A lifecourse study on education and health: The relationship between childhood psychosocial resources and outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood

Lifecourse models have been popular in several disciplines as a way to study health. Such models view health as the product of long-term influences that begin in early-life and continue their direct and indirect effects over time, beginning in gestation and following through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and late-life. This paper uses a lifecourse framework to examine the effects of childhood psychosocial development on young adult health and education outcomes, with special interest paid to potential pathway effects of health and education outcomes in adolescence. Child psychosocial development is measured by constructs of locus of control and self-esteem. Both locus of control and self-esteem exhibit significant yet modest associations with young adult health, net of adolescent outcomes. Only locus of control is significantly associated with education outcomes. These results are discussed in the context of previous lifecourse research and implications for policy.