THE ROLE OF RELATIONAL, RECREATIONAL, AND TUTORING ACTIVITIES IN THE PERCEPTIONS OF RECEIVED SUPPORT AND QUALITY OF MENTORING RELATIONSHIP DURING A COMMUNITY‐BASED MENTORING RELATIONSHIP

Previous research has shown that activities between volunteer mentors and youth mentees are associated with relationship quality. Using data from a longitudinal investigation of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) community mentoring relationships across Canada, the current study investigated whether different types of activities (relational and skill, recreational, and tutoring) moderate the association between mentees’ perceptions of received support and subsequent relationship quality. The results showed that, irrespective of activity type, activity frequency was positively associated with perceptions of received support and relationship quality. More importantly, higher frequency of recreational activities strengthened the positive association between perceptions of received support and relationship quality, whereas higher frequency of tutoring activities weakened this association. The implications for the provision of relational and skill, recreational, and tutoring activities are discussed in relation to BBBS programs.