Improving Human Relationships through Youth Mentors’ Use of Emotion Coaching
Adolescence is characterized by heightened emotional reactivity, rapid developmental change, and increased risk for internalizing and externalizing difficulties. Youth mentoring programs are often positioned as protective contexts, yet mentor preparation frequently prioritizes rapport-building without systematically addressing how adults respond to youths’ emotional expressions. Given evidence that adult emotion socialization practices shape young people’s regulatory development, integrating emotion-focused strategies into mentoring may represent a critical mechanism for relational and psychological benefit.
In the MRI-funded project Improving Human Relationships through Youth Mentors’ Use of Emotion Coaching, Dr. Lindsey Weiler (University of Minnesota) evaluated the feasibility and impact of embedding emotion coaching within a structured mentoring program. Emotion coaching conceptualizes emotional moments as opportunities for connection and skill-building. It involves recognizing and validating youths’ internal experiences while scaffolding problem-solving and adaptive regulation strategies. In contrast, dismissing or minimizing responses may undermine relational trust and emotional development.
The study was implemented within Campus Connections, a 12-week, site-based mentoring program serving youth ages 11–18. Eighty-eight adult mentors completed structured emotion coaching training prior to the semester and received ongoing supervisory support during program delivery. A sequential mixed-method design integrated pre- and post-intervention surveys with post-program focus groups to assess feasibility, acceptability, perceived effectiveness, mentor self-efficacy, and shifts in coaching versus dismissing tendencies.
Quantitative analyses indicated high mentor ratings of feasibility, appropriateness, and effectiveness. Over the course of the program, mentors demonstrated significant increases in self-reported emotion coaching behaviors and mentoring self-efficacy, alongside significant decreases in emotion dismissing. Importantly, greater use of emotion coaching was positively associated with mentoring relationship quality, whereas dismissing responses were negatively associated with relational strength. These findings suggest that how mentors respond to emotional disclosures has measurable implications for relationship functioning.
Qualitative findings enriched this picture. Mentors described observing improvements in youths’ emotion regulation and reflective dialogue, while also noting challenges related to applying skills flexibly across developmental stages and group contexts. Continued supervision and experiential learning were identified as essential for sustaining effective implementation.
By centering emotional processes within mentoring relationships, this project advances a relational model in which adult responsiveness operates as a mechanism of change. The translational implications extend to mentor training curricula and youth-serving organizations, supporting integration of emotion coaching as a scalable, developmentally grounded strategy for enhancing relationship quality and promoting adolescent well-being.