Reference List Entry:

Douglas, Lesley, Debra Jackson, Cindy Woods, and Kim Usher. 2018. "Reported Outcomes for Young People Who Mentor Their Peers: A Literature Review." Mental Health Practice 21 (9): 35-45. https://doi.org/10.7748/mhp.2018.e1328.

About this Journal Article:

This was a systematic literature that identified 9 studies from 2006-2016 which focused on outcomes of the mentors. They were interested in mentors between 14-25 years. “Peer-to-peer mentoring was defined as a reciprocal relationship where peers of similar age and experiences (mentor) share their knowledge, skills and experiences with their peers (mentees) and provide support in a formal mentoring programme to foster positive growth and development.” (37) Interestingly, the attempted to classify the mentor training involved and ongoing adult support; these are often not discussed as much in this literature. The four important outcomes highlighted were: personal growth (changed perception of identity); psychosocial well-being (e.g., enhanced leadership skills); universality of the shared experience (connection with mentees); and mentor experiences (feel they could make a difference).

Annotation by Eric Hall