Schools and neighborhoods are adolescents' primary environments, and each has a significant influence on their academic success. The majority of studies on educational attainment have examined the impact of a single context--either the school or the neighborhood--suggesting mixed findings on school and neighborhood effects as well as potential…

The educational attainment of siblings is highly correlated. We test for a specific type of peer effect between siblings in educational attainment: genetic nurture. Specifically, we test whether a person's educational attainment is correlated with their sibling's polygenic score (PGS) for educational attainment, controlling for their own PGS for…

Teenage mothers are known to be at an elevated risk for poor socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. However, little is known about the socioeconomic outcomes of mothers who bear multiple children during the teenage years (repeat teenage mothers) compared to one-time teenage mothers. This study examines socioeconomic outcomes in the mid- to late-20s…

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…

This article aims to show the influence of social capital on the academic achievement of American students. Using data from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study explored how one of the domains of social capital, the family, makes a difference to educational outcomes in higher…

Given large variations in the etiology and developmental trajectories of violent and nonviolent delinquency, this study examines whether educational outcomes of violent and nonviolent offenders might differ. In particular, this study attempts to remove environmental influences such as family background and neighborhood effects from the effects of…

We show that educational outcomes of sexual minorities are consistent with efforts to mediate future discrimination. Gay men and lesbians obtain more years of schooling than heterosexual men and women, between 0.6 and 1.2 years. This difference is robust to controlling for observable characteristics for men but not women. Gay men and lesbian women…

Wealth ownership is a critical component of economic well-being, and wealth in early adulthood provides important clues about the trajectories along which individuals move throughout their lives. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we find an association between growing up rural and adult wealth that…

Students with chronic medical conditions often experience barriers to academic progress, including impact of disease and treatment, increased school absence, and altered expectations of teachers and parents. School belonging is an important element of academic success and can be promoted by positive relationships, structure, and support in the…

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…

Military service is a life course pathway that defines the transition to adulthood for approximately three to five percent of young adult men and one percent of women. Though few young adults pursue this pathway, the military provides a unique look at the benefits and costs of selecting a highly regimented, segregated, and potentially dangerous…

Genetic variants identified in genome-wide association studies of educational attainment have been linked with a range of positive life course development outcomes. However, it remains unclear whether school environments may moderate these genetic associations. We analyze data from two biosocial surveys that contain both genetic data and follow…

Childhood adversities tend to impact development in a cumulative way. However, extant research on childhood adversities has focused on a variable-centered approach to examine the cumulative effect of adversity. Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and adopting a pattern-centered approach, the authors investigate how different youth may experience…

Rising inequality in the United States has raised concerns about potentially widening gaps in educational achievement by socio-economic status (SES). Using assessments from LTT-NAEP [Long-Term Trend assessment administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress], Main-NAEP, TIMSS [Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study],…

Recent studies have begun to uncover the genetic architecture of educational attainment. We build on this work using genome-wide data from siblings in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). We measure the genetic predisposition of siblings to educational attainment using polygenic scores. We then test how…