Mentor Relationship Effects on Perceived Quality of Life by a Sample of Rural South African Teenagers

Abstract

This study investigated mentor effects on the perceived quality of life of South African adolescent boys. Participants were 20 adolescent boys that completed the Child Functioning Inventory High School, a standardised measuring instrument. These teenagers also engaged in an interview on their lived experience of same-sex mentors. Findings suggest that the teenagers with an identified mentor experienced a higher quality of life than their peers that do not have a mentor. The teenagers prefer a mentor to be actively involved in their lives and they long for protection and support.

Keywords:

• adolescent boy
• absent father
• mentor
• mentee
• natural mentor relationship
• South Africa