Mentoring and the spiritual well-being of late adolescents

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible impact of faculty mentoring on the spiritual well-being of late adolescents. The sample consisted of randomly chosen students in their first year at a Christian liberal arts college in New England. Students in the experimental group participated in the freshman seminar program (small classes with seminar leaders/mentors), while those in the control group did not have the freshman seminar experience. Students in both groups were administered a self-assessment survey in September of their freshman year and again in May to determine if there was any change in their spiritual well-being and to explore their perceptions of mentor-student interactions. The findings revealed significant differences between the two groups. In addition, the three aspects of mentoring were positively correlated with the two components of spiritual well-being.