Abstract
Natural mentors are important developmental assets for youth. To understand the nature and influence of natural mentors, scholars have often adopted Granovetter’s (1973) model, where “strong ties” refer to individuals in one’s close social network and “weak ties” refer to a broader network of heterogeneous relationships with nonfamilial others. This dichotomy can obscure the role of certain mentors like family friends and friend’s parents, who may transverse these categories. We used a multi-informant approach, drawing on mentee and mentor data from two nationally representative studies, to explore family friends and friend’s parents as a unique type of natural mentor. Study 1 (n = 3,133) uses Add Health data to explore the sociodemographic predictors of these mentors, whereas Study 2 (n = 343) uses the Power of Relationships Study to examine contexts, motivations, and perceived barriers associated with this previously understudied group of mentors. Results revealed significant sociodemographic predictors of having a friend’s parent or family friend mentor. In addition, results suggest that these ties engage in mentoring in youth-accessible contexts, often mentor as a result of a request from a youth’s parent, and that they may be less likely to perceive certain barriers to mentoring youth. Implications about the role of this specific type of natural mentor are discussed.
Highlights
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Friend’s parents & family friends are an understudied type of natural mentor.
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Demographic factors may predict youth’s nomination of a friend’s parent mentor.
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Friend’s parents & family friends engage in mentoring in youth-accessible contexts.
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Family friends & friend’s parents mentor due to requests from youths’ parents.
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These mentors are less likely than other mentors to perceive barriers to mentoring.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Carolina Population Center and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study. Data are available from the authors with the permission of the Carolina Population Center and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.
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Author contributions
K.M.C. led Study 1 conceptualization and analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; C.Y.S.P. led Study 2 conceptualization and analysis. Both authors oversaw study execution, contributed to drafts of the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript.
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The first author is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. 1356104. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Due to the nature of the manuscript (i.e., secondary data analysis), the study was granted exemption by the University of Massachusetts Boston Institutional Review Board and certify that the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Christensen, K.M., Poon, C.Y.S. Exploring Friend’s Parents and Family Friends as Natural Mentors for Youth: Contexts, Motivation, and Barriers. J Child Fam Stud 31, 2947–2959 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02153-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02153-5