Examining heterogeneity in mentoring: Associations between mentoring discussion topics and youth outcomes.

The current study aims to apply a staged approach to document heterogeneity in discussions in mentoring relationships, chiefly, discussion topics from weekly mentoring sessions with undergraduate women mentors (n = 40), then link each of the eight topics (relationships with friends, family, teachers, and romantic relationships, as well as goals, academic skills, academic problems, and hopes for the future) to developmental outcomes for middle school girls (n = 41) who participated in a school-based mentoring program. In doing so, the authors hope to better understand the mechanisms that influence variability in mentoring treatment effects. Mentoring dyads engaged in unstructured one-on-one sessions and structured group meetings across the 2018-2019 academic year.