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Methods: We used longitudinal data on 7916 respondents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort. Our treatment variable was a dichotomous indicator of whether respondents were arrested as juveniles. Our focal outcomes were combined measures of the values of 10 types of assets, 6 types of debt, and net worth (assets minus debt) at ages 20, 25, and 30. We used propensity score methods to create matched groups of respondents who were and were not arrested as juveniles, and we compared these groups on the outcomes using multilevel growth curve analyses.

Results: Arrested juveniles went on to have lower assets, debts, and net worth during young adulthood compared to non-arrested juveniles. These differences were most pronounced at age 30. The differences were largely explained by educational attainment, weeks worked, and income.

Second, this dissertation is also one of the first studies to examine whether the relationship between residential mobility and desistance from crime depends on the context of the move. Although the average effect of moving may be protective, the effect likely depends on a number of factors. Two factors may be especially salient to residential moves during the transition to adulthood: (1) whether the move occurs in the presence of other adult social roles and (2) whether the move results in improvements in community context. There are reasons to expect residential mobility to have stronger or weaker effects depending on these features.

This dissertation uses public and restricted geocode data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). These data contain a wealth of information about the transition to young adulthood, including respondents' residential mobility, crime and substance use, adult social roles, and community context. In addition, restricted geocode data allows me to construct residential mobility patterns of respondents from 1997-2013 and determine the county-level characteristics of every residential location respondents reported living at during the survey.

Methods. We used 1997 to 2015-2016 data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (n = 7740) to examine the associations between arrest and incarceration at ages 18 to 27 years and cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure screenings at age 29 years. Explanatory mechanisms included blocked access (health care coverage and medical checkup) and economic (education, employment, and income) factors. We used logistic regression to model main effects.

Results. Arrest was associated with lower odds of getting blood cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure tests; incarceration was associated with lower odds of getting cholesterol and blood sugar tests; blocked access and economic factors mediated 42% to 125% of these associations. These associations were mostly consistent across race/ethnicity.

Conclusions. Mass incarceration contributes to decreases in preventive health care use, which are explained in part by blocked access and economic factors.

Methods: Using public and restricted data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and U.S. Census data, we employed Bayesian random-effects models to examine the within-individual associations between the percentage of the population that is foreign-born in respondents' county of residence and two indicators of criminal offending during adolescence and early adulthood.

Results: Findings indicated that percent foreign-born was associated with subsequent reductions in criminal arrest but not self-reported offending. Moreover, we found that these effects were similar regardless of whether respondents moved or remained in place over time. Finally, for self-reported offending, the effects of percent foreign-born were stronger for first-generation immigrants, but for arrest, they were similar across generation.

Methods: Using 15 waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort, a sample of youth followed from ages 12 to 32, we used mixed-effects models to examine whether frequent moving, between-county moves (a proxy for long-distance), and moving distance are associated with within-individual change in self-reported offending and arrest.

Results: Findings indicated that frequent moving was not associated with persistent offending. In addition, individuals who made between-county moves showed significant within-individual reductions in self-reported offending and arrest, with those reductions emerging immediately after the move and persisting over time. Finally, individuals who moved further in distance were more likely to experience reductions in self-reported offending, although any moving distance reduced arrest.