The Impact of Role Models, Mentors, and Heroes on Academic and Social Outcomes in Adolescents

Background Identity formation is a dynamic process and key developmental task that begins in adolescence. During this time, children look to adults as role models and mentors. These adults can have a significant impact on adolescents’ decisions of appropriate or inappropriate behaviors, potentially causing a positive or negative change. Little research has been performed to identify these role models and understand how they affect the development of physical and mental health of children. Objective The goal of this study is to see if there is a relationship between identified role models, mentors, and/or heroes and adolescents' interest in education, participation in risky behavior, confidence level, happiness, safety, violence-related behaviors, and physical activity. Methods In this study, 198 children aged 11-18 years were identified on the scheduling platforms at various Hershey Medical Center sites to take a 10-minute survey via RedCap. The survey identified their role model, mentor, and/or hero and followed up with outcome questions from validated tools. Results The results show that 140 participants (70.7%) identified having a role model compared to 88 (44.4%) having mentors and 61 (30.8%) having heroes, and family members were the most identified figures for each category. There were significant differences between identified categories of role models, mentors, and heroes, and interest in education, happiness, risky behavior, and safety, while no significant differences were found for violence-related behavior, physical activity, and confidence level. Adolescents with family heroes had safer behavior (2.39 ± 0.70) than those with celebrity heroes (3.16 ±1.86, p=0.0277), and those with peer heroes (11.3 ± 2.31) had more risky behavior than those with celebrity heroes (9.16 ± 1.98, p=0.0347). However, children with adult peer heroes had a higher interest in education (2.00 ± 0) compared to those with celebrities (3.79 ± 1.03, p=0.0246) or public figures (3.78 ± 1.09, p=0.0333) as their heroes. Additionally, those with family (3.48 ± 1.05) or adult peers (3.32 ± 1.38) as their mentors had a higher interest in education compared to those with same-age peer mentors (5.80 ± 1.30, p=<0.0001). Adolescents with family mentors also had higher happiness scores (3.25 ± 0.33) than those with same-age peer mentors (2.59 ± 1.47, p=0.0358) and also engaged in safer behavior (2.52 ± 0.80) compared to all other categories (3.03 ±1.59, 0.0462). Conclusion These results point to the idea that who adolescents choose to look up to has effects on various aspects of their life that could affect both their physical and mental health status, with family members having the most impact. Further research could explore differences between which family members are chosen as role models, mentors, and heroes and what effect they might have on adolescent development.