Older and wiser: Mentoring relationships in childhood and adolescence.

Mentor relationships have been identified as contributing to resilience in high-risk youth. Despite their promise, as well as a recent increase in volunteer mentoring programs, our understanding of mentor relationships rests on a base of observational data and very few empirical studies. Literature in several fields is reviewed and synthesized as it bears on mentoring. Although the literature converges on the importance of mentor relationships in shaping and protecting youth, many programmatic and conceptual issues remain unresolved. These issues constitute a compelling research agenda for this emerging field.