Raising Healthy Citizens: Predictors of Positive Functioning during Emerging Adulthood

Purpose: Positive functioning in emerging adulthood sets a foundation for a healthy and successful adulthood. Although many studies focusing on this transitional stage have investigated predictors of problem behaviors such as alcohol use disorder (Pardini, White, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 2007), depression (Chassin, Pitts, & Prost, 2002), and crime (Piquero, Brame, Mazerolle, & Haapanen, 2002), there has been less attention given to positive functioning of emerging adults. Some studies have noted beneficial effects of adolescent involvement in structured activities, academic achievement, and relationships with prosocial others on young adult functioning (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006; Obradovic & Masten, 2007). However, fewer studies have adjusted for prior levels of functioning during adolescence, which may be linked to why some individuals successfully navigate the transition while others do not. The aims of this study are: (1) to examine whether adolescent predictors drawn from the Social Development Model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996) increase the likelihood of positive functioning after taking account of prior problem behavior and positive functioning, and (2) to identify social contextual factors (e.g., residential status and college attendance) involved in positive emerging adult functioning. Method: This study utilizes a sample of 910 young adults (male=488, female=422) drawn from the Raising Healthy Children Project, a 15-year longitudinal study of the etiology of adolescent problem behavior and young adult outcome. Measures of positive functioning during emerging adulthood include financial management skills, civic engagement, and commitment to work and/or college. Late adolescent predictors of the positive functioning include involvement in extracurricular activities, problem solving skills, bonding to prosocial parents and peers, and prosocial belief. Prior positive functioning assessed at Grade 8 is measured by academic achievement and school commitment, while prior problem behavior is assessed by early onset of substance use (before age 15). Multivariate regression analysis is used to examine whether adolescent predictors increased the likelihood of positive functioning in emerging adulthood after controlling for prior positive and problem behaviors. Results: Bonding to prosocial others, prosocial belief, problem solving skills, and extracurricular activities show overall positive associations with all of the four positive functioning variables during emerging adulthood (range of the standardized coefficients= 0.13 to 0.30). Multivariate regression results indicate those predictors significantly increase the likelihood of emerging adult positive functioning after controlling for prior positive and problem behaviors. Further analyses will identify risk factors that reduce the likelihood of positive functioning in emerging adulthood, and examine whether the adolescent risk and protective factors mediate the relationship between positive functioning in early adolescence and positive functioning in emerging adulthood. Implications: Findings indicate that prosocial involvement, skills for problem solving, bonding to prosocial parents and peers, and prosocial beliefs in adolescence are predictive of positive functioning during emerging adulthood. Social work interventions that increase involvement in extracurricular activities, enhance bonding to positive peers and parents, and strengthen prosocial norms in families and schools may help promote positive young adult functioning.