title: The development of mentoring-relationship quality, future-planning style, and career goal setting among adolescents from a disadvantaged background.
abstract: Our behaviors are regulated by our perception of the future based on past experiences and knowledge. Children from a disadvantaged background might encounter obstacles more frequently when they plan their future. It is possible that a good relationship with an adult volunteer who provides assistance and guidance in the disadvantaged youth's development may facilitate their future-planning style and career goal setting. The present study investigated the role of a good mentoring relationship in promoting a disadvantaged youth's future-planning style and goal-setting ability. It focused on children from a disadvantaged background who participated in the Child Development Fund (CDF) in Hong Kong. In the study, 187 CDF participants (93 with high mentoring-relationship quality [MRQ] and 94 with low MRQ) and 208 comparison group participants were able to complete all four times of the survey. Repeated-measures analyses of covariance showed that Group main effects were observed for both future-planning style, F(2, 374) = 5.92, p < .01, and career goal-setting self-efficacy, F(2, 376) = 6.07, p < .01. Main Time effect was also found for the latter, F(3, 1128) = 7.99, p < .01. A significant Group × Time interaction effect was observed for future-planning style only, F(5.78, 1081.21) = 2.17, p < .05. Our results suggest that participants with high MRQ outperformed the comparison group in both future-planning style and career goal-setting self-efficacy. Multiple regression analyses revealed that mean MRQ score accounted for 3.9% (p < .01) of the variance in future-planning style and 4.1% (p < .01) of the variance in career goal-setting self-efficacy, supporting the role of a good mentoring relationship. Mentors have introduced new resources to the disadvantaged youths with high MRQ and have promoted the development of various skills through modeling.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Wendy S Y
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, China Youth University of Political Studies, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Chun
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Simon M K
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D002321:Career Choice; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D000071252:Mentoring; D020377:Self Efficacy; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: adolescents; career goal setting; disadvantaged background; future-planning style; mentoring-relationship quality; mentorship program