Work

Effects of Timing of Adversity on Adolescent and Young Adult Adjustment

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Effects of Timing of Adversity on Adolescent and Young Adult Adjustment Abstract Exposure to adversity during childhood and adolescence predicts adjustment across development. Further, adolescent adjustment problems persist into young adulthood. This study examined relations of contextual adversity with concurrent adolescent adjustment and prospective mental health and health outcomes in young adulthood. A longitudinal sample (N = 808) was followed from age 10 through 27. Perceptions of neighborhood in childhood predicted depression, alcohol use disorders, and HIV risk in young adulthood. Further, the timing of adversity was important in determining the type of problem experienced in adulthood. Youth adjustment predicted adult outcomes, and in some cases, mediated the relation between adversity and outcomes. These findings support the importance of adversity in predicting adjustment and elucidate factors that affect outcomes into young adulthood.

Source: Journal of Research on Adolescence

DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00781.x

Authors: Cara J. Kiff, Rebecca C. Cortes, Liliana J. Lengua, Rick Kosterman, J. David Hawkins, W. Alex Mason

Institutions: University of Washington, Boys Town

Language: English

Topic: Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse