The long-term effects of youth mentoring on student mentors' civic engagement attitudes and behavior

The current study was designed to explore the delayed effect of participating in youth mentoring programs, training in civic engagement, and activism on a sample of 337 Israelis 5 to 10 years after serving as student mentors. Qualitative and quantitative findings showed that these former mentors' perception of the contribution of mentoring was correlated with their current civic engagement attitudes and activism. Further, the perceived quality of training during mentoring was correlated with the overall perceived contribution of mentoring and current civic engagement attitudes. A mediation model showed that the perceived quality of training was correlated with the former mentors' perceived mentoring contribution. This in turn was correlated with current civic engagement attitudes, which themselves were correlated with their current civic engagement activism. The former mentors' narratives revealed their attainment of new skills and abilities, including an increased ability to relate to and understand young children and disadvantaged populations.