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Whereas mentoring programs are well received as support services, very little empirical research has been conducted to assess the effectiveness of these programs to meet the diverse needs of different special populations of youth. Potentially useful theoretical orientations (attachment, parental acceptance-rejection, social support, adult development, host provocation) and a sociomotivational model of mentoring are presented to complement Rhodes's (2002) model. Mentoring research literatures for five special populations of youth (abused and neglected youth, youth who have disabilities, pregnant and parenting adolescents, juvenile offenders, academically at-risk students) are critiqued. Systemic, longitudinal research must address the cooccurrence of risk factors, populations, and interventions. We conclude with specific recommendations for future research.

We analyzed the role that psychosocial empowerment and social support factors play in the employment status of immigrants who participate in job-readiness programs financed by the European Social Funds and the Welfare Services of Andalusia, a region in the south of Spain. The goal of these programs is to find new ways to improve immigrants' social-labor participation and community integration. By means of a logistical regression analysis applied to data obtained in interviews with 188 participants, a predictor model of psychosocial factors associated with employment status was obtained. Significant psychological empowerment factors included having a positive professional self-concept, having an internal attribution of causality of employment, and having an active job search. Ability to depend on both compatriots and members of the host country in one's support network and the advice and information received from them was a significant factor in social support. Suggestions for future program development include increasing the use of psychosocial resources in interventions designed to improve immigrants' employment status. (Contains 2 tables.)