Search Results

Source: Advances in Life Course Research
Resulting in 16 citations.
1. Brown, J. Brian
Lichter, Daniel T.
Childhood Disadvantage, Adolescent Development, and Pro-social Behavior in Early Adulthood
In: Constructing Adulthood: Agency and Subjectivity in Adolescence and Adulthood: Advances in Life-Course Research, V. 11. R. Macmillan, ed. New York, NY: Elsevier, November 2006: pp. 149-170
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Prosocial; Children, Poverty; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Neighborhood Effects; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Volunteer Work

Do disadvantaged children and adolescents become socially responsible, productive, and civic-minded adults? Linking recently surveyed young adults to their earlier childhood and adolescent experiences (using data from the the NLSY), we: (1) document young adults' pro-social behavior (i.e., formal volunteering), (2) estimate the long-term effects of childhood disadvantage on volunteering in young adulthood, (3) assess the possible mediating effects of adolescent development, and (4) identify characteristics associated with pro-social behavior among young adults from economically disadvantaged families. We argue that a long-term negative effect of childhood disadvantage on pro-social behavior in early adulthood operates in part through adolescent development. Among young adults from disadvantaged families, school enrollment and regular church attendance are strongly associated with pro-social behavior. Our results support the view that a disadvantaged childhood has long-term effects on social engagement, yet this cycle can be broken through positive adolescent experiences.
Bibliography Citation
Brown, J. Brian and Daniel T. Lichter. "Childhood Disadvantage, Adolescent Development, and Pro-social Behavior in Early Adulthood" In: Constructing Adulthood: Agency and Subjectivity in Adolescence and Adulthood: Advances in Life-Course Research, V. 11. R. Macmillan, ed. New York, NY: Elsevier, November 2006: pp. 149-170
2. Carlson, Daniel L.
Do Differences in Expectations and Preferences Explain Racial/Ethnic Variation in Family Formation Outcomes?
Advances in Life Course Research 25 (September 2015): 1-15.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260815000271
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Ethnic Differences; Expectations/Intentions; Family Formation; First Birth; Marriage; Racial Differences

Race/ethnic differences in family formation are well-documented and scholars have often pointed to both structural and ideational factors to explain them. Yet, investigations into the role that ideational differences play have been sparse and limited in numerous ways. Using NLSY79 data, this study investigates whether variations in family formation expectations and preferences explain race/ethnic differences in family formation outcomes for the occurrence, timing, and sequencing of first marriage and first birth. Significant differences in family formation outcomes, expectations, and preferences are found across race/ethnicity. Expectations and preferences explain as much as 17% of race/ethnic differences in family formation behavior, although typically they explain 10%, and in the case of nonmarital childbearing, less than 3% of the variation. The limited predictive power of expectations and preferences for race/ethnic differences is the result of statistically significant yet substantively small differences and substantial incongruence between expectations, preferences and outcomes, especially for Blacks and Hispanics.
Bibliography Citation
Carlson, Daniel L. "Do Differences in Expectations and Preferences Explain Racial/Ethnic Variation in Family Formation Outcomes?" Advances in Life Course Research 25 (September 2015): 1-15.
3. Garbarski, Dana
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Midlife Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Cumulative Disadvantage Across the Life Course
Advances in Life Course Research 23 (March 2015): 67-85.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260814000501
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Depression (see also CESD); Ethnic Differences; Health, Mental/Psychological; Life Course; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Background

This study examines the role of cumulative disadvantage mechanisms across the life course in the production of racial and ethnic disparities in depressive symptoms at midlife, including the early life exposure to health risk factors, the persistent exposure to health risk factors, and varying mental health returns to health risk factors across racial and ethnic groups. Using data from the over-40 health module of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) 1979 cohort, this study uses regression decomposition techniques to attend to differences in the composition of health risk factors across racial and ethnic groups, differences by race and ethnicity in the association between depressive symptoms and health risk factors, and how these differences combine within racial and ethnic groups to produce group-specific levels of--and disparities in--depressive symptoms at midlife. While the results vary depending on the groups being compared across race/ethnicity and gender, the study documents how racial and ethnic mental health disparities at midlife stem from life course processes of cumulative disadvantage through both unequal distribution and unequal associations across racial and ethnic groups.
Bibliography Citation
Garbarski, Dana. "Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Midlife Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Cumulative Disadvantage Across the Life Course." Advances in Life Course Research 23 (March 2015): 67-85.
4. Gillespie, Brian Joseph
Adolescent Behavior and Achievement, Social Capital, and the Timing of Geographic Mobility
Advances in Life Course Research 18,3 (September 2013): 223-233.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260813000178
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Achievement; Adolescent Behavior; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Children, Academic Development; Extracurricular Activities/Sports; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mobility, Residential; Modeling, Multilevel; Parent Supervision/Monitoring; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Social Capital

This paper examines the relationship between geographic mobility and adolescent academic achievement and behavior problems. Specifically, it addresses how the effects of moving differ by age and how social capital moderates the impact of moving on children (aged six to 15). Children's behavior problems and academic achievement test scores were compared across four survey waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006) and matched to data from their mothers’ reports from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. The findings indicate that the negative behavioral effects of geographic mobility on adolescents are most pronounced for individuals relocating to a new city, county, or state as opposed to those moving locally (i.e., within the same city). Furthermore, as suggested by a life-course perspective, the negative effects of moving on behavior problems decrease as children get older. The results also show that several social capital factors moderate the effects of moving on behavior but not achievement.
Bibliography Citation
Gillespie, Brian Joseph. "Adolescent Behavior and Achievement, Social Capital, and the Timing of Geographic Mobility." Advances in Life Course Research 18,3 (September 2013): 223-233.
5. Grunow, Daniela
Aisenbrey, Silke
Economic Instability and Mothers' Employment: A Comparison of Germany and the U.S.
Advances in Life Course Research 29 (September 2016): 5-15.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260815000544
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Cross-national Analysis; German Life History Study; Leave, Family or Maternity/Paternity; Maternal Employment; Occupational Choice; Unemployment Rate

Do economic fluctuations change the labour market attachment of mothers? How is the reentry process into the labour market after childbirth dependent on the country context women live in? Are these processes affected by occupational status? We address these questions using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth and the German Life History Study. Event history analyses demonstrate that in Germany and the United States, mothers who work in high occupational status jobs before birth return more quickly to their jobs and are less likely to interrupt their careers. During legally protected leave periods, mothers return at higher rates, exemplifying that family leaves strengthen mothers' labour force attachment. Economic fluctuations mediate this latter finding, with different consequences in each country. In the United States, mothers tend to return to their jobs faster when unemployment is high. In Germany, mothers on family leave tend to return to their jobs later when unemployment is high. The cross-national comparison shows how similar market forces create distinct responses in balancing work and care.
Bibliography Citation
Grunow, Daniela and Silke Aisenbrey. "Economic Instability and Mothers' Employment: A Comparison of Germany and the U.S." Advances in Life Course Research 29 (September 2016): 5-15.
6. Hakim, Catherine
Lifestyle Preferences versus Patriarchal Values: Causal and Non-Causal Attitudes
Advances in Life Course Research 8 (2003): 69-91.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260803080043
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Cross-national Analysis; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Sex Roles; Women

There is solid evidence, from longitudinal studies such as the NLS and PSID, of the significant long-term impact of values and life goals on occupational attainment and earnings. So far these findings have not been incorporated into sociological and economic theory. Preference theory does this, identifying the social and economic context in which values and attitudes can become important predictors of women's (and men's) behavior. A theoretical and methodological distinction between causal and noncausal attitudes and values is made, illustrated by data on lifestyle preferences and patriarchal values from comparative surveys in GB and Spain. The results show that lifestyle preferences have a major impact on women's choices between family work and employment, whereas patriarchal values are only tenuously linked to behavior. 6 Tables, 44 References. Adapted from the source document
Bibliography Citation
Hakim, Catherine. "Lifestyle Preferences versus Patriarchal Values: Causal and Non-Causal Attitudes." Advances in Life Course Research 8 (2003): 69-91.
7. Jang, Bohyun
Snyder, Anastasia R.
Moving and Union Formation in the Transition to Adulthood in the United States
Advances in Life Course Research 23 (March 2015): 44-55.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260814000367
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Geocoded Data; Life Course; Marriage; Mobility, Residential; Transition, Adulthood

Although previous research has paid attention to profound changes in union formation among young adults, few studies have incorporated moving events in the estimation of union formation. Moreover, less attention has been given to detailed moving experiences in young adults' life course. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examine the relationship between moving and first union formation of young adults in the United States. Moving events are aggregated by distance moved, economic conditions in origin and destination places (i.e. moving within the same county, moving to new counties with better or the same economic conditions, and moving to new counties with worse economic conditions) and the time since a move. Our findings suggest that moving events, regardless of type, are significantly related to first union formation for females while the time since a move is important to union formation of males.
Bibliography Citation
Jang, Bohyun and Anastasia R. Snyder. "Moving and Union Formation in the Transition to Adulthood in the United States." Advances in Life Course Research 23 (March 2015): 44-55.
8. Kamp Dush, Claire M.
Jang, Bohyun
Snyder, Anastasia R.
A Cohort Comparison of Predictors of Young Adult Union Formation and Dissolution in the US
Advances in Life Course Research 38 (December 2018): 37-49.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104026081830056X
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Cohabitation; Marital Dissolution; Marital History/Transitions; Marriage; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

The theory of the second demographic transition argues that as educated Americans began valuing self-actualization and individual autonomy, delays in union formation spread through the US. The accelerated adulthood theory suggests that socioeconomic disadvantage distinguishes young adulthood such that those with fewer resources have shorter, more informal (i.e. cohabitation) unions, and those with more resources delay but achieve marriage and have greater union stability. We use two large, nationally representative samples of young adults collected about twenty years apart, the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts to examine cohort differences in union formation and dissolution and test interaction effects in demographic and socioeconomic correlates. We found that the NLSY97 cohort 1) entered into unions earlier than the NLSY79 cohort, 2) entered direct marriage (marriage without premarital cohabitation) later than the NLSY79 cohort, and 3) entered cohabiting unions earlier than the NLSY79 cohort. A greater proportion of young adults in the NLSY97 cohort dissolved their first union between ages 16 and 30. We found that socioeconomically disadvantaged young adults had earlier unions by some indicators (e.g. lower maternal education) and later unions by other indicators (e.g. unemployment) in both cohorts. We also found that in both cohorts, socioeconomic disadvantage undermined union stability. We also found evidence for interaction effects; some indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage (e.g. income, employment, and maternal education) had exacerbated effects on union formation and stability in the NLSY97 as compared to the NLSY79 cohorts perhaps because inequality grew over the twenty years between cohorts.
Bibliography Citation
Kamp Dush, Claire M., Bohyun Jang and Anastasia R. Snyder. "A Cohort Comparison of Predictors of Young Adult Union Formation and Dissolution in the US." Advances in Life Course Research 38 (December 2018): 37-49.
9. McLeod, Jane D.
Pavalko, Eliza K.
From Selection Effects to Reciprocal Processes: What Does Attention to the Life Course Offer?
Advances in Life Course Research: Stress Processes Across the Life Course 13 (2008): 75-104.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104026080800004X
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Mental Health; College Enrollment; Educational Attainment; High School Completion/Graduates; Stress

In this chapter, we review how the term ‘‘selection effects’’ has been used by researchers, what processes are implied by the term, and how analyses of selection effects can contribute to our understanding of the associations between socially structured experience and individual health and wellbeing. Our review draws on the life course perspective to suggest that selection effects represent more complex processes than are often recognized and to create a template for more nuanced analyses of those processes. Through logical arguments and examples, we build the case for a sociological research agenda on selection processes equivalent in importance and relevance to our long tradition of research on social causation.
Bibliography Citation
McLeod, Jane D. and Eliza K. Pavalko. "From Selection Effects to Reciprocal Processes: What Does Attention to the Life Course Offer? ." Advances in Life Course Research: Stress Processes Across the Life Course 13 (2008): 75-104.
10. Poylio, Heta
Van Winkle, Zachary
Do Parental Resources Moderate the Relationship Between Women's Income and Timing of Parenthood?
Advances in Life Course Research 39 (March 2019): 1-12.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260818301047
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Cross-national Analysis; Finland, Finnish; Income; Motherhood; Parental Influences; Parenthood

Previous research has concentrated on the associations between higher incomes and delayed entry into parenthood, disadvantaged family background and early childbirth, and the availability of public childcare and fertility. This paper examines the extent to which parental resources moderate the relationship between women's income and entry into parenthood, comparing two countries with very different levels of public family support: Finland and the United States. We use Cox regressions with data from the 1979 US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Finnish Census Panel data to demonstrate both striking similarities and differences between the two countries. First, high-income women from disadvantaged backgrounds postpone entry into parenthood in both countries. Second, high parental resources are associated with postponed entry into parenthood among low-income women. However, we find differences between the two countries regarding which parental resource is most influential. While parental income is important in the US, parental education matters most in Finland.
Bibliography Citation
Poylio, Heta and Zachary Van Winkle. "Do Parental Resources Moderate the Relationship Between Women's Income and Timing of Parenthood?" Advances in Life Course Research 39 (March 2019): 1-12.
11. Sironi, Maria
Barban, Nicola
Impicciatore, Roberto
Parental Social Class and the Transition to Adulthood in Italy and the United States
Advances in Life Course Research 26 (December 2015): 89-104.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260815000532
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Cross-national Analysis; Italy/Italian Social Surveys; Parental Influences; Socioeconomic Background; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Transition, Adulthood

Compared to older cohorts, young adults in developed societies delay their transition to adulthood. Yet within cohorts, variations in timing and sequencing of events still remain. A major determinant of life course differences is social class. This characteristic can influence the sequence of events in terms of socioeconomic inequalities through a different availability of opportunities for social mobility. Several studies show that in North America, a higher familial status tends to decrease the complexity of trajectories, while the opposite effect has been found in Southern Europe.

This research examines the sequence of transitions, highlighting in a comparative perspective how life trajectories are influenced by parental social class in the United States and Italy. The main result of the analysis is that the effect of parental status is in fact different across countries, however in an unforeseen way based on what the literature on the topic has found so far.

Bibliography Citation
Sironi, Maria, Nicola Barban and Roberto Impicciatore. "Parental Social Class and the Transition to Adulthood in Italy and the United States." Advances in Life Course Research 26 (December 2015): 89-104.
12. Warner, Cody
Houle, Jason N.
Precocious Life Course Transitions, Exits From, and Returns to the Parental Home
Advances in Life Course Research 35 (March 2018): 1-10.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104026081730062X
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Age at First Marriage; Cohabitation; High School Dropouts; High School Employment; Life Course; Mothers, Adolescent; Residence, Return to Parental Home/Delayed Homeleaving; Transition, Adulthood

Residential independence has long been considered a core feature of the transition to adulthood in contemporary American society. But in recent years a growing share of young adults are living in their parents' household, and many of these have returned home after a spell of residential independence. Recent research on exits and returns to the parental home has focused on the role of concurrent life-course transitions, young adult social and economic status, family background, and family connectivity. We know little, however, about how precocious, or early, life course transitions during adolescence affect leaving or returning home. We use longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997 Cohort) to examine the association between precocious transitions to adult roles during adolescence and home-leaving (n = 8,865) and home-returning (n = 7,704) in the United States. Some, but not all, precocious transitions are tied to residential transitions, and often in competing ways. Our findings contribute to growing research on young adults living in the parental home, and shows how adolescent experiences can contribute to inequality in the transition to adulthood.
Bibliography Citation
Warner, Cody and Jason N. Houle. "Precocious Life Course Transitions, Exits From, and Returns to the Parental Home." Advances in Life Course Research 35 (March 2018): 1-10.
13. Warner, Cody
Sharp, Gregory
The Short- and Long-Term Effects of Life Events on Residential Mobility
Advances in Life Course Research 27 (March 2016): 1-15.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260815000519
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Divorce; Geocoded Data; Home Ownership; Incarceration/Jail; Life Course; Marriage; Mobility, Residential; Parenthood

In this paper we examine how life events impact inter-neighborhood residential mobility among a cohort of young adults from the United States. We combine choice-based models of mobility with life-course principles to argue that life events associated with the transition to adulthood should be associated with residential mobility in the short-term, but residential stability in the long-term. Unanticipated and disruptive events, on the other hand, are expected to place individuals on a long-term trajectory of residential instability. Longitudinal survey data covering nearly 30 years allows us to capture short-term effects, average effects, and trends across time. We find particularly strong short-term effects on mobility for marriage and homeownership, both of which subsequently lead to long-term stability. We also find that divorce and incarceration (an emerging turning point in the life-course) predict instability in both the short- and long-term. Additional analyses suggest that some events – like homeownership – are immediately stabilizing, while others – like marriage – lead to stability across time. We conclude by discussing the contributions of the findings to our understanding of residential mobility and the transition to adulthood in the contemporary United States.
Bibliography Citation
Warner, Cody and Gregory Sharp. "The Short- and Long-Term Effects of Life Events on Residential Mobility." Advances in Life Course Research 27 (March 2016): 1-15.
14. Worts, Diana
Cumulative Disadvantage, Employment-Marriage, and Health Inequalities among American and British Mothers
Advances in Life Course Research 25 (September 2015): 49-66.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260815000295#
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Britain, British; Cross-national Analysis; Depression (see also CESD); Employment; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Life Course; Marriage; Maternal Employment; Modeling, Logit; Mothers; Mothers, Health; NCDS - National Child Development Study (British)

This paper illuminates processes of cumulative disadvantage and the generation of health inequalities among mothers. It asks whether adverse circumstances early in the life course cumulate as health-harming biographical patterns across the prime working and family caregiving years. It also explores whether broader institutional contexts may moderate the cumulative effects of micro-level processes. An analysis of data from the British National Child Development Study and the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth reveals several expected social inequalities in health. In addition, the study uncovers new evidence of cumulative disadvantage: Adversities in early life selected women into long-term employment and marriage biographies that then intensified existing health disparities in mid-life. The analysis also shows that this accumulation of disadvantage was more prominent in the US than in Britain.
Bibliography Citation
Worts, Diana. "Cumulative Disadvantage, Employment-Marriage, and Health Inequalities among American and British Mothers." Advances in Life Course Research 25 (September 2015): 49-66.
15. Worts, Diana
Sacker, Amanda
McMunn, Anne
McDonough, Peggy
Individualization, Opportunity and Jeopardy in American Women's Work and Family Lives: A Multi-state Sequence Analysis
Advances in Life Course Research 18,4 (December 2013): 296-318.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260813000300
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Labor Force Participation; Life Course; Marital History/Transitions; Parenthood; Socioeconomic Factors

Life course sociologists are increasingly concerned with how the general character of biographies is transformed over historical time – and with what this means for individual life chances. The individualization thesis, which contends that contemporary biographies are less predictable, less orderly and less collectively determined than were those lived before the middle of the 20th century, suggests that life courses have become both more internally dynamic and more diverse across individuals. Whether these changes reflect expanding opportunities or increasing jeopardy is a matter of some debate. We examine these questions using data on the employment, marital and parental histories, over the ages of 25–49, for five birth cohorts of American women (N = 7150). Our results show that biographical change has been characterized more by growing differences between women than by increasing complexity within individual women's lives. Whether the mounting diversity of work and family life paths reflects, on balance, expanding opportunities or increasing jeopardy depends very much on the social advantages and disadvantages women possessed as they entered their prime working and childrearing years.
Bibliography Citation
Worts, Diana, Amanda Sacker, Anne McMunn and Peggy McDonough. "Individualization, Opportunity and Jeopardy in American Women's Work and Family Lives: A Multi-state Sequence Analysis ." Advances in Life Course Research 18,4 (December 2013): 296-318.
16. Zhang, Weihui
Maternal Human Capital Accumulation and Children's Well-being
Advances in Life Course Research published online (16 February 2021): 100406.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260821000058
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Child Health; Cognitive Ability; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers, Education; Parental Influences; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Vocational Education

Research examining the intergenerational transmission of human capital is subject to two limitations. First, for the parental generation, most studies focus on formal education but fail to consider vocational training experience, which has more variation than formal educational attainment over the life course. Second, most studies have found consistent conclusions using income and occupation for the children's outcomes but have generated mixed findings regarding health and cognitive ability. This study aims to answer whether mothers' additional vocational training beyond formal education is beneficial to children's health and cognitive ability. Applying fixed-effects regression to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Child and Young Adults datasets, this study finds that mothers' human capital accumulation is positively associated with higher cognitive scores for both boys and girls, but does not significantly predict children’s illnesses or behavior problems. These findings bear implications for policy aimed at mitigating the intergenerational cycles of disadvantages.
Bibliography Citation
Zhang, Weihui. "Maternal Human Capital Accumulation and Children's Well-being." Advances in Life Course Research published online (16 February 2021): 100406.