ABSTRACT

A survey of 1,860 15-year-olds from across the United States found that mentees’ perceived positive regard from caring adults was associated with a range of personal, school, and civic outcomes. A structural equation modeling analysis found that for youth who have a mentor or other caring adults that they feel gets them, this perceived positive regard was positively related to youth’s sense of purpose and effort in school, which are related to higher grades and civic engagement. A person-centered approach found associations between feeling ‘gotten’ by a caring adult and higher academic and civic engagement. Results also demonstrate potential negative effects for youth who perceived low positive regard from an adult. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

摘要

对来自美国各地的 1,860 名 15 岁青少年进行的一项调查发现，受指导者对有爱心的成年人的积极关注与一系列个人、学校和公民成果有关。一项结构方程模型分析发现，对于有导师或其他他们认为得到他们关怀的成年人的青少年，这种感知的积极关注与青少年在学校的目标感和努力呈正相关，而后者与更高的成绩和公民参与有关。一种以人为中心的方法发现了一个有爱心的成年人“得到”的感觉与更高的学术和公民参与之间的联系。结果还表明，对于认为成年人的积极关注度较低的年轻人来说，可能会产生负面影响。讨论了对研究和实践的影响。