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Adulthood
Kinds of Adulthood Selected AbstractsROMANTIC PARTNERS' INFLUENCE ON MEN'S LIKELIHOOD OF ARREST IN EARLY ADULTHOOD,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 2 2008DEBORAH M. CAPALDI Female romantic partners' influence on official crime occurrence for men across a 12-year period in early adulthood was examined within a comprehensive dynamic prediction model, including both social learning and social control predictors. We hypothesized that relationship stability, rather than attachment to partner, would be associated with reduced likelihood of crime, whereas women's antisocial behavior would be a risk factor, along with deviant peer association. Models were tested on a sample of at-risk men [the Oregon Youth Study (OYS)] using zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) modeling predicting 1) arrest persistence (class and count) and 2) arrest onset class. The findings indicated that women's antisocial behavior was predictive of both onset and persistence of arrests for men and that deviant peer association was predictive of persistence. Relationship stability was protective against persistence. [source] THE CONTEXT OF MARRIAGE AND CRIME: GENDER, THE PROPENSITY TO MARRY, AND OFFENDING IN EARLY ADULTHOOD,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2007RYAN D. KING Marriage is central to theoretical debates over stability and change in criminal offending over the life course. Yet, unlike other social ties such as employment, marriage is distinct in that it cannot be randomly assigned in survey research to more definitively assess causal effects of marriage on offending. As a result, key questions remain as to whether different individual propensities toward marriage shape its salience as a deterrent institution. Building on these issues, the current research has three objectives. First, we use a propensity score matching approach to estimate causal effects of marriage on crime in early adulthood. Second, we assess sex differences in the effects of marriage on offending. Although both marriage and offending are highly gendered phenomena, prior work typically focuses on males. Third, we examine whether one's propensity to marry conditions the deterrent capacity of marriage. Results show that marriage suppresses offending for males, even when accounting for their likelihood to marry. Furthermore, males who are least likely to marry seem to benefit most from this institution. The influence of marriage on crime is less robust for females, where marriage reduces crime only for those with moderate propensities to marry. We discuss these findings in the context of recent debates concerning gender, criminal offending, and the life course. [source] INDIVIDUAL STABILITY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD: TESTING THE STABILITY POSTULATE OF MOFFITT'S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2003ANDREA G. DONKER This paper presents a test of Moffitt's (1993) prediction on the stability of longitudinal antisocial behavior, using data from the South-Holland Study. Aggressive (overt) and non-aggressive antisocial (covert) behaviors were measured when subjects were 6,11 years old, and at follow-ups when they were 12,17 years old and 20,25 years old. In accordance with the postulate, we did find a higher level of stability of overt behavior from childhood to adulthood, compared with childhood to adolescence, especially in combination with early manifestations of status violations and/or covert behavior in childhood. Results related to the stability of covert behavior were not in accordance with the prediction, but did support the recently proposed adjustment to the starting age of the adult phase. [source] A NOT SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY: THE FOSTER YOUTH TRANSITION FROM ADOLESCENCE INTO ADULTHOODFAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 2 2010Miriam Aroni Krinsky Every year close to 25,000 youth age out of our foster care system; without the anchor of a family, former foster youth disproportionately join the ranks of the homeless, incarcerated, and unemployed. While the average age of financial independence in America is twenty-six years of age, we presume that foster youth can somehow attain financial and emotional independence by age eighteen. Instead, these adolescents are woefully unprepared for independent adult life, and when they falter, too often no one is there to provide support or guidance. As a result, former foster youth are ten times more likely to be arrested than youth of the same age, race, and sex and one in four youth who age out of foster care will end up in jail within the first two years after leaving care. This article will discuss strategies for changing these disheartening outcomes for transitioning foster youth, including breaking down our silos and collectively taking charge of the lives of children in our care; keeping a watchful eye on data and outcomes and using that information to guide our actions; ensuring that the voices of youth are an ever-present part of decisions and processes that will chart their future; and educating ourselves about best practices and new approaches. This article also discusses new opportunities that now exist to support foster youth as they move into adulthood, including new federal legislation that,for the first time,will allow states to support foster youth beyond age eighteen. Finally, this article provides a backdrop for this Special Issue and summarizes the insightful articles and innovative thinking contained herein. [source] Discussion: Statistical Literacy before AdulthoodINTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2002Jane M. Watson First page of article [source] Catholic Schooling, Protestant Schooling, and Religious Commitment in Young AdulthoodJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 2 2009Jeremy E. Uecker If and how Catholic and Protestant schools influence the religious lives of their students once they have graduated is unclear. Methodological limitations and inconsistencies in previous studies have resulted in confusing and often contradictory findings. Using data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N,= 11,212), I compare the religious lives of young adults who attended Catholic, Protestant, and secular schools as adolescents. The results suggest that Protestant schoolers are far more religious as young adults than those who attended a secular school, a difference that is at least partially explained by the schools' religious environment. But young adults who attended Catholic schools report levels of religiosity that are similar to those educated in a secular school, and are actually lower for some outcomes. Studies of religious schoolers that ignore the religious tradition of the school overlook these differing effects and forfeit statistical explanatory power. [source] Cognitive, Linguistic and Adaptive Functioning in Williams Syndrome: Trajectories from Early to Middle AdulthoodJOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 4 2010Patricia Howlin Background, Little is known about trajectories of cognitive functioning as individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) move though adulthood. Method, The present study investigated cognitive, linguistic and adaptive functioning in adults with WS aged 19,55 years, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches. Results, Data from the cross-sectional study (n = 92; mean age = 32 years) indicated that IQ was comparable across age groups (Full-Scale IQ mean = 56,57) with Verbal IQ being slightly higher than Performance IQ. Daily Living Skills (as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales) were significantly higher in older individuals. Language abilities showed no consistent age-related differences. On formal tests of language, comprehension scores were higher than expressive language scores for almost all individuals, although this pattern was not replicated on the Vineland. In the longitudinal study, a follow-up of 47 individuals (mean age = 37 years) first assessed 12 years previously, similar trajectories were found. IQ remained very stable (FSIQ = 61,62 at both time points); there were significant improvements on the Social and Daily Living domains of the Vineland and significant decreases in Maladaptive scores. There were no improvements in language over time. Conclusions, The data indicate that adults with WS (at least up to the age of 50 years) show no evidence of deterioration in cognitive skills. Adaptive abilities continue to develop although language shows relatively little improvement with time. [source] Perceived Benefits and Negative Impact of Challenges Encountered in Caring for Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in the Transition to AdulthoodJOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 1 2008Cher Rapanaro Background, This study investigated the perceived benefits and negative impact associated with stressful events and chronic caregiving demands encountered by parents caring for young adults with an intellectual disability in the period of transition to adulthood. Methods, A sample of 119 parents of young adults described these outcomes in a questionnaire, which were then analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results, Although parents identified a range of negative outcomes, they also reported positive outcomes (perceived benefits) in relation to stressful events and chronic demands encountered in this period, including personal growth and enhanced personal resources. Conclusions, The language of stress and burden often used to describe parents' experiences during the period of their son or daughter's transition to adulthood, needs to coexist with a language of fulfilment, growth and gain, as used by parents themselves. The implications of these findings, in relation to professional interaction with and support of parents in this period, are discussed. [source] Life Course Stage in Young Adulthood and Intergenerational Congruence in Family AttitudesJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2010Freek Bucx We investigated how intergenerational congruence in family-related attitudes depends on life course stage in young adulthood. Recent data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study were used; the present sample included 2,041 dyads of young adults and their parents. Findings are discussed in terms of the elasticity in intergenerational attitude congruence in response to young adults' life course transitions. Our results suggest that intergenerational congruence in attitudes about partnership (e.g., marriage, cohabitation, divorce, women's and men's family roles) decreases after young adults have left the parental home and increases when young adults enter parenthood. Congruence concerning intergenerational obligations was not related to young adults' life course stage. [source] Early Family Transitions and Depressive Symptom Changes From Adolescence to Early AdulthoodJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2008Alan Booth Some research and theory suggest that early cohabitation, parenthood, and marriage have negative long-term implications. Nevertheless, in the context of their resources and opportunities, early transitions may represent positive choices for some individuals. We studied the family and personal characteristics of young adults (N = 8,172) who did, versus those who did not, make early family transitions. We assessed changes in their depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood. Individuals who made early family transitions were disadvantaged in many respects, but differed little from those who did not with respect to changes in depressive symptoms. That they stay "even" with those who do not make transitions suggests that some young adults make positive choices from among limited options. [source] Stable Postdivorce Family Structures During Late Adolescence and Socioeconomic Consequences in AdulthoodJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2008Yongmin Sun Using four waves of panel data from 6,954 American young adults in the National Education Longitudinal Study, we compare the long-term socioeconomic consequences of growing up in two types of divorced families. Our findings show that the negative socioeconomic consequences of growing up in unstable postdivorce families are at least twice as large as those of staying in a stabilized postdivorce family environment through late adolescence. The study also finds that variations in parental resources during late adolescence partially explain the divorce effects on most attainment indicators. Further, parental divorce appears to affect the socioeconomic attainment of male and female offspring alike. Overall, the study underlines the importance of including postdivorce family dynamics in studying the effect of parental divorce. [source] On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy.JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2006& Rubén G. Rumbaut, Frank F. Furstenberg, Richard A. Settersten No abstract is available for this article. [source] Stress in Childhood and Adulthood: Effects on Marital Quality Over TimeJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 5 2005Debra Umberson We work from a stress and life course perspective to consider how stress affects trajectories of change in marital quality over time. Specifically, we ask whether stress is more likely to undermine the quality of marital experiences at different points in the life course. In addition, we ask whether the effects of adult stress on marital quality depend on childhood family stress experiences. Growth curve analysis of data from a national longitudinal survey (Americans' Changing Lives, N =1,059 married individuals) reveals no evidence of age differences in the effects of adult stress on subsequent trajectories of change in marital experiences. Our results, however, suggest that the effects of adult stress on marital quality may depend on childhood stress exposure. Stress in adulthood appears to take a cumulative toll on marriage over time,but this toll is paid primarily by individuals who report a more stressful childhood. This toll does not depend on the timing of stress in the adult life course. [source] Altered Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Populations in Adulthood as a Consequence of Brief Perinatal Glucocorticoid ExposureJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 8 2005S. McArthur Abstract Early exposure to stressors is strongly associated with enduring effects on central nervous system function, but the mechanisms and neural substrates involved in this biological ,programming' are unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that inappropriate exposure to glucocorticoid stress hormones (GCs) during critical periods of development permanently alters the mesencephalic dopaminergic populations in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Using a rat model, the synthetic GC dexamethasone was added to the maternal drinking water during gestational days 16,19 or over the first week of postnatal life. In adulthood, the effects upon tyrosine hydroxylase immunopositive (TH+) cell numbers in the midbrain, and monoamine levels in the forebrain, of the adult offspring were assessed and compared with control offspring whose dams received normal drinking water. In the VTA, both prenatal and postnatal dexamethasone treatment increased TH+ cell numbers by approximately 50% in males and females. Although prenatal dexamethasone treatment also increased TH+ cell numbers in the SNc by 40,50% in males and females, postnatal treatment affected females only by increasing TH+ cell numbers by approximately 30%. In comparison, similar changes were not detected in the monoamine levels of the dorsolateral striatum, nucleus accumbens or infralimbic cortex of either males or females, which is a feature likely to reflect adaptive changes in these pathways. These studies demonstrate that the survival or phenotypic expression of VTA and SNc dopaminergic neurones is profoundly influenced by brief perinatal exposure to GCs at times when endogenous levels are normally low. These findings are the first to demonstrate permanent changes in the cytoarchitecture within midbrain dopamine nuclei after perinatal exposure to stress hormones and implicate altered functionality. Thus, they have significance for the increasing use of GCs in perinatal medicine and indicate potential mechanisms whereby perinatal distress may predispose to the development of a range of psychiatric conditions in later life. [source] Stability and Change in Personality Traits From Late Adolescence to Early Adulthood: A Longitudinal Twin StudyJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 2 2008Daniel M. Blonigen ABSTRACT We conducted a longitudinal-biometric study examining stability and change in personality from ages 17 to 24 in a community sample of male and female twins. Using Tellegen's (in press) Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), facets of Negative Emotionality (NEM) declined substantially at the mean and individual levels, whereas facets of Constraint (CON) increased over time. Furthermore, individuals in late adolescence who were lowest on NEM and highest on CON remained the most stable over time, whereas those exhibiting the inverse profile (higher NEM, lower CON) changed the most in a direction towards growth and maturity. Analyses of gender differences yielded greater mean-level increases over time for women as compared to men on facets of CON and greater mean-level increases for men than women on facets of Agentic Positive Emotionality (PEM). Biometric analyses revealed rank-order stability in personality to be largely genetic, with rank-order change mediated by both the nonshared environment (and error) as well as genes. Findings correspond with prior evidence of a normative trend toward growth and maturity in personality during emerging adulthood. [source] Childhood Personality Predicts Long-Term Trajectories of Shyness and Aggressiveness in the Context of Demographic Transitions in Emerging AdulthoodJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 1 2008Jaap J. A. Dennissen ABSTRACT In a 19-year longitudinal study, childhood personality characteristics (assessed by teachers at ages 4 to 6) were significantly related to both initial levels and changes in parental judgments of shyness and aggressiveness. Long-term stability was demonstrated by the fact that overcontrollers had consistently higher scores in shyness and undercontrollers in aggressiveness. However, undercontrollers' shyness and overcontrollers' aggressiveness changed over time from a low to a high level. Also, both types assumed adult social roles, such as leaving the parental home, establishing a first romantic relationship, and getting a part-time job, at a later time than the resilient participants. A mediation analysis indicated that under- and overcontrollers' increasing aggressiveness between age 17 and 23 was due to their longer latency of getting a part-time job. Together, results demonstrate the importance of considering person-environment transactions in explaining both change and stability in personality between childhood and adulthood. [source] Personality Development From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood: Differential Stability, Normative Maturity, and Evidence for the Maturity-Stability HypothesisJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 2 2007M. Brent Donnellan ABSTRACT This investigation examined personality development during the transition from adolescence to adulthood using the brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Patrick, Curtin, & Tellegen, 2002). Parent and self-reports of personality were obtained in 1994 (average age=17.60 years), and self-reports were obtained in 2003 (average age=27.24 years). There was evidence of both differential stability and normative changes in the direction of increased functional maturity during this transition. Moreover, adolescents with more mature personalities in 1994 tended to show fewer personality changes from 1994 to 2003. These maturity-stability effects held when parent reports were used to assess personality. All told, there was evidence of both stability and change in personality during the transition to adulthood. [source] A Longitudinal Study of Personality Change in Young AdulthoodJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2001Richard W. Robins The present research examined personality continuity and change in a sample of young men and women assessed at the beginning and end of college. Two-hundred seventy students completed measures of the Big Five personality traits when they first entered college and then four years later. Analyses indicate small- to medium-sized normative (i.e., mean-level) changes, large rank-order stability correlations, high levels of stability in personality structure, and moderate levels of ipsative (i.e. profile) stability. Overall, the findings are consistent with the perspective that personality traits exhibits considerable continuity over time, yet can change in systematic ways. [source] Childhood Sleep Problems, Response Inhibition, and Alcohol and Drug Outcomes in Adolescence and Young AdulthoodALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2010Maria M. Wong Background:, To our knowledge, no prospective studies examine the relationships among childhood sleep problems, adolescent executive functioning, and substance outcomes (i.e., substance use and substance-related problems). In this study, we examined whether childhood sleep problems predicted adolescent sleep problems and response inhibition. We also tested whether adolescent sleep problems and poor response inhibition mediated the relationship between childhood sleep problems and substance (alcohol and drug) outcomes in young adulthood. Methods:, Study participants were 292 boys and 94 girls (M = 4.85, SD = 1.47) from a community sample of high-risk families and controls. Results:, When compared to their counterparts, those with trouble sleeping in childhood were twice as likely to have the same problem in adolescence. Childhood overtiredness predicted poor response inhibition in adolescence. Persistent trouble sleeping from childhood to adolescence and response inhibition in adolescence mediated the relationship between childhood sleep problems and drug outcomes in young adulthood, whereas overtiredness in childhood directly predicted alcohol use outcomes and alcohol-related problems in young adulthood. Conclusions:, This is the first study showing a long-term relationship between childhood sleep measures and subsequent alcohol and drug outcomes. The developmental and clinical implications of these findings were discussed. Prevention and intervention programs may want to consider the role of sleep problems and response inhibition on substance use and abuse. [source] Adolescent C57BL/6J (but not DBA/2J) Mice Consume Greater Amounts of Limited-Access Ethanol Compared to Adults and Display Continued Elevated Ethanol Intake into AdulthoodALCOHOLISM, Issue 4 2010Eileen M. Moore Background:, Alcohol use is common during the adolescent period, a time at which a number of crucial neurobiological, hormonal, and behavioral changes occur (Spear, 2000). In order to more fully understand the complex interaction between alcohol use and these age-typical neurobiological changes, animal models must be utilized. Rodents experience a developmental period similar to that of adolescence. Although rat models have shown striking adolescent-specific differences in sensitivity to ethanol, little work has been done in mice despite the fact that the C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA2/J (D2) mice have been shown to markedly differ in ethanol preference drinking and exhibit widely different sensitivities to ethanol. Methods:, The current study examined ethanol intake in adolescent and adult B6 and D2 mice using a limited access alcohol exposure paradigm called Drinking in the Dark (DID). Additionally, the effect of adolescent (or adult) ethanol exposure on subsequent adult ethanol intake was examined by re-exposing the mice to the same paradigm once the adolescents reached adulthood. We hypothesized that adolescent (P25,45) mice would exhibit greater binge-like alcohol intake compared to adults (P60,80), and that B6 mice would exhibit greater binge-like alcohol intake compared to D2 mice. Moreover, we predicted that relative difference in binge-like alcohol intake between adolescents and adults would be greater in D2 mice. Results:, Adolescent B6 mice consumed more ethanol than adults in the DID model. There was no difference between adolescent and adult D2 mice. Conclusions:, This work adds to the literature suggesting that adolescents will consume more ethanol than adults and that this exposure can result in altered adult intake. However, this effect seems largely dependent upon genotype. Future work will continue to examine age-related differences in ethanol intake, preference, and sensitivity in inbred mouse strains. [source] The Relationships of the Level of Response to Alcohol and Additional Characteristics to Alcohol Use Disorders Across Adulthood: A Discrete-Time Survival AnalysisALCOHOLISM, Issue 9 2009Ryan S. Trim Background:, A low level of response (LR) to alcohol has been shown to relate to a higher risk for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). However, no previous research has examined the association between LR and the development of AUDs in the context of additional robust risk factors for AUDs. This study evaluated whether LR and other related characteristics predicted the occurrence of AUDs across adulthood using discrete-time survival analysis (DTSA). Methods:, A total of 297 probands from the San Diego Prospective Study reported on the LR to alcohol, a family history (FH) of AUDs, the typical drinking quantity, the age of drinking onset, the body mass index and the age at the baseline (T1) assessment. Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) were evaluated at the 10-year (T10), T15, T20, and T25 follow-ups. Results:, A low LR to alcohol predicted AUD occurrence over the course of adulthood even after controlling for the effects of other robust risk factors. Interaction effects revealed that the impact of FH on AUDs was only observed for subjects with high T1 drinking levels, and probands with high T1 drinking were at high risk for AUDs regardless of their age of onset. Conclusions:, The findings illustrate that LR is a unique risk factor for AUDs across adulthood, and not simply a reflection of a broader range of risk factors. The continued investigation of how LR is related to AUD onset later in life will help inform treatment providers about this high-risk population, and future longitudinal evaluations will utilize DTSA to assess rates of AUD remission as well as the onset of drinking outcomes in adolescent samples. [source] A Rasch Model Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and Problems Across Adolescence and Young AdulthoodALCOHOLISM, Issue 4 2009Christopher W. Kahler Background:, Recent investigations using item response modeling have begun to conceptualize alcohol consumption, problems, and dependence as representing points along a single continuum of alcohol involvement. Such a conceptualization may be of particular benefit to measurement of alcohol involvement in adolescents, but investigations to date have been limited to adult samples and may not generalize to adolescents due to age-related developmental differences. Methods:, This study used Rasch model analyses to examine the properties of indices of alcohol consumption and problems among 6,353 adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years, in Wave 1 of the Add Health survey. A particular focus was on whether the functioning of items changed when these adolescents were re-interviewed in Wave 3 when they were 18 to 24 years of age. Results:, Rasch model analyses supported the unidimensionality and additive properties of the items in the Wave 1 data. Comparisons of Wave 1 and Wave 3 data indicated differential item functioning in most of the items such that items related to alcohol consumption were more severe during adolescence, whereas items related to alcohol problems were more severe in young adulthood. Conclusions:, A valid index of alcohol involvement in adolescents can be constructed combining indices of alcohol consumption and alcohol problems. Such an index covers a range of severity and functions similarly across sex and race/ethnicity. A similar index can be constructed in young adulthood. However, the interpretation of scores must be attentive to developmental differences. In particular, for adolescents, indices of alcohol consumption are relatively closer in severity to indices of alcohol problems than they are among young adults. Thus, alcohol problems are more likely among adolescents than young adults given a similar level of drinking. [source] Longitudinal Associations Between Alcohol Problems and Depressive Symptoms: Early Adolescence Through Early AdulthoodALCOHOLISM, Issue 1 2009Naomi R. Marmorstein Background:, Alcohol use-related problems and depressive symptoms are clearly associated with each other, but results regarding the nature of this association have been inconsistent. In addition, the possible moderating effects of age and gender have not been comprehensively examined. The goals of this study were to clarify: (i) how depressive symptoms affect the levels and trajectory of alcohol use-related problems, (ii) how alcohol use-related problems affect the levels and trajectory of depressive symptoms, and (iii) whether there are differences in these associations at different points in development or between males and females. Methods:, Participants for this study were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth) data set, a community-based sample of 20,728 adolescents followed from adolescence through early adulthood. Multilevel models were used to assess how each problem affected the level and rate of change in the other problem over time; gender was considered as a possible moderator of these associations. Results:, The results indicated that alcohol use-related problems and depressive symptoms had reciprocal, positive associations with each other during the period from early adolescence through early adulthood; however, these effects differed somewhat by gender and age. High levels of depressive symptoms were associated with higher initial levels of alcohol problems (particularly among females), as well as faster increases in alcohol problems over time among males. High levels of alcohol problems were associated with higher initial levels of depressive symptoms (particularly among females), as well as less curvature in the slope of depressive symptoms so that although there was a large difference between people with high and low depressive symptoms in early adolescence, by early adulthood the difference was smaller (particularly among females). Conclusions:, These results highlight the importance of examining gender and age in studies on the associations between affective disorders and substance use disorders. [source] Coping Trajectories from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: Links to Attachment State of MindJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 4 2005Inge Seiffge-Krenke The objective of this study was to examine the links between coping and attachment. In a longitudinal study of 112 participants, coping behavior was assessed at five points in time during adolescence (starting at the age of 14 years) and early adulthood. In addition, at the age of 21 years, state of mind regarding current and earlier attachment experiences was assessed by employing the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In both adolescence and early adulthood, differences in coping styles were found to be related to differences in attachment. Individuals classified as secure dealt with their problems more actively by using their social network during adolescence and at the age of 21 years. Both secure and dismissing individuals used more internal coping than those with a preoccupied state of mind. Latent growth curve modeling revealed that differences in active and internal coping between secure and insecure individuals applied to the rate of change in these coping styles between 14 and 21 years, with participants in the secure group showing much steeper growth in both coping styles. Only minor differences were found with respect to withdrawal as a coping style. The results represent first evidence that coping trajectories during adolescence and young adulthood are linked with attachment state of mind. [source] Age Changes in Prosocial Responding and Moral Reasoning in Adolescence and Early AdulthoodJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 3 2005Nancy Eisenberg Age changes' measures of prosocial responding and reasoning were examined. Participants' reports of helping, empathy-related responding, and prosocial moral reasoning were obtained in adolescence (from age 15,16 years) and into adulthood (to age 25,26 years). Perspective taking and approval/interpersonal oriented/stereotypic prosocial moral reasoning increased from adolescence into adulthood, whereas personal distress declined. Helping declined and then increased (a cubic trend). Prosocial moral judgment composite scores (and self-reflective empathic reasoning) generally increased from late adolescence into the early 20s (age 17,18 to 21,22) but either leveled off or declined slightly thereafter (i.e., showed linear and cubic trends); rudimentary needs-oriented reasoning showed the reverse pattern of change. The increase in self-reflective empathic moral reasoning was for females only. Thus, perspective taking and some aspects of prosocial moral reasoning,capacities with a strong sociocognitive basis,showed the clearest increases with age, whereas simple prosocial proclivities (i.e., helping, sympathy) did not increase with age. [source] Adolescent Transitions to Young Adulthood: Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences of Adolescent EmploymentJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 3 2001Tama Leventhal The antecedents, correlates, and consequences of adolescent employment were investigated in a sample of 251 low-income, African American youth that were followed since birth. The youth (age: M at preschool = 4.89, SD= .70; M at adolescence = 16.44, SD= .66; M at transition to adulthood = 19.36, SD= .76; and M at early adulthood = 27.67, SD= .75) were the firstborn children of African American teenage mothers who gave birth in Baltimore in the 1960s. Analyses examined the antecedents and correlates of age of entry into employment and stability of employment during adolescence. The associations of adolescent work experiences with subsequent adult education and employment outcomes also were considered. Findings indicate that among this sample of low-income, African American youth, those who repeated a grade in school during middle childhood were more likely to enter the workforce at later ages than their peers who did not repeat a grade. The small subset of adolescents who never worked (n= 12) appear to be markedly more disadvantaged than their peers who worked. At the transition to adulthood, adolescents who entered the workforce earlier were more likely to complete high school than their peers. In addition, stable employment during the adolescent years had more beneficial effects on young men's chances of attending college than young women's postsecondary education. This pattern of findings is consistent with ethnographic accounts of adolescent employment among poor, minority, urban youth. [source] Fetal Ethanol Exposure Disrupts the Daily Rhythms of Splenic Granzyme B, IFN- ,, and NK Cell Cytotoxicity in AdulthoodALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2006Alvaro Arjona Background: Circadian (and daily) rhythms are physiological events that oscillate with a 24-hour period. Circadian disruptions may hamper the immune response against infection and cancer. Several immune mechanisms, such as natural killer (NK) cell function, follow a daily rhythm. Although ethanol is known to be a potent toxin for many systems in the developing fetus, including the immune system, the long-term effects of fetal ethanol exposure on circadian immune function have not been explored. Methods: Daily rhythms of cytotoxic factors (granzyme B and perforin), interferon- , (IFN- ,), and NK cell cytotoxic activity were determined in the spleens of adult male rats obtained from mothers who were fed during pregnancy with chow food or an ethanol-containing liquid diet or pair-fed an isocaloric liquid diet. Results: We found that adult rats exposed to ethanol during their fetal life showed a significant alteration in the physiological rhythms of granzyme B and IFN- , that was associated with decreased NK cell cytotoxic activity. Conclusion: These data suggest that fetal ethanol exposure causes a permanent alteration of specific immune rhythms that may in part underlie the immune impairment observed in children prenatally exposed to alcohol. [source] Fetal or Infantile Exposure to Ethanol Promotes Ethanol Ingestion in Adolescence and Adulthood: A Theoretical ReviewALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2005Norman E. Spear Background: Despite good evidence that ethanol abuse in adulthood is more likely the earlier human adolescents begin drinking, it is unclear why the early onset of drinking occurs in the first place. A review of experimental studies with animals complemented by clinical, epidemiologic and experimental studies with humans supports the idea that precipitating conditions for ethanol abuse occur well before adolescence, in terms of very early exposure to ethanol as a fetus or infant. Experimental studies with animals indicate, accordingly, that ethanol intake during adolescence or adulthood is potentiated by much earlier exposure to ethanol as a fetus or infant. Methods: Two broad theoretical frameworks are suggested to explain the increase in affinity for ethanol that follows very early exposure to ethanol, one based on effects of mere exposure and the other on associative conditioning. Studied for 50 years or more in several areas of psychology, "effects of mere exposure" refers to enhanced preference expressed for flavors, or just about any stimuli, that are relatively familiar. An alternative framework, in terms of associative conditioning, is guided by this working hypothesis: During ethanol exposure the fetus or infant acquires an association between ethanol's orosensory (odor/taste) and pharmacological consequences, causing the animal subsequently to seek out ethanol's odor and taste. Results and Conclusions: The implication that ethanol has rewarding consequences for the fetus or young infant is supported by recent evidence with perinatal rats. Paradoxically, several studies have shown that such early exposure to ethanol may in some circumstances make the infant treat ethanol-related events as aversive, and yet enhanced intake of ethanol in adolescence is nevertheless a consequence. Alternative interpretations of this paradox are considered among the varied circumstances of early ethanol exposure that lead subsequently to increased affinity for ethanol. [source] Families of Origin, Foster Care Experience, and the Transition to AdulthoodJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009Donna Dea Holland ABSTRACT The rising number of young adults transitioning to adulthood from the foster care system has been a focus of prior research. The current study explored foster care youths transitions to adulthood to identify factors that contribute to or inhibit prosocial adult outcomes. Structured data derived from interviews with foster care-experienced adults and child welfare professionals as well as focus groups with foster care-experienced adults and foster parents were analyzed using content analysis to examine the transition to adulthood from foster care. Positive or negative life outcomes resulted from two key mechanisms: a) issues related to family of origin (inadequate parenting, abuse); and b) foster care experiences (including a pattern of "drift"). We explore disidentification, a new social psychological concept. Throughout, key players provide policy recommendations for the child welfare system. [source] Rites of Passage in Emerging Adulthood: Perspectives of Young MormonsNEW DIRECTIONS FOR CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT, Issue 100 2003Larry J. Nelson This study explores the role that culture, particularly religious rites of passage, may play in emerging adulthood by examining the demographics, criteria for adulthood, identity development, and risk behavior of Mormon emerging adults. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||