Noelle Hurd, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Curry School of Education,University of Virginia Part of the Youth-Nex Conference: Youth of Color Matter: Reducing Inequalities Through Positive Youth Development Panel 1 - "Culturally-Grounded Approaches to Positive Youth Development" Cultural beliefs, traditions, and pride can play an integral role in promoting positive development for youth from ethnic minority backgrounds. In this panel, we will hear about connections between cultural values and healthy development for American Indian youth, culturally-linked coping strategies among African American teens, and the benefits of emphasizing cultural pride in natural mentoring relationships.

1. Examining Natural Mentoring
Relationships among Black Adolescents
Noelle Hurd, PhD, MPH
University of Virginia

2. Overview
 Natural Mentoring Relationships
 Focus on Black Adolescents
 Review Findings from Recent Research
 Next Steps & Future Directions
 Implications for Practice

3. Natural Mentoring Relationships (NMRs)

4. NMRs among Black Adolescents

5. What have I found?
• Adolescents with NMRs reported
− less psychological distress
− fewer health-risk behaviors
• Above and beyond parental & peer support
Stress Depressive
Symptoms
Natural
Mentor

6. Relationship Characteristics & Pathways
 What are the pathways through which natural
mentoring relationships may promote more positive
outcomes?
 Do characteristics of natural mentoring relationships
determine their effectiveness?

7. Pathways
Educational
Attainment
Public Regard
School
Importance
Private Regard
Centrality
8th grade
GPA
Mentor
Presence

8. Relationship Characteristics
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
Length of
Relationship
Involvement Closeness Frequency of Contact
LC Mentoring Relationship MC Mentoring Relationship
n = 72 n = 123

9. Pathways
LC Natural
Mentoring
Relationship
Academic
Engagement
student report
MC Natural
Mentoring
Relationship
Academic
Engagement
teacher report
Social
Skills
Psychological
Well-Being
Self-Control Assertion Empathy Cooperation
Positive
Relations
Personal
Growth
Autonomy
Environmental
Mastery
Purpose
Self-
Acceptance

10. Relationship Characteristics
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
LS Mentoring Relationship FC Mentoring Relationship LE Mentoring Relationship
Relationship Duration Frequency of Contact Closeness
n = 95 n = 79 n = 35

11. Predictors of Natural Mentoring
 Black teens appear to benefit from strong NMRs, but
what about Black teens who don’t have NMRs?

12. Studying Contexts
 Family
 Size of extended family
 Proximity of adult relatives
 # of household responsibilities
 Caregiver beliefs (shared childrearing, mistrust)
 Community
 Safe spaces (parks, community centers)
 Violence
 Collective efficacy
 Intergenerational closure

13. Conclusions
• NMRs: low-cost, widely available resource to Black
youth
• Mobilizing high-quality, sustainable NMRs may
contribute to resilient outcomes
• Efforts to promote NMRs:
• build interest & skills among youth & adults
• create contexts conducive to their formation

14. Integrating Formal & Informal Mentoring
 What’s wrong with ignoring natural mentoring?
 What can formal programs do?

15. Risks of Ignoring Natural Mentoring
 Presumes there are not other positive adults present in
youths’ everyday lives
 Fails to capitalize on one of formal mentoring’s
pathways of influence
 Missed opportunity to help strengthen relationships that
may be more enduring

16. What Can Programs Do?
 Make connecting with positive adults in youths’ pre-
existing social networks an explicit goal
 Train mentors to be connectors
 Help mentors to become more integrated in youths’
social networks and communities
 Cultural competence
 Focusing on strengths

17. Acknowledgements
 Promoting Healthy Adolescent Development (PHAD)
Lab
 Participants
 William T. Grant Foundation
 YOU!