Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas.
School of Social Work, Boston University.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2021 Mar-Apr;50(2):281-299. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2021.1875327. Epub 2021 Mar 9.
Youth mentoring is a potentially powerful tool for prevention and intervention, but it has garnered little attention from clinical child and adolescent psychologists. For decades, the practice of youth mentoring has out-paced its underlying science, and meta-analytic studies consistently reveal modest outcomes. The field is now at an important crossroads: Continue to endorse traditional, widely used models of mentoring or shift to alternative models that are more in line with the tenets of prevention science. Presented here is a framework to guide the science and practice of mentoring going forward. Our premise is that mentoring relationships can serve as both means to a targeted end and as a valued end unto itself. We present a functional typology of current mentoring programs (supportive, problem-focused, & transitional) and call for greater specification of both the process and expected outcomes of mentoring. Finally, we argue that efforts to leverage mentoring relationships in service of youth development and the promotion of child and adolescent mental health will likely require disrupting the science, practice, and policy that surrounds youth mentoring.
青年辅导是预防和干预的一种潜在有力工具，但它很少受到临床儿童和青少年心理学家的关注。几十年来，青年辅导的实践一直快于其基础科学，元分析研究一致表明效果适中。该领域现在正处于一个重要的十字路口：是继续支持传统的、广泛使用的辅导模式，还是转向更符合预防科学原则的替代模式。本文提出了一个指导辅导科学和实践的框架。我们的前提是，辅导关系既可以作为实现目标的手段，也可以作为自身有价值的目标。我们提出了当前辅导计划的功能类型学（支持性、问题焦点和过渡性），并呼吁更具体地说明辅导的过程和预期结果。最后，我们认为，要利用辅导关系促进青年发展和促进儿童和青少年心理健康，可能需要打破围绕青年辅导的科学、实践和政策。
