Educational attainment is associated with voting and political trust, but less is known about whether voting and political trust are associated with subsequently higher educational attainment. In a sample of voting-age two-year college students in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health (n= 1212), this study identified three…

The present study examines links between civic engagement (voting, volunteering, and activism) during late adolescence and early adulthood, and socioeconomic status and mental and physical health in adulthood. Using nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a propensity score matching…

The children of immigrants' educational progress and success have been the focus of social research for decades. Although it is known that extracurricular activities contribute to adolescent development and overall well-being, it is also clear that participation varies across immigrant generations. Yet, empirical study explaining generational…

Overweight youth are often socially marginalized and have fewer friends than their nonoverweight peers. Participation in organized activities may be one way to promote friendships for overweight youth. In this study, we used a large nationally representative sample to test whether two aspects of participation promoted friendships, namely the…

To provide a comprehensive view of the unique contexts shaping adolescent development in the U.S., we utilized latent class analysis (LCA) with indicators of risk and protection across multiple domains (family, peers, school, neighborhood) and examined how latent class membership predicted heavy episodic drinking, illicit substance use, and…

Background: Understanding racial differences in teenage fathers' early risk factors and later outcomes is critical to inform programs for teenage fathers as our knowledge base on this population remains limited. Objective: The goal of this study was to assess how teen fathers' characteristics, including family background, delinquency, living…

The current study examined the association between playing high school football and involvement in violent behaviors in sibling pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The analysis revealed that youth who played high school football self-reported more violence than those youth who did not play football.…

This study uses the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health data set to evaluate the long-term influence of school discipline and security on political and civic participation. We find that young adults with a history of school suspension are less likely than others to vote and volunteer in civic activities years later, suggesting that…

This paper analyzes the distribution of education and labor market benefits from sports participation. Results show that effects are similar across gender, but differ on other dimensions. In particular, participants in team sports show greater gains than those in individual sports. Quantile regressions show that educational gains are larger for…

The present study examined the extent to which parent involvement in education was directly and indirectly (via school engagement) related to academic outcomes in an effort to more fully understand the school experiences of urban adolescents. Participants (80% racial/ethnic minority; n = 108) were in grades 6, 7 or 8. In the Fall and subsequent…

Participation in extracurricular activities is purported to protect the broad spectrum of youth from a host of behavioral risks. Yet, empirical research on the extent to which this assumption holds for involvement in violence by immigrant youth is limited. Thus, using data for 13,236 (51.8% female) adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study…

Understanding the developmental precursors to civic involvement in emerging adulthood is important to help cultivate and sustain youth's civic involvement. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of human development and social capital theory, this study examined the pathways that link childhood neighborhood attributes, changes in family and…

Youth violence is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among Blacks and Latinos. Violent behaviors within Latino subgroups and the reasons for subgroup differences are not well understood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 16,615), this study examined the risk for violent behaviors among an ethnically…

This study frames continued long-term participation in community engagement activities as indicative of a sense of "purpose" as defined by Damon, Menon, and Cotton Bronk (2003). Using data from US-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined factors that predict whether students participating in civic engagement…

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study investigates patterns of well-being among multiracial adolescents. Specifically, this article addresses three questions. First, using various categorizations for multiracial background, are there measurable differences in emotional and social well-being…