Grounded in social structure and personality, life course, and status attainment perspectives of social psychology, the Youth Development Study (YDS) has followed a cohort of teenagers from the beginning of high school through their mid-thirties. Evidence for the effective exercise of agency derives from diverse adolescent work patterns leading to…

Given mounting aspirations to graduate from college and pervasive difficulties in obtaining a four-year degree, growing numbers of young people in the United States have become "underachievers." Using data from the ongoing Youth Development Study, the authors examine the prevalence of "holding on" and "letting go" of…

Much controversy surrounds the consequences of adolescent paid work, with researchers coming to diverse conclusions about work's impact on youth. This article summarizes findings from the Youth Development Study (YDS), a long-term, ongoing longitudinal study that has followed youth from middle adolescence through early adulthood. The YDS findings…

Whereas in years past, young people typically made a discrete transition from school to work, two ideal typical routes now characterize the sharing of school and work roles during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. Longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study show that one route involves less intensive employment during high…

A 4-year study of 1,000 high school students found that they work increasingly through high school and for long hours. They move up to more complex work and receive increasing amounts of training. The way they describe their jobs and their subjective reactions suggest the employment provides developmental benefits. (SK)

A 3-year study of 1,000 adolescents and their parents found that student employment has significant effects on family relationships. It fosters separation and individuation, of which parents approve, and diminished family time did not affect the quality of relationships. Boys' work had more positive effects than did girls' work. (SK)

Examines the interrelations of work experience and psychological involvement in work among male college graduates over a 10-year period. Both the occupational socialization and the occupational selection hypotheses are supported by the data analysis. (Author/JOW)

This book reports on the Youth Development Study, which followed young people for more than a decade in St. Paul, MN, focusing on work experiences during high school. Chapter one, "Should Adolescents Work" discusses historical and contemporary studies, gender differences, controversies, and the cases for and against adolescent work.…

Among approximately 1,000 students interviewed yearly, 9th-12th grade, formation of occupational values was unrelated to employment itself or hours of work. However, opportunity to learn useful skills at work was consistently related to increasingly stable intrinsic and extrinsic value dimensions. As with adults, the conditions of work are what…

A ten-year study demonstrates the socializing effects of work and identifies facets of work that have major importance for occupational value change. Work autonomy and income are especially significant. Also, occupational reward values in the senior year of college are predictive of work experience ten years later. (Author/KC)

This longitudinal study examined adolescents' mental health, academic achievement, and behavioral adjustment in relation to work intensity during high school. Data were collected from approximately 1,000 adolescents during a 4-year period, beginning in the subjects' freshman year of high school. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed…

A study charted family, school, workplace, and community experiences that are relevant to the vocational development of high school students, focusing on five areas of influence: allowance practices within the family, economic status, paid work experience, volunteerism, and gender differences. The data were from the "Youth Development…