的程度。导师的依恋工作模式对关系发展的贡献也将被检验。此外，研究将确定师徒关系的质量是否与儿童行为和心理健康有关，控制基线评估。描述师徒关系与环境风险之间相互作用的几种潜在保护机制将被建模。例如，与一个支持的、非父母的成年人建立的关系的价值可能取决于师徒关系可能产生影响的方式。师徒关系的影响可以通过导师提供的功能支持来中介，以帮助孩子应对压力。师徒关系还可以增强儿童的自我概念和自我效能感，从而提高儿童面对逆境的能力。对涉及儿童与重要的非父母成年人关系的形成和功能的人际关系过程的见解应转化为更有效的预防干预措施。

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.