Life‐Course Pathways and the Psychosocial Adjustment of Young Adult Women

We examined 7 life‐course pathways from adolescence through the early adult years and their links with general health and psychosocial adjustment among 2,290 women from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Young women who followed a pathway involving college attendance to full‐time employment with no family‐formation transitions were functioning comparatively well with respect to general health, depression, and self‐esteem. In contrast, young women who followed pathways involving early motherhood were functioning less well. Fixed‐effects models suggested that the differences were due to selection factors. Young women who followed the pathway of college to full‐time employment exhibited an increase in heavy drinking, whereas women who became married mothers exhibited a decrease in the same. Involvement in illegal behavior declined for all groups but least so for women who attended college.     

Predictors of Divorce Adjustment: Stressors,Resources, and Definitions

We used data from 208 individuals who divorced during a 17‐year longitudinal study to examine factors that predict adjustment to marital disruption. Using stress and coping theory as a guide, we hypothesized that adjustment would be associated with variables reflecting stressors, resources, and people's definitions of the divorce. Contrary to expectations, we found little evidence that stressors (large declines in per capita income, losing friends, or moving) affected divorce adjustment, except among individuals who were not employed. Adjustment was positively associated with income, dating someone steadily, remarriage, having favorable attitudes toward marital dissolution prior to divorce, and being the partner who initiated the divorce. In addition, older individuals showed some evidence of poorer adjustment than did younger individuals.     

Parent–Child Relationships in Stepfather Families and Adolescent Adjustment: A Latent Class Analysis

In the current study the authors drew on Waves I and III from Add Health to examine the closeness of parent–adolescent relationships in married mother–stepfather families (N = 1,934). They used latent class analysis to identify family constellations defined by adolescents' relationships with all of their parents: mothers, stepfathers, and biological nonresident fathers. In particular, the authors (a) identified the most common underlying patterns of adolescent–parent relationships in stepfamilies; (b) determined the background characteristics that predict membership in these groups; and (c) examined how adolescents in these groups fare with respect to depressive symptoms, delinquency, and substance use. The results indicate that adolescents' relationships can be represented with 4 latent classes. Adolescents in these classes differ on measures of adjustment, and many of these differences persist into the early adult years.