| Abstract: | This longitudinal study extended work from Wiesner and Windle (2004) by examining young adult outcomes (i.e., alcohol and illicit drug use, depression) of middle‐adolescent trajectories of delinquent behavior for a community sample of 724 young women and men (at average ages 23.8 years). Each domain of young adult adjustment problems was assessed with three indicators (i.e., lifetime rates of psychiatric disorders, annual rates of psychiatric disorders, elevated levels of problem behaviors). Findings indicated specificity in trajectory‐outcome associations, with all active offender pathway groups consistently showing poorer adjustment in the domains of young adult alcohol and illicit drug use (but not depression) relative to the rare offenders. However, there was almost no evidence of differential outcomes among the four most active offender trajectory groups. Overall, this study offered limited support for the contention that differing developmental courses and experiences during middle adolescence are linked to differential outcomes in early adulthood. |
