EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTORSHIP QUALITY AND STUDENT EARLY ACADEMIC IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

Important early academic identity development indicators among youth include confidence in academic ability, school affect, and sociability. Youth mentoring is a technique that can improve these characteristics in students. However, it is unclear which aspects of mentoring styles best support growth in these areas, specifically in regard to relationship-focused and goal-oriented mentoring styles. The Youth Mentoring Survey (YMS) and the Match Characteristic Questionnaire (MCQ) are used to explore the relationship quality and styles of matches and how these predict growth in these early development indicators. This study conducts exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and canonical correlations to explore the dyadic relationships between these two instruments. Hierarchical set-wise regressions were conducted to explore mentees’ perceptions of mentorship quality and growth in early academic identity indicators. Further, cross-lagged panel models were conducted between mentees and mentors to explore the dyadic relationship between perceptions of growth in mentees’ early academic identity indicators. Results provided a 2-factor solution for the YMS (relationship quality and session activity quality) and a 6-factor solution for the MCQ (communication quality, session activity quality, external feasibility, match compatibility, time for fun, and external program support). Canonical analyses suggest that mentees’ perceptions of relational and session quality correlate with mentors’ perceptions of match communication quality, feasibility, and closeness (not session quality). Further, mentees report increased session quality as mentors report decreases in match compatibility and increases in external program support. This could reinforce the importance of programs supporting mentors who are experiencing challenges. Hierarchical set-wise regressions indicate that mentees who feel close to the mentor are likelier to report growth in school affect, sociability, and confidence. Further, improved session activity quality is associated with improved sociability. Cross-lagged analyses found no dyadic link in mentee and mentor perspectives of mentee early academic identifier development.