Does the experience of mentoring youth affect mentors' mental health and wellbeing?

Engaging in positive campus opportunities amid stress or strain may help support college student mental health and wellbeing. This study examined whether participating in a service-learning course as mentors to youth exposed to adversities was related to college students' mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 548; 18-41 years old; M_age = 20.03) included 112 college student mentors enrolled in the service-learning course and 436 college students who were not enrolled in the course as mentors. Propensity score analysis was used to create comparable groups and determine whether the experience of mentoring was associated with improvements in college students' mental health (i.e., depression and anxiety) and wellbeing (i.e., flourishing, gratitude, self-compassion, connectedness, engagement, happiness, optimism, and perseverance). Results indicated that participating in the service-learning course as a youth mentor positively affected their levels of flourishing and self-compassion. These findings highlight how engagement in relationally-focused, service-learning activities may have positive effects on some aspects of college student mentors' wellbeing. Going forward, it may be helpful to investigate the benefits of mentoring for mentors' mental health and wellbeing within a randomized controlled trial among a more heterogeneous sample.