Exploring the Self-Disclosure Process in Peer Mentoring Relationships for Transition-Age Youth With Developmental Disabilities.
Strong peer mentoring hinges on mentors sharing their own feelings first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team talked to the pairs of peer mentors and youth with developmental disabilities.
All youth were 16-22 years old and getting ready to leave high school.
They asked each pair about times they shared feelings and how the other person reacted.
What they found
The best mentoring ties had lots of back-and-forth about emotions.
When mentors said things like "I felt scared on my first job too," the youth opened up more.
Pairs that skipped the feeling talk stayed polite but never got close.
How this fits with other research
Wehman et al. (1989) showed teens with ID can teach job skills to each other. Allen et al. (2016) adds that teaching feelings is just as teachable.
Chen et al. (2022) found autistic teens pick same-neurotype friends. T et al. shows shared disability status can also anchor strong mentor bonds when mentors disclose their own struggles.
Jason et al. (1985) trained preschool peers to start play. T et al. moves the lens up to transition-age youth and shows self-disclosure, not just initiation, keeps the social chain going.
Why it matters
If you run peer programs, script one simple step: have mentors share a short personal story about feeling nervous, left out, or proud. Then ask the mentee, "Have you felt that too?" This tiny move turns a service into a relationship and keeps youth engaged after graduation.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the self-disclosure process in regard to connection development and relationship quality in peer mentoring relationships between transition-age youth (ages 15-20) and young adults (ages 18-36) with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Self-disclosure is defined as "the disclosure of inner feelings and experiences to another person" that "fosters liking, caring, and trust, thereby facilitating the deepening of close relationships" ( Reis & Shaver, 1988 , p. 372). Nine peer mentoring dyads with varied interpersonal connections were purposefully selected from a larger intervention study. Recorded mentoring conversations were analyzed for self-disclosure content and peer mentor response. The findings demonstrated trends related to connection development and differences across degree of connection. In relationships with stronger connections, there was a higher quantity of self-disclosure and more frequent disclosure of emotions, and peer mentors responded more frequently with advice and reciprocated self-disclosure. Implications of findings for promoting higher-quality peer mentoring relationships are discussed.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-54.4.245