Kenyan youth make up a large share of the population, yet many especially in the informal settlement have no consistent adult guidance through their teenage years. This study explored the relationship between mentors and Positive Youth Development (PYD) for secondary-school adolescents in Kibra-Nairobi County. The focus was on mentor relationships, longevity of support, role models, and positive affirmation. The study employed a cross-sectional convergent parallel design, with an overall sample of 451 adolescents drawn from 3560 youth that participated in ten school-based mentoring programs (349 were participants and 102 were non-participants) representing a 94% response rate for those participants targeted. Quantitative data analysis involved description and inference. Qualitative data entailed 15 focus group discussions and 10 key informant interviews using thematic analysis technique. Role model had the greatest impact on the dependent variable in this study (B = 0.174, β = 0.229, p < 0.001) while mentor relationship had the next greatest impact on it (B = 0.078, β = 0.092, p = 0.001). Other factors included longevity (B = 0.004, β = 0.110, p = 0.015) and positive affirmation (B = 0.016, β = 0.021, p = 0.025). Qualitative data revealed structured mentoring programs, good role models and parents’ involvement as the key themes among students’ developmental experience. The study indicates that secondary-school adolescents in this local context experienced differing levels of PYD based on structured mentoring environments and levels of parent engagement.Subject AreasElderly Education
Cite this paper
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