Content uploaded by Noelle M Hurd
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Noelle M Hurd on Nov 22, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
©Society for Community Research and Action 2016
Abstract This study investigated associations between
natural mentoring relationships and academic performance
via psychological distress among underrepresented college
students attending an elite predominantly White institution
(PWI). Specifically, this study explored whether the quantity
of natural mentors possessed upon college entry, the
retention of natural mentors across the first year of college,
and overall changes in the number of natural mentors
possessed during the first year of college predicted
improvements in students’semester grade point averages
(GPAs) via reductions in psychological distress. Participants
in this study included 336 first-year undergraduate students
attending a selective PWI. Students were eligible to
participate in this study if they were first-generation college
students, students from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds, or students from underrepresented racial/ethnic
minority groups. Results of this study indicated that a greater
number of retained natural mentoring relationships across the
first year of college were associated with improvements in
students’GPAs via reductions in symptoms of depression
from the Fall to Spring semester. The results of this study
suggest that institutional efforts to support the maintenance
of preexisting mentoring relationships may be an effective
approach to promoting the academic success of
underrepresented college students during the first year of
college.
Keywords Underrepresented college students Mentoring
Mental health Academic performance
First-generation college students, students from economi-
cally disadvantaged backgrounds, and students from
historically underrepresented racial and ethnic minority
groups tend to face a number of unique challenges when
they enter college (Schreiner, Noel & Cantwell, 2011).
These challenges stem from reduced access to financial,
human, and social capital prior to college entry (Massey,
Charles, Lundy & Fisher, 2003) and experiences of
marginalization and discrimination on college campuses
(Fries-Britt & Turner, 2001; Torres, 2003), all of which
make their academic and social integration into the univer-
sity more difficult. Notably, these challenges are above and
beyond those faced by majority students and are of particu-
lar relevance at elite predominantly White institutions
(PWIs) where underrepresented students’minority status
may be more salient (Massey et al., 2003). Further, there is
theoretical and empirical reason to believe that these added
challenges and related difficulties with academic and social
integration contribute to academic failure among underrep-
resented students in comparison to their majority peers
(Braxton & Hirschy, 2005; Tinto, 1987). This disparity is
manifested in college retention statistics. Specifically, first-
generation college students graduate at one third the rate of
students whose parents have college degrees; 29% of stu-
dents from economically disadvantaged backgrounds grad-
uate in comparison to 55% of middle-income students and
73% of high-income students; and graduation rates among
Black and Latino students lag 16–25% points behind the
graduation rates of Asian and White students (Chen, 2005;
Schreiner et al., 2011).
Psychological Distress and Academic Performance
One factor that may play a key role in academic under-
achievement among underrepresented college students is
Natural Mentoring Relationships and the Adjustment to College among
Underrepresented Students
Noelle M. Hurd, Joseph S. Tan, and Emily L. Loeb
✉Noelle M. Hurd
nh3v@virginia.edu
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA, USA
Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12
DOI 10.1002/ajcp.12059
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
psychological distress. Although there is a high prevalence
of mental health problems among all college students
(Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010; Zivin, Eisenberg, Golberstein
& Gollust, 2009), underrepresented college students may
be at even greater risk for experiencing psychological dis-
tress due to additional stressors they tend to experience,
especially as they transition through their first year of col-
lege (Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein & Hefner, 2007;
Hurd, Varner, Caldwell & Zimmerman, 2014; Neville,
Heppner, Ji & Thye, 2004; Smedley, Myers & Harrell,
1993). Notably, psychological distress, particularly depres-
sion and anxiety, appears to be a primary predictor of aca-
demic underachievement among college students
(American College Health Association, 2013; Breslau,
Lane, Sampson & Kessler, 2008; Deroma, Leach, &
Leverett, 2009; Eisenberg, Golberstein & Hunt, 2009;
Hysenbegasi, Hass & Rowland, 2005; Kessler, Foster,
Saunders & Stang, 1995), suggesting that bolstering the
mental health of underrepresented students may be an
effective strategy to promoting the academic success of
this group of students and closing achievement gaps in
higher education.
Symptoms of depression and anxiety may influence stu-
dents’academic performance in several ways. In addition
to directly detracting from cognitive abilities (Beck, 1976),
depressive and anxiety symptoms also may affect key
noncognitive skills, such as motivation and persistence,
that impact students’ability to learn and perform in aca-
demic contexts (Brackney & Karabenick, 1995; Cunha &
Heckman, 2006). Specific symptoms of depression such as
anhedonia (lack of interest in previously pleasurable activi-
ties), reduced or excessive sleep, reduced energy, feelings
of hopelessness, and impaired concentration are likely to
both reduce the amount of time allocated to academic
activities and detract from the productivity of time spent
on academic work (DeRoma et al., 2009; Jaycox et al.,
2009). Similarly, symptoms of generalized anxiety, such as
excessive worrying, feeling out of control, nervousness,
and an inability to relax, can all contribute to impaired
concentration and diminished productivity on academic
tasks (Owens, Stevenson, Hadwin, & Norgate, 2012).
Moreover, physical symptoms of anxiety associated with
panic attacks, such as trembling, dizziness, heart palpita-
tions, and difficulty breathing, can be triggered by aca-
demic activities such as attending class or studying. These
symptoms are often experienced as scary and overwhelm-
ing, and students may avoid academic activities in an
attempt to prevent the onset of panic symptoms. Notably,
the effects of mental health problems on students’aca-
demic performance may be most pronounced during the
college years as compulsory education laws require atten-
dance and participation during primary and secondary edu-
cation (Eisenberg et al., 2009). College students have
much more freedom in deciding whether to attend class
and how to allocate their time outside of class. This may
be of particular import during the first year of college as
students are managing the transition and at greatest risk of
dropping out (Horn, 1998; Tinto, 2010).
Natural Mentoring Relationships
Although underrepresented college students may be partic-
ularly vulnerable to psychological distress and subsequent
poor academic performance, they also may demonstrate
the greatest psychological and academic benefits from key
supportive relationships (Erickson, McDonald & Elder,
2009). Relationships with supportive nonparental adults
may become increasingly salient as youth transition from
high school to college and become increasingly indepen-
dent (Aquilino, 1997; Hurd, Stoddard, Bauermeister &
Zimmerman, 2014). Adults who are older and more expe-
rienced can provide underrepresented college students
with an array of support, companionship, and advice with-
out threatening these emerging adults’sense of autonomy
(Beam, Chen & Greenberger, 2002; Zimmerman, Bingen-
heimer & Behrendt, 2005). Given that the college years
are an ideal time for identity development, worldview
exploration, and planning for the future (Arnett, 2000),
supportive nonparental adults also may be highly sought
out for guidance. These adults also may play a key role in
helping underrepresented students cope with the unique
and additive stressors they experience as they transition to
college (particularly, when the college is an elite PWI).
Natural mentor is the term used to describe nonparental
adults who serve a mentoring role to youth in their everyday
lives (Rhodes, Ebert & Fischer, 1992). In contrast to men-
toring relationships that develop through formal programs,
natural mentoring relationships develop organically through
a process of mutual selection. Thus, natural mentors are
adults from youths’preexisting social networks to whom
youth can go for support and guidance (Zimmerman et al.,
2005). Natural mentors can be nonparental adults from
youths’families (e.g., aunts, uncles, and grandparents),
schools (e.g., teachers, coaches, and guidance counselors),
or broader communities (e.g., neighbors, religious leaders,
and employers). Unlike formal mentors, natural mentors
tend to share demographic characteristics and backgrounds
with their mentees (Hurd, S
anchez, Zimmerman & Cald-
well, 2012; Hurd & Sellers, 2013; Hurd, Varner & Rowley,
2013; Kogan, Brody & Chen, 2011; S
anchez, Reyes &
Singh, 2006). These similarities may enhance natural men-
tors’abilities to provide emotional support to underrepre-
sented college students. Given that underrepresented
students’natural mentors are likely to have personal experi-
ences with adversity and marginalization, they may be bet-
ter able to provide sympathy and advice regarding how to
2 Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12
cope with discrimination and other marginalizing
experiences. Findings from previous research indicate that
students from historically underrepresented racial and eth-
nic groups and students from lower socioeconomic back-
grounds demonstrate the greatest academic benefits from
having a natural mentoring relationship (Erickson et al.,
2009). These relationships may provide access to social and
informational capital that otherwise would be unavailable to
underrepresented college students. Although an analysis of
underrepresented students’natural mentoring relationships
during their college years has not been conducted, some
research that has investigated the long-term benefits of natu-
ral mentoring suggests that these relationships contribute to
increased educational attainment over time (Fruiht & Wray-
Lake, 2013; Hurd et al., 2012). Moreover, natural mentor-
ing relationships may help some youth to obtain more
intrinsically rewarding careers (McDonald & Lambert,
2014) and accrue greater lifetime earnings (Timpe &
Lunkenheimer, 2015).
Beyond direct influences on underrepresented college
students’academic performance, natural mentoring rela-
tionships also may indirectly promote students’academic
success by bolstering their mental health (Hurd &
Zimmerman, 2014). Previous studies have found support
for the possibility that natural mentors reduce the negative
effects of stressful experiences on psychological distress
among their mentees (Hurd & Zimmerman, 2010a,b), sug-
gesting that these relationships may foster psychological
resilience in the face of adversity. Specifically, natural
mentors may serve as additional social resources that can
aid with coping responses to stressful experiences
(Carbonell, Reinherz & Beardslee, 2005). Moreover, natu-
ral mentors may bolster underrepresented students’sense
of self-worth, thus making them less vulnerable to the
noxious effects of stressful experiences on their mental
health (Rhodes, 2005). In addition, natural mentors may
connect their mentees with other key resources such as
academic supports or mental health counseling and, in this
way, contribute to their mental health and academic suc-
cess. Of note, natural mentoring relationships may be
most critical during key transitional spaces wherein adjust-
ment-related stressors may be greatest and the potential
for negative outcomes may be the highest (Hurd & Zim-
merman, 2010a; Hurd, Stoddard, et al., 2014; Klaw,
Rhodes & Fitzgerald, 2003). For example, the first year of
college is when students are most at risk of dropping out
(Horn, 1998; Tinto, 2010) and consequently may benefit
the most from natural mentoring ties.
Current Study
Although numerous studies have been conducted to eluci-
date factors that contribute to academic failure among
underrepresented students, comparatively fewer investiga-
tions have been undertaken to illuminate factors that may
promote collegiate success among these students. This
study aims to respond to this research gap by investigat-
ing whether natural mentoring relationships may facilitate
improved academic outcomes directly and indirectly via
decreases in symptoms of depression and anxiety during
the transition to college. Beyond merely assessing the
presence of a natural mentoring relationship, this study
seeks to contribute to this area of study by more fully
capturing total natural mentoring support from multiple
sources and examining potential changes in the presence
of these relationships during the first year of college.
Thus, we assessed the total number of natural mentors
underrepresented college students possessed during the
Fall semester of their first year of college.
Consistent with research findings on social networks
and mental health (Heaney & Israel, 2008) and previous
empirical findings from natural mentoring research
(DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005; Greenberger, Chen &
Beam, 1998; Hurd & Zimmerman, 2010a,b; Hurd, Stod-
dard, et al., 2014; Kogan & Brody, 2010), we hypothe-
sized that having more natural mentoring relationships
upon college entry would be associated with better psy-
chological and academic adjustment. We anticipated that
more natural mentors would afford more supportive
resources to students and thus would facilitate improved
psychological and academic adjustment through the
Spring semester of their first year. We also examined
underrepresented college students’natural mentoring rela-
tionships during the Spring semester of their first year as
we were interested in exploring whether changes in natu-
ral mentoring relationships from the Fall to Spring seme-
sters may predict variation in their psychological and
academic adjustment. Similar to our first hypothesis, we
hypothesized that students who maintained the same num-
ber of natural mentors or who demonstrated overall
increases in the number of natural mentors they possessed
from the Fall to Spring semester would demonstrate better
psychological and academic adjustment relative to their
counterparts who lacked natural mentoring relationships
across both semesters or their counterparts who demon-
strated overall decreases in the number of natural mentors
they possessed from the Fall to Spring semester.
Finally, we collected descriptive data about each of the
natural mentors identified in the Fall and Spring semesters
so that we were able to determine how many natural men-
tors from the Fall semester were retained in the Spring
semester. This allowed us to examine whether natural
mentor retention across the first year of college influenced
change in psychological and academic functioning among
our sample of underrepresented college students. The find-
ings of previous research indicate that the retention of
Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12 3
natural mentoring relationships during challenging transi-
tional periods may be a key determinant of the effective-
ness of these relationships in promoting academic success
(Klaw et al., 2003). Accordingly, we hypothesized that
the total number of natural mentors retained from the Fall
to Spring semester would predict better academic perfor-
mance directly and indirectly via reductions in psycholog-
ical distress.
To better isolate the associations between our indicators
of natural mentoring relationships and our outcomes of
interest, we included a number of relevant variables in our
statistical analyses including gender (male vs. female and
other), race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic White vs. racial/ethnic
minority), family income, age, standardized test scores
(SAT or ACT), and extraversion. This approach allowed
us to account for characteristics of the individual who
may be associated with both possessing natural mentoring
relationships and displaying better psychological and aca-
demic outcomes. Given our interest in assessing adjust-
ment over the first year of college, we included students’
depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and grade point
averages (GPAs) from the Fall semester in our models
predicting these outcomes in the Spring semester.
Method
Participants and Procedure
Participants in this study included 336 first-year under-
graduate students attending a selective, public PWI in the
southeastern United States. Students were eligible to par-
ticipate in the study if they indicated on their college
application that they were first-generation college students
or members of the following underrepresented racial/eth-
nic groups: Hispanic/Latino, Black/African-American,
American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islander. In addition, incoming first-year students
who qualified for the full amount of the federal Pell grant
were eligible. All first-year college students who met these
eligibility requirements (selection criteria were not mutu-
ally exclusive) were recruited to participate in this study
via e-mail. We achieved a 44% response rate of all eligi-
ble students and 97% retention in the study across the Fall
to Spring semesters. All but two students consented to
allow information from their applications for admission
and student records to be paired with their survey data.
Participants came into the lab and completed surveys on
iPads about their social, emotional, and academic func-
tioning. Participants over age 18 provided informed con-
sent and those under 18 provided assent, and consent was
obtained from their parents or guardians. Participants took
about an hour, on average, to complete the surveys and
were compensated with a $20 Visa gift card in the Fall
2013 semester and a $25 Visa gift card in the Spring
2014 semester.
Our initial sample in the Fall included 340 participants;
however, four participants were no longer enrolled at the
university in the Spring semester, and given that GPA
was our primary outcomes of interest, we removed these
four participants from our analyses. Of the 336 partici-
pants, 69% were female. The mean age of participants
was 18.11 years old (SD =.37 years). Slightly less than
half (44.7%) of the sample identified as first-generation
college students. Annual family income of participants
ranged from below $4999 to $105,000 and above. The
sample included participants from the following racial/eth-
nic groups: Black/African-American (29%), White (23%),
Hispanic/Latino (10%), Multiracial (20%), Asian (17%),
and American Indian/Alaskan Native (<1%).
Measures
Table 1 includes descriptive statistics for study variables.
Natural Mentoring Relationships
During both the Fall and Spring semesters, participants
were asked, “Other than a parent or person who raised
you, is there an adult who is older and more experienced
than you who you go to for support and guidance? This
could be an adult you knew before coming to college or
an adult you have met since being at college. Do not
include friends or romantic partners.”If participants
responded in the affirmative, they were then asked, “How
many adults like this do you have?”Response options
ranged from 1 (1) to 6 or more (6). Subsequently, partici-
pants were asked a series of questions about each mentor
identified (up to a total of 5). Specifically, participants
were asked to provide the first name of the adult, how
they knew the adult, whether they knew the adult infor-
mally or through a formal mentoring program (notably, of
all mentors identified only two mentors were formal/as-
signed mentors and due to the study’s focus on natural
mentoring, these two mentors were not included in this
study’s analyses), and demographic characteristics of the
Table 1 Descriptive statistics for key study variables
Range Mean SD a
Depressive Symptoms Fall 0–60 10.94 8.61 .91
Depressive Symptoms Spring 0–60 10.52 9.11 .92
Anxiety Symptoms Fall 0–63 11.2 9.54 .91
Anxiety Symptoms Spring 0–63 10.54 9.77 .92
GPA Fall 0–4 3.13 .51 –
GPA Spring 0–4 3.15 .52 –
GPA, grade point average.
4 Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12
adult (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity). For this study, the total
number of natural mentors possessed in the Fall semester
was used to test the first study hypothesis, the total num-
ber of natural mentors possessed in the Fall and Spring
semesters were used to create groups based on overall
change in quantity of natural mentors to test the second
study hypothesis, and the descriptive data about each of
the natural mentors were used to create a new variable
reflecting the total number of natural mentors retained
from the Fall to Spring semester which was used to test
the third study hypothesis.
Depressive Symptoms
The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II; Beck, Steer &
Brown, 1996) was used to assess depressive symptoms in
the Fall and Spring semesters. For the purposes of this
study, the suicidality item was omitted, resulting in a 20-
item measure with response options ranging from 0 to 3.
A sample item measuring depressive symptoms included
rating feelings of sadness over the past 2 weeks, with
response choices including 0 (I do not feel sad), 1 (I feel
sad much of the time), 2 (I am sad all the time), or 3 (I
am so sad or unhappy that I can’t stand it). This measure
had excellent reliability in the current sample (Fall seme-
ster a=.91; Spring semester a=.92). Responses to these
items were summed to create a composite variable for
depressive symptoms. According to the BDI II scoring
manual, scores of 14 through 19 are indicative of mild
depression, whereas scores of 20 or greater are indicative
of moderate depression.
Anxiety Symptoms
The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI: Beck & Steer, 1990)
was used to assess symptoms of anxiety in the Fall and
Spring semesters. Participants were asked to indicate how
much they had been bothered by various symptoms of
anxiety such as nervousness, inability to relax, fear of the
worst happening, and heart pounding/racing over the past
month. Response choices ranged from 0 (not at all) to 3
(severely—it bothered me a lot). This measure displayed a
high level of internal consistency in the Fall (a=.91) and
Spring (a=.92) semesters. Responses were summed to
create a composite anxiety symptoms variable. According
to the BAI scoring manual, scores of 10 through 16 are
indicative of mild anxiety, whereas scores of 17 or greater
are indicative of moderate anxiety.
Grade Point Average
With participants’written consent, academic records were
accessed at the conclusion of the Fall and Spring
semesters to obtain students’GPAs (calculated on a four-
point scale) for that term.
Extraversion
Extraversion was assessed during the Fall semester using
the extraversion subscale of the Big Five Inventory (BFI:
John & Srivastava, 1999). The subscale includes eight
items. Participants were asked to indicate the extent to
which they agreed with statements describing themselves
as extraverted (e.g., talkative, full of energy, assertive, and
outgoing/sociable). Response choices ranged from 1
(disagree strongly) to 5 (agree strongly). An average was
calculated based on these eight items (a=0.89) and that
composite variable was used in this study’s analyses.
Standardized Test Scores
Students’incoming SAT/ACT scores were obtained from
their academic records. ACT scores were converted to a
2400 scale to be consistent with SAT scores.
Demographic Variables
Demographic data collected from participants during the
Fall semester included their gender, race/ethnicity, total
household income over the past year, and age. We created
a dichotomous variable to represent gender, with 0 refer-
ring to “female and other”and 1 referring to “male.”Sim-
ilarly, we transformed data on race/ethnicity into a
dichotomous variable where racial and ethnic minorities
were coded as 0 and Whites were coded as 1. Total
household income was assessed through the question,
“What is your best estimate of the total income from all
persons and sources in the household in 2012?”Response
choices ranged from 1 (Below $4999) to 11 ($95,000–
$104,999), with intermediate responses of monetary
ranges of $9999 in each range in between 1 and 11. Par-
ticipants also were asked to indicate their age in years.
Data Analysis
To test two of our study hypotheses, we conducted struc-
tural equation modeling with measured variables (i.e., path
analysis) using Mplus 7 software (Muth
en & Muth
en,
2012). Full information maximum likelihood (FIML)
methods were used to handle missing data under the miss-
ing at random (MAR) assumption. Models were tested
using maximum likelihood with robust standard errors to
account for nonnormality of some study variables. We
first tested whether total number of natural mentors in the
Fall directly and indirectly predicted Spring GPA via
Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12 5
symptoms of psychological distress (i.e., depression and
anxiety) during the Spring semester. Our model was
designed to assess change in our intervening and outcome
variables across the first year of college as a function of
total number of natural mentoring relationships in the Fall.
Thus, we included participants’Fall GPA and symptoms
of depression and anxiety reported in the middle of the
Fall semester in the model: each was included as a predic-
tor of its corresponding variable assessed during the
Spring semester. Gender, race/ethnicity, total household
income, and age were included as predictors of all inter-
vening and outcome variables. Extraversion also was
included as a predictor of all intervening and outcome
variables, and students’SAT/ACT scores were included
as a predictor of Spring GPA. We correlated all exoge-
nous variables with each other and correlated the error
terms associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms
with each other. Subsequently, we substituted total num-
ber of retained natural mentors from the Fall to Spring for
total number of natural mentors in the Fall and conducted
an identical version of the previously described analysis.
For both of these models, we assessed model fit with the
chi-square statistic, comparative fit index (CFI), the
Tucker Lewis Index (TLI), the root-mean-square error of
approximation (RMSEA), and the standardized root-mean-
square residual (SRMR). We generated bootstrapped con-
fidence intervals of the indirect effects. We determined a
significant indirect effect if the 95% confidence interval of
the standardized specific indirect effect did not include 0.
To test whether changes in the total number of natural
mentors possessed from the Fall to Spring were associated
with students’mental health and GPA, we first created
groups based on fluctuations in numbers of mentors across
the time points. The groups included participants who (a)
did not have a mentor at either time point, (b) decreased in
the number of mentors they had, (c) increased in the num-
ber of mentors they had, or (d) kept the same number of
mentors. We then conducted mixed between-within analy-
sis of covariance (including gender, race/ethnicity, SAT/
ACT, and extraversion as covariates) to examine whether
there were group differences in changes in psychological
distress or GPA from the Fall to Spring semester.
Results
Natural Mentoring Relationships
Approximately two thirds (n=224) of participants
reported possessing at least one natural mentor in the Fall,
and this percentage slightly increased during the Spring
term (n=238). Figure 1 displays the quantity of natural
mentors reported by participants during the Fall and
Spring terms. There was a slight decrease in the average
total number of natural mentors possessed across the two
time points (Fall mean =2.04, SD =1.96; Spring
mean =1.75, SD =1.62; t=2.09, p<.05). Figure 2
shows the roles of natural mentors in participants’lives
across the two study time points; specifically, the quantity
of natural mentors falling into each role is displayed based
on all natural mentors reported by participants during the
Fall (n=624) and Spring (n=523) semesters (each
participant could report on up to five natural mentors). On
average, participants reported a smaller proportion of natu-
ral mentors who were former high school teachers or coa-
ches from the Fall to Spring semester (33% of natural
mentors in the Fall; 21% of natural mentors in the Spring;
z=2.089, p<.05), but participants reported a greater
proportion of natural mentors who they knew from profes-
sional encounters (e.g., employers, religious leaders; 9%
of natural mentors in the Fall; 12% of natural mentors in
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0123456+
Fall
Spring
*
*
*
Number of Natural Mentors Possessed
# of Participants
Fig. 1 Frequency of participants reporting total number of natural
mentors possessed during the Fall and Spring semesters of their first
year of college. *Significant difference in proportion of responses
from the Fall to the Spring semester
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Fall (n=624)
Spring (n=523)
*
*
*
# of Natural Mentors
Natural Mentor Role
Fig. 2 Frequency of natural mentors in various roles as reported by
participants during the Fall and Spring semesters of their first year
of college. *Significant difference in proportion of responses from
the Fall to the Spring semester
6 Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12
the Spring; z=2.0, p<.05) and from their new aca-
demic institution (i.e., university faculty and staff; 10% of
natural mentors in the Fall; 18% of natural mentors in the
Spring; z=3.52, p<.05).
Regarding retention of natural mentors across the first
year of college, 112 participants did not have a natural
mentor in the Fall, 79 participants had natural mentors in
the Fall but did not retain any of them in the Spring
(although they may have developed new natural mentors
in the Spring), 71 participants retained one natural mentor,
52 participants retained two natural mentors, 18 partici-
pants retained three natural mentors, and four participants
retained four natural mentors. In terms of overall changes
in total number of natural mentors possessed from the Fall
to Spring semester (regardless of whether natural mentors
were the same or different people across the two time
points), 76 participants did not possess a natural mentor at
either time point, 120 participants reported a decrease in
the total number of natural mentors they had from the Fall
to the Spring semester, 81 participants reported an
increase in the total number of natural mentors they had
from the Fall to the Spring semester, and 59 participants
had at least one natural mentor in the Fall and retained
the exact same number of natural mentors in the Spring.
Correlations
Correlations among study variables are presented in
Table 2. Although not all correlations achieved statistical
significance, they were all in the expected directions.
Thus, we proceeded to conduct our path analyses to test
two of our study hypotheses.
Path Analyses
Our first model tested whether the total number of natural
mentors possessed during the Fall semester of participants’
first year of college predicted improvements in GPA from
Fall to Spring directly and indirectly via reductions in
depressive and anxiety symptoms. The path model demon-
strated acceptable fit to the data [v
2
(df =10,
N=336) =20.3, p=.03; CFI =.98, TLI =.94,
RMSEA =.05 (90% CI for RMSEA =.02, .09),
SRMR =.02]. Although our model achieved adequate fitto
the data, our primary study hypotheses were not supported.
Specifically, the total number of natural mentors possessed
in the Fall semester was not associated with depressive
symptoms (B=.05; ns), anxiety symptoms (B=.06;
ns), or GPA (B=.02; ns) in the Spring semester. Depressive
symptoms in the Fall semester predicted depressive symp-
toms in the Spring semester (B=.71; p<.05), and anxiety
symptoms in the Fall semester predicted anxiety symptoms
in the Spring semester (B=.57; p<.05). Being male was
associated with lower anxiety symptoms during the Spring
semester (B=.08; p<.05). Fall GPA predicted Spring
GPA (B=.58; p<.05). Standardized test scores (B=.57;
p=.05) and Spring semester depressive symptoms
(B=.14; p<.05) also predicted Spring GPA. The corre-
lated error variance between anxiety and depressive symp-
toms was statistically significant (r=.36; p<.05).
Our second model was identical to our first model; how-
ever, we replaced the total number of natural mentors pos-
sessed in the Fall semester with the total number of natural
mentors retained from the Fall to the Spring semester. This
model also achieved acceptable fit to the data [v
2
(df =10,
N=336) =19.11, p=.04; CFI =.99, TLI =.95,
RMSEA =.05 (90% CI for RMSEA =.01, .09),
SRMR =.02]. Moreover, our study hypotheses were par-
tially supported. Figure 3 shows all significant pathways.
As can be seen in the figure, we found that the total number
of retained natural mentors predicted reductions in depres-
sive and anxiety symptoms from the Fall to Spring seme-
ster. In addition, Spring semester depressive symptoms
were associated with Spring GPA. Although the total
Table 2 Correlations among study variables
Variable 12345678910111213
1. # NMs Fall –
2. # NMs retained Fall–Spring .61*–
3. Depressive symptom in Fall .09 .13*–
4. Depressive symptom in Spring .12*.17*.74*–
5. Anxiety symptom in Fall .05 .04 .57*.41*–
6. Anxiety symptom Spring .02 .08 .41*.50*.59*–
7. GPA Fall .04 .01 .13*.21*.02 .06 –
8. GPA Spring .03 .06 .16*.24*.01 .06 .64*–
9. Family income .04 .02 .03 .06 .04 .04 .01 .01 –
10. Age .01 .04 .02 .02 .02 .03 .04 .05 .02 –
11. Standardized test scores .17*.16*.05 .08 .07 .11*.36*.30*.04 .02 –
12. Extraversion .23*.17*.30*.28*.13*.12*.06 .01 .05 .02 .11*–
13. White .05 .16*.05 .05 .07 .01 .10 .12*.04 .01 .12*.05 –
14. Male .17*.16*.15*.09 .17*.17*.04 .06 .03 .02 .12*.07 .04
NMs, natural mentors, GPA, grade point average., *p< .05
Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12 7
number of retained natural mentors was not directly related
to Spring GPA, the total number of retained natural mentors
was indirectly related to higher Spring GPA via reductions
in depressive symptoms (standardized indirect effect =.01;
90% CI for standardized indirect effect =.001, .02).
Group Comparisons
Our final analyses explored whether changes in total num-
ber of natural mentors possessed from the Fall to Spring
semester were associated with changes in mental health or
GPA from the Fall to Spring semester. The groups
included participants who (a) did not have a mentor at
either time point, (b) decreased in the number of mentors
they had, (c) increased in the number of mentors they had,
or (d) kept the same number of mentors. Results of our
mixed between-within analysis of covariance (including
gender, race/ethnicity, standardized test scores, and
extraversion as covariates) did not reveal significant differ-
ences by group membership (i.e., main effects) for changes
in depressive symptoms [F(3, 327) =2.39, p=.07; partial
g
2
=.02], anxiety symptoms [F(3, 327) =.77, p=.77;
partial g
2
=.01], or GPA [F(3, 327) =1.09, p=.35; par-
tial g
2
=.01] from the Fall to Spring semester.
Discussion
Results of this study indicate that the retention of natural
mentors across the transition to college may play an
important role in promoting academic success among
underrepresented students attending a PWI. Specifically,
we found that retaining a greater number of natural men-
tors from the Fall to Spring semester of the first year of
college contributed to reductions in both depressive and
anxiety symptoms. Reductions in depressive symptoms, in
turn, were associated with improvements in students’
semester GPAs. Notably, our other study hypotheses were
not supported. A greater number of natural mentors upon
entry to the university and overall changes in the total
number of natural mentors possessed across the two seme-
sters were not associated with changes in students’
psychological distress or GPAs.
The combination of these findings suggests three things.
First, taken together, these findings suggest that there is a
unique and meaningful contribution of natural mentor
retention on student outcomes that is distinct from merely
starting off with more natural mentors or gaining natural
mentors during the transition to college. This finding is con-
sistent with previous research showing that natural mentor
retention during key transitional periods may contribute to
marginalized youths’academic success. Klaw et al. (2003),
for example, found that adolescent mothers who retained
natural mentors across 2 years postpartum were more likely
to have remained enrolled in or graduated from high school
than their counterparts who did not possess natural mentor-
ing relationships. In their study, participants who possessed
a natural mentoring relationship that terminated during the
2 years following the birth of the child were not any less
likely to drop out of high school than their counterparts
Depressive
Symptoms
Spring
R² = .56
# of Natural
Mentoring
Relationships
Retained Fall
to Spring
B = -.10
b = -.68 (.27)
B = -.12
b = -1.13 (.40)
B = .73
b = .77 (.05)
B = .58
b = .59 (.06)
B = -.13
b = -.08 (.04) B = .58
b = .60 (.07)
Depressive
Symptoms
Fall
Anxiety
Symptoms
Spring
R² = .36
Anxiety
Symptoms
Fall
GPA
Spring
R² = .43
GPA
Fall
Fig. 3 Associations between number of retained natural mentoring relationships, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and semester grade
point average (GPA). Model is adjusted for participants’race, gender, family income, age, extraversion, and standardized test scores
8 Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12
who never possessed a natural mentor. The authors discuss
these findings in the context of the 2 years postpartum
being the most challenging for adolescent mothers; thus,
the retention of natural mentors during this critical period
appeared to be central to adolescent mothers’ability to suc-
cessfully adjust.
Similarly, the results of this study seem to underscore the
import of natural mentor retention during a critical transi-
tional period among underrepresented college students. The
highest college drop-out rates are during the first year of
college (Horn, 1998; Tinto, 2010), suggesting that the tran-
sition is a particularly difficult one, especially for underrep-
resented students who drop out at higher rates than their
majority peers (Chen, 2005; Schreiner et al., 2011). Retain-
ing supportive relationships with key adults during this
critical period appears to confer mental health benefits that
ultimately promote academic achievement. Moreover, our
results suggest additive benefits pertaining to the quantity
of these relationships such that students who retain a greater
number of natural mentors appear to reap greater benefits.
Second, this combination of findings points more
strongly to effects that result from natural mentoring rela-
tionships as opposed to individual factors that may predict
both the possession of natural mentoring relationships and
more positive mental health and academic outcomes.
Given that we did not find associations between the total
number of natural mentors students possessed in the Fall
semester of their first year of college and changes in their
mental health or academic outcomes, it seems that merely
starting college with more natural mentoring relationships
or having characteristics that facilitate the formation of
natural mentoring relationships are not sufficient to
promote improved mental health or academic adjustment
across the first year of college. Moreover, we accounted
for numerous individual factors in our analyses including
student demographics, standardized test scores, and
extraversion as a means to further isolate the potential
associations between natural mentoring relationships and
our outcomes of interest. Thus, we feel more confident
that our findings speak to unique contributions of natural
mentor retention to underrepresented students’psychoso-
cial adjustment to college. Nevertheless, it is possible that
we failed to measure additional individual factors that
may play a role in mentor retention as well as students’
psychosocial adjustment. As natural mentoring relation-
ships, by definition, develop organically, they do not lend
themselves well to experimental manipulation that would
permit researchers to infer causality. Thus, researchers
must continue to investigate these relationships using all
available means to assess potential effects of natural men-
toring relationships on mentees’prospective outcomes.
Third, our nonsignificant findings pertaining to changes
in overall number of natural mentors possessed across the
two time points seem to refute the possibility of reverse
causality. Changes in total number of natural mentors pos-
sessed were not associated with changes in psychological
distress during the first year of college. This implies that
our findings related to natural mentor retention are not just
an artifact of students who were experiencing an increase
in depressive or anxiety symptoms being more likely to
lose natural mentoring relationships. In fact, it is possible
that some students who were experiencing more distress
may have been more likely to seek out natural mentors
for additional support. This may, in part, explain why we
did not see psychological or academic improvements asso-
ciated with overall increases in total number of natural
mentors. Although students may ultimately benefit from
the onset of these new natural mentoring relationships
(particularly, if they developed in the context of students’
support seeking to deal with psychological distress), previ-
ous research suggests that the benefits of mentoring rela-
tionships may unfold over time and that the close bonds
that are needed to foster more positive youth outcomes
may take a minimum of 1 year to develop (Grossman &
Rhodes, 2002). Thus, although students may ultimately
benefit from these novel natural mentoring relationships,
we were not able to document these benefits due to the
limited time frame covered in our study. This also may
explain why we did not see psychological or academic
advantages among students who retained the same total
number of natural mentors but did so through replace-
ment, as opposed to retaining the same natural mentors
across the two study time points. Notably, we plan to con-
tinue to follow the participants in this study for a total of
4 years. Future studies will investigate potential long-term
benefits associated with new natural mentoring relation-
ships that develop during the transition to college.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
Several study limitations should be noted. First, we should
note that we are unsure how representative the current
sample may be of other underrepresented students attend-
ing elite PWIs. Less than a handful of study participants
dropped out during the first year of college, and their
average GPA was fairly high during both the Fall and
Spring semesters. Additional research is needed to deter-
mine whether the findings of this study can be replicated
with other groups of underrepresented students attending
elite PWIs across the nation. Second, although statistically
significant, the total indirect effect found from the number
of natural mentors retained to students’GPAs via depres-
sive symptoms was very small. Nevertheless, given that
we were examining changes in mental health and aca-
demic performance across a very short period of time and
given that the sample means on these variables did not
Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12 9
change across the two time points, the fact that any statis-
tically significant findings emerged under these circum-
stances may further strengthen the meaningfulness of our
findings. Future research that examines these associations
across the college years will provide additional informa-
tion about the nature of these associations over more
extended periods of time. Moreover, this research will
shed light on the potential benefits associated with the
onset of new natural mentoring relationships during the
early years of college and further explore potential associ-
ations between symptoms of anxiety and academic perfor-
mance. In this study, we did not find associations between
anxiety symptoms and GPA. Previous research also has
failed to document associations between anxiety and aca-
demic performance during the early college years
(Andrews & Wilding, 2004). It may be that initially,
higher levels of anxiety (e.g., fear of failure) motivate bet-
ter academic performance among some students, but these
benefits wear off over time as the psychological toll of
excessive anxiety ultimately detracts from students’ability
to succeed in the classroom (Cunha & Heckman, 2006).
Finally, although this study was innovative in its attention
to frequency and duration of natural mentoring relation-
ships, this study did not investigate additional characteris-
tics of natural mentoring relationships (e.g., relational
closeness, types of support provided) that may provide
additional insight into the factors that promote effective
natural mentoring relationships. Future studies are needed
to more fully investigate the role of natural mentoring
relationship characteristics in moderating the associations
found in this study.
Implications and Conclusions
Overall, the results of this study indicate that retaining natu-
ral mentoring relationships across the first year of college
may foster academic gains by reducing symptoms of
depression among underrepresented students attending
PWIs. Notably, the category of natural mentoring relation-
ships that demonstrated the greatest decline from the Fall to
Spring semester was the category that included former high
school teachers, coaches, and extracurricular activity lead-
ers (e.g., choir directors). Not surprisingly, these relation-
ships may be less likely to persevere in the absence of
regular contact and may be more difficult to maintain as
both mentors and students become more occupied with
activities and responsibilities across the academic year. Yet,
the findings of this study seem to suggest that the mainte-
nance of these relationships through the Spring semester of
the first year of college facilitates a more positive transition
to college among underrepresented students.
One reason for the potential import of high school fac-
ulty and staff natural mentors in supporting the transition
to college among underrepresented students is that these
adults tend to play a very prominent role in getting under-
represented students to college (Erickson et al., 2009;
Levine & Nidiffer, 1996). Beyond just providing the
informational and instrumental support needed to make
college accessible to underrepresented students, these
adults also may play a central role in supporting students
as they navigate the emotional and psychological chal-
lenges pertaining to college entry, which can be tremen-
dous among students experiencing oppression (Massey
et al., 2003). Although these high school faculty and staff
may feel that their job has been completed once their
mentees depart for college, the results of this study sug-
gest that supportive relationships with high school men-
tors may continue to be of import as underrepresented
students traverse their first year of college. Thus, 4-year
colleges and universities may want to consider opportuni-
ties to support and nurture students’preexisting mentoring
relationships upon college entry, particularly among
underrepresented students attending PWIs. Institutional
efforts may include things such as organized weekend vis-
its aimed at bringing natural mentors to campus to engage
in activities with their mentees (similar to parent week-
ends hosted by many universities). To date, 4-year col-
leges and universities have focused more heavily on
cultivating new mentoring relationships as a retention
strategy for underrepresented students (Crisp & Cruz,
2009). The results of this study suggest that institutional
efforts to support the maintenance of preexisting mentor-
ing relationships may be an effective approach to promot-
ing the academic success of underrepresented college
students, particularly during the first year of college.
Acknowledgments This study was funded through start-up funds
awarded to the first author from the University of Virginia. The writ-
ing of this article was supported, in part, by a postdoctoral fellow-
ship through the National Academy of Education and Spencer
Foundation as well as a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar
Award to the first author.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
References
American College Health Association (2013). American College
Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Ref-
erence group undergraduates executive summary, Spring 2013.
Hanover, MD: American College Health Association.
Andrews, B., & Wilding, J. M. (2004). The relation of depression
and anxiety to life-stress and achievement in students. British
Journal of Psychology,95, 509–521.
10 Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12
Aquilino, W. S. (1997). From adolescent to young adult: A prospec-
tive study of parent-child relations during the transition to
adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family,59, 670–686.
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development
from the late teens through the twenties. American Psycholo-
gist,55, 469–480.
Beam, M. R., Chen, C., & Greenberger, E. (2002). The nature of
adolescents’relationships with their “very important”non-
parental adults. American Journal of Community Psychology,
30, 305–325.
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders.
New York: International Universities Press.
Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1990). BAI, Beck Anxiety Inventory.
San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck Depression
Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Brackney, B. E., & Karabenick, S. A. (1995). Psychopathology and
academic performance: The role of motivation and learning
strategies. Journal of Counseling Psychology,42, 456–465.
Braxton, J. M., & Hirschy, A. S. (2005). Theoretical developments
in the study of college student departure. College Student
Retention: Formula for Student Success,3,61–87.
Breslau, J., Lane, M., Sampson, N., & Kessler, R. C. (2008). Mental
disorders and subsequent educational attainment in a US
national sample. Journal of Psychiatric Research,42, 708–716.
Carbonell, D. M., Reinherz, H. Z., & Beardslee, W. R. (2005).
Adaptation and coping in childhood and adolescence for those
at risk for depression in emerging adulthood. Child and Adoles-
cent Social Work Journal,22, 395–416.
Chen, X. (2005). First-generation students in postsecondary educa-
tion: A look at their college transcripts (NCES 2005-171).
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, NCES.
Crisp, G., & Cruz, I. (2009). Mentoring college students: A critical
review of the literature between 1990 and 2007. Research in
Higher Education,50, 525–545.
Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. J. (2006). Investing in our young people.
Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, University
of Chicago.
Deroma, V., Leach, J., & Leverett, J., (2009). The relationship
between depression and college academic performance. College
Student Journal,43, 325–334.
DuBois, D. L., & Silverthorn, N. (2005). Natural mentoring relation-
ships and adolescent health: Evidence from a national study.
American Journal of Public Health,95, 518–524.
Eisenberg, D., Golberstein, E., & Hunt, J. B. (2009). Mental health
and academic success in college. The BE Journal of Economic
Analysis and Policy,9,1–35.
Eisenberg, D., Gollust, S. E., Golberstein, E., & Hefner, J. L.
(2007). Prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and
suicidality among university students. American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry,77, 534–542.
Erickson, L. D., McDonald, S., & Elder, G. H. (2009). Informal
mentors and education: Complementary or compensatory
resources? Sociology of Education,82, 344–367.
Fries-Britt, S. L., & Turner, B. (2001). Facing stereotypes: A case
study of Black students on a White campus. Journal of College
Student Development,42, 420–429.
Fruiht, V. M., & Wray-Lake, L. (2013). The role of mentor type
and timing in predicting educational attainment. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence,42, 1459–1472.
Greenberger, E., Chen, C., & Beam, M. R. (1998). The role of “very
important”nonparental adults in adolescent development. Jour-
nal of Youth and Adolescence,27, 321–343.
Grossman, J. B., & Rhodes, J. E. (2002). The test of time: Predictors
and effects of duration in youth mentoring relationships. Ameri-
can Journal of Community Psychology,30, 199–219.
Heaney, C. A., & Israel, B. A. (2008). Social networks and social
support. Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory,
Research, and Practice,4, 189–210.
Horn, L. (1998). Stopouts or stayouts? Undergraduates who leave
college in their first year (NCES 1999-087). Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Education.
Hunt, J., & Eisenberg, D. (2010). Mental health problems and help-
seeking behavior among college students. Journal of Adolescent
Health,46,3–10.
Hurd, N. M., S
anchez, B., Zimmerman, M. A., & Caldwell, C. H.
(2012). Natural mentors, racial identity, and educational attain-
ment among African American adolescents: Exploring pathways
to success. Child Development,83, 1196–1212.
Hurd, N. M., & Sellers, R. M. (2013). Black adolescents’relation-
ships with natural mentors: Associations with academic engage-
ment via social and emotional development. Cultural Diversity
and Ethnic Minority Psychology,19,76–85.
Hurd, N. M., Stoddard, S. A., Bauermeister, J. A., & Zimmerman,
M. A. (2014). Natural mentors, mental health, and substance
use: Exploring pathways via coping and purpose. American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry,84, 190–200.
Hurd, N. M., Varner, F. A., Caldwell, C. H., & Zimmerman, M. A.
(2014). Does perceived racial discrimination predict changes in
psychological distress and substance use over time? An exami-
nation among Black emerging adults. Developmental
Psychology,50, 1910–1918.
Hurd, N. M., Varner, F. A., & Rowley, S. J. (2013). Involved-vigi-
lant parenting and socio-emotional well-being among Black
youth: The moderating influence of natural mentoring relation-
ships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence,42, 1583–1595.
Hurd, N. M., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2010a). Natural mentoring rela-
tionships among adolescent mothers: A study of resilience.
Journal of Research on Adolescence,20, 789–809.
Hurd, N. M., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2010b). Natural mentors, men-
tal health, and risk behaviors: A longitudinal analysis of Afri-
can American adolescents transitioning into adulthood.
American Journal of Community Psychology,46,36–48.
Hurd, N. M., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2014). An analysis of natural
mentoring relationship profiles and associations with mentees’
mental health: Considering links via support from important
others. American Journal of Community Psychology,53,25–36.
Hysenbegasi, A., Hass, S. L., & Rowland, C. R. (2005). The impact of
depression on the academic productivity of university students.
Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics,8, 145–151.
Jaycox, L. H., Stein, B. D., Paddock, S., Miles, J. N., Chandra, A., Mer-
edith, L. S., et al. (2009). Impact of teen depression on academic,
social, and physical functioning. Pediatrics,124, e596–e605.
John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy:
History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. Handbook
of Personality: Theory and Research,2, 102–138.
Kessler, R. C., Foster, C. L., Saunders, W. B., & Stang, P. E.
(1995). Social consequences of psychiatric disorders, I: Educa-
tional attainment. American Journal of Psychiatry,152, 1026–
1032.
Klaw, E. L., Rhodes, J. E., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (2003). Natural men-
tors in the lives of African American adolescent mothers:
Tracking relationships over time. Journal of Youth and Adoles-
cence,32, 223–232.
Kogan, S. M., & Brody, G. H. (2010). Linking parenting and infor-
mal mentor processes to depressive symptoms among rural
African American young adult men. Cultural Diversity and Eth-
nic Minority Psychology,16, 299–306.
Kogan, S. M., Brody, G. H., & Chen, Y. F. (2011). Natural mentor-
ing processes deter externalizing problems among rural African
American emerging adults: A prospective analysis. American
Journal of Community Psychology,48, 272–283.
Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12 11
Levine, A., & Nidiffer, J. (1996). Beating the odds: How the poor
get to college. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Massey, D., Charles, C. Z., Lundy, G., & Fisher, M. (2003). The
source of the river: The origins, aspirations, and values of
freshmen at America’s elite colleges and universities. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
McDonald, S., & Lambert, J. (2014). The long arm of mentoring: A
counterfactual analysis of natural youth mentoring and employ-
ment outcomes in early careers. American Journal of Commu-
nity Psychology,54, 262–273.
Muth
en, B. O., & Muth
en, L. K. (2012). Mplus Version 7: User’s
guide. Los Angeles: Muth
en & Muth
en.
Neville, H. A., Heppner, P. P., Ji, P., & Thye, R. (2004). The rela-
tions among general and race related stressors and psychoedu-
cational adjustment in Black students attending predominantly
White institutions. Journal of Black Studies,34, 599–618.
Owens, M., Stevenson, J., Hadwin, J. A., & Norgate, R. (2012).
Anxiety and depression in academic performance: An explora-
tion of the mediating factors of worry and working memory.
School Psychology International,33, 433–449.
Rhodes, J. E. (2005). A model of youth mentoring. In D. L. DuBois
& M. J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (pp. 30–
43). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rhodes, J. E., Ebert, L., & Fischer, K. (1992). Natural mentors: An
overlooked resource in the social networks of young, African
American mothers. American Journal of Community Psychol-
ogy,20, 445–461.
S
anchez, B., Reyes, O., & Singh, J. (2006). A qualitative examina-
tion of the relationships that serve a mentoring function for
Mexican American older adolescents. Cultural Diversity and
Ethnic Minority Psychology,12, 615–631.
Schreiner, L. A., Noel, P., & Cantwell, L. (2011). The impact of
faculty and staff on high-risk college student persistence. Jour-
nal of College Student Development,52, 321–338.
Smedley, B. D., Myers, H. F., & Harrell, S. P. (1993). Minor-
ity-status stresses and the college adjustment of ethnic
minority freshmen. Journal of Higher Education,64,
434–452.
Timpe, Z. C., & Lunkenheimer, E. (2015). The long-term economic
benefits of natural mentoring relationships for youth. American
Journal of Community Psychology,56,12–24.
Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and
cures of student attrition. Chicago: The University of Chi-
cago Press.
Tinto, V. (2010). From theory to action: Exploring the institutional
conditions for student retention. Higher Education: Handbook
of Theory and Research,25,51–90.
Torres, V. (2003). Influences on ethnic identity development of
Latino college students in the first two years of college. Journal
of College Student Development,44, 532–547.
Zimmerman, M. A., Bingenheimer, J. B., & Behrendt, D. E. (2005).
Natural mentoring relationships. In D. L. DuBois & M. J.
Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (pp. 143–157).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zivin, K., Eisenberg, D., Golberstein, E., & Gollust, S. (2009).
Persistence of mental health problems and needs in a college
student population. Journal of Affective Disorders,117,
180–185.
12 Am J Community Psychol (2016) 0:1–12