Linking adolescent future expectations to health in adulthood: Evidence and mechanisms

From classroom to life: Gender differences in the persistent effect of learning disabilities on adult depressive symptoms

Despite the well-established link between adolescent learning disabilities (LD) and mental health, little is known about its long-term consequences. This study examines the relationship between adolescent LD and adult depressive symptoms, with a focus on gender differences and underlying mechanisms. Using a sibling sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 3,414), this study estimated sibling fixed effects models to account for unobserved family-level characteristics such as genes and early childhood family and social context. Sobel mediation analyses were conducted to examine social-psychological mechanisms, including the student-teacher relationship, the student-student relationship, and a sense of school belonging. LD in adolescence was positively associated with depressive symptoms in adulthood (b = 0.823, p < 0.05). This association remained robust when controlling for unobserved family-level confounders as well as educational attainment in adulthood. Gender-stratified models showed that only the association for women is statistically significant (b = 1.935, p < 0.05), and its magnitude is nearly three times that of the association for men. Sobel mediation tests indicate that a decline in a sense of school belonging mediates approximately 17% of the association between adolescent LD and adult depressive symptoms. This study's findings suggest that LD in adolescence is associated with an increase in depressive symptoms in adulthood, particularly in women, and a low sense of school belonging may be a potential mediator. Implementing interventions to improve the school integration of girls with LD could be an effective means of improving their long-term mental health.

Mental health outcomes beyond the post-partum period among adolescent mothers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Adolescence is the most crucial part of life. The vulnerability of adolescent mothers is even more pronounced and can affect various health aspects. While they suffer from social and emotional stresses shortly after giving birth, the long-term effect after the post-partum period of adolescent pregnancy on the mental outcomes holds prime importance. Thus, this systematic review aims to ascertain the association between adolescent pregnancy on mental health outcomes.

Methods

The search strategy was run in June 2023 on databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Psych Info, and Embase . Quality assessment of the studies was done using the National Institute of Health (NIH)'s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) tool for observational studies. For studies that measured similar outcomes, a meta-analysis was conducted.

Findings

The search strategy yielded 21 results from all databases and cross-referencing. Of these, all except for one (case-control) were cross-sectional and cohort studies. The pooled analysis found a significant association between adolescent pregnancy and depression (RR 1.34; 95% CI 1.05, 1.72, 6 studies, heterogeneity: Chi2 P 0.01; I2 = 60%); however, no association was found in anxiety (RR 1.05; 95% CI 0.26, 4.14, 2 studies; heterogeneity: Chi² P = 0.0003; I2 = 93%) and suicidal ideation (RR 3.21; 95% CI 0.17, 59.33; 3 studies; heterogeneity: Chi2 P < 0.00001; I2 = 98%).

Implication

These findings suggest that the mental health needs of adolescent mothers must be addressed and innovative and effective interventions that support and address the mental health needs of adolescent mothers are needed to improve their mental health.

Peers' parental education and cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood: The mediating role of health-related behaviors

RATIONALE

Although there is a growing body of empirical evidence on the relationship between peers' parental education and adolescents' educational outcomes, little is known about whether exposure to highly educated peers' parents is associated with improved physical health in adulthood.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the relationship between the education level of peers' parents (Wave I) and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood (Wave IV). Moreover, we considered a set of health-related behaviors (Wave II) as the underlying mechanisms linking peers' parental education to later-life physical health such as substance use (smoking, binge drinking, and marijuana use) and other lifestyle behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior, and unhealthy dietary habits).

METHODS

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), spanning respondents' adolescence to adulthood, were used. To address the endogenous school selection problem and account for the unobserved school-level confounders, this study exploited quasi-experimental within-school/across-cohort variation in peer composition. To formally test for mediation, Sobel tests were conducted.

RESULTS

The results of this study revealed that independent of own parents' education levels, exposure to higher levels of peers' parental education is associated with a lower CVD risk score in adulthood. For a one-standard-deviation increase in peers' parental education-that is, about a 0.98-year increase in grademates' parental educational attainment, a CVD risk in adulthood increased by about 6.2%. Our mediation analyses showed that part of this association is explained by a decrease in substance use (27% for smoking, 10% for binge drinking, and 11% for marijuana use). In contrast, none of the other lifestyle behaviors evaluated significantly mediated the association.

CONCLUSION

The study's findings suggest that the role of peers' parents should not be overlooked when developing health-promoting interventions for adolescents. Policymakers and practitioners may wish to increase opportunities for students to benefit from health-related social learning from their peers' highly educated parents.

Longitudinal pathways from adolescent depressive symptoms to cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood

RATIONALE

Despite existing literature on the impact of adolescent depressive symptoms on a variety of youth outcomes, little is known about whether and how adolescent depressive symptoms are associated with physical health in adulthood.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal association between adolescent depressive symptoms and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in adulthood. An extensive list of potential mechanisms underlying this association, including health behaviors, substance use, academic effort and achievement, and school-based relationships, was also examined.

METHODS

Using the sibling sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 3011), this study employed sibling fixed-effects models to address unobservable family-level confounders, such as genetic factors, parental and familial characteristics, and school and neighborhood environments.

RESULTS

Adolescent depressive symptoms were associated with an increased risk of CVD in about 13 years later (b = 0.698). Sibling fixed-effects estimates revealed that, despite some attenuation (approximately 31%), this association is robust to adjustment for unobserved family-level heterogeneity. Substance use and academic effort/achievement explained about 35% and 16% of the association between adolescent depressive symptoms and adult CVD risk, respectively. In contrast, health behaviors and school-based relationships played little or no role in mediating the association.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study suggest that policymakers and practitioners may wish to develop interventions to reduce adolescent depressive symptoms and to help adolescents with depressive symptoms avoid substance use and promote effort in school. Early interventions targeting adolescents with depressive symptoms may be a cost-effective strategy for preventing adult physical health problems.

Past, present, and future dimensions of socioeconomic status and sexual self-efficacy of young women during the transition into adulthood

Socioeconomic disadvantages can undermine a person's ability to control their sexual lives (sexual self-efficacy) during the transition to adulthood. Most scholarship focuses on proximate circumstances, specifically how sexual self-efficacy is a result of current socioeconomic status. Yet, this sexual agency is embedded within much longer behavioral and psychological trajectories shaped by socioeconomic contexts. Therefore, I identify a novel explanation for sexual self-efficacy by connecting it to past, present, and anticipatory future conceptualizations of young adults' socioeconomic circumstances. Drawing from 2.5 years of quarterly data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life Study, I found significant associations between more advantaged past, present, and anticipatory future socioeconomic circumstances and greater sexual self-efficacy during the transition to adulthood. Stage-specific dimensions of socioeconomic status (SES) followed two life course patterns (pathways and accumulation). In addition, prospective SES was found to be a more powerful predictor than childhood and current SES. As such, I encourage researchers to conceptualize socioeconomic status in life course terms to illuminate the underlying causes and consequences of varying young adulthoods.

Does Religious Participation Predict Future Expectations About Health? Using a Life Course Framework to Test Multiple Mechanisms

Though an impressive array of health outcomes has been studied, research within the field of religion and health has not yet considered how religious involvement may affect future expectations about health. This is a significant shortcoming because the teachings of many religions direct adherent's focus to the distant future, and future self-ratings of health are a known predictor of subjective life expectancy and eventual mortality risk. Recognizing the need for a life course approach to conceptualizing patterns of religious involvement, we assess how stability or change in religious attendance from childhood to adulthood structures individual expectations of future health. Drawing on data from the 2017 Values and Beliefs of the American Public Study (Baylor Religion Survey Wave 5), we find that stable high (weekly) attendance between childhood and adulthood is associated with higher future health expectations. Parametric mediation analyses conducted in the counterfactual framework suggest that this association is explained by the tendency of frequent stable attenders to have (a) higher levels of beliefs in the sense of divine control and (b) a lower likelihood of engaging in harmful health behaviors (smoking).

Lifestyle, inadequate environments in childhood and their effects on adult cardiovascular health

OBJECTIVES

To discuss the associations between habits and environment in childhood and cardiovascular effects on adults.

SOURCE OF DATA

Search in PubMed, Scielo and Science databases, cohort or case-control studies, and systematic or scope-based reviewson the causal relationship among exposures in the pediatric age group and cardiovascular effects in adults.

SYNTHESIS OF DATA

The authors identified 41 eligible articles, which demonstrated an impact on cardiovascular health (characterized as surrogate events - structural or functional vascular alterations or left ventricular dysfunction - or clinical events - myocardial infarction, stroke or cardiovascular death) with environmental aspects (intrauterine or economically poor environment, violence, reduced life expectancy and serious infections) and habits (nutrition, physical activity and tobacco exposure). In addition to the direct and independent associations between exposures and outcomes, several traditional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) or family histories are also intermediate pathophysiological pathways in the described phenomena.

CONCLUSIONS

There are direct relationships between lifestyle and inadequate environments in childhood and cardiovascular effects, although the observed associations showed divergences in terms of results and interpretation. In spite of these, it is recommended to encourage healthy lifestyles and protection against childhood adverse exposures, as habit formation occurs at this age, and its relationship with CVRF since childhood has already been well established. On the other hand, the format and intensity of the stimulus must respect the social, cultural and psychological aspects of each population, aiming to obtain the best and most lasting result without generating harmful consequences for the individuals.

Navigating Stigma Trajectory and Mental Health Among Young Adults Living with Perinatal HIV in New York City

Perceived HIV stigma and mental health are fluid across the lifespan for people living with perinatally-acquired HIV (PHIV). The process of navigating discredited identities over time in the context of other life demands potentially exerts a toll on the mental health of adolescents and young adults living with PHIV (AYAPHIV). Based on data from a longitudinal study in New York City examining mental health and health risk behaviors among 182 AYAPHIV, we examined if increased perceived HIV stigma predicted mental health, future orientation, HIV-disclosure, and healthcare transition over time (2003-2018). Findings from linear mixed-effects modeling indicated that older age predicted poorer mental health, less future orientation, more HIV-serostatus disclosure, and adult medical services utilization. Perceived stigma was the only significant predictor of mental health and mediated the association between age and mental health-highlighting the importance of addressing stigma across development for AYAPHIV while addressing systems that perpetuate them.

Longitudinal Associations Between Expectations of Receiving Care in the Future and Life Satisfaction Among Older Adults in Korea

OBJECTIVES

Uncertainty about receiving care and assistance in the future has been increasing among older adults in Korea. This study examines whether expectations about receiving care from various sources (i.e., formal and/or filial caregivers) are related to life satisfaction among older adults in Korea.

METHODS

Using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 3,607, aged 65 or older), this study estimated fixed effects regression models to investigate longitudinal within-person associations between future care expectations and life satisfaction.

RESULTS

The results of this study revealed that developing expectations of care from family caregivers is positively associated with life satisfaction. Beginning to expect care from non-family caregivers, however, is not associated with life satisfaction. When disaggregating different sources of care by family member type, expecting care from a spouse or daughter(s), but not son(s), is associated with higher life satisfaction. Gender-specific analyses showed that expecting care from daughter(s) is positively associated with life satisfaction among both men and women, whereas expectations of spousal care are associated with only men's life satisfaction. This study also found suggestive but not conclusive evidence that an association between care expectations from family caregivers and life satisfaction is stronger among older adults with lower education.

DISCUSSION

Reducing uncertainty about future care may improve older adults' subjective well-being. Policymakers may consider policies and programs that support family care of the aged, and more fundamentally, encourage family involvement in the lives of older people.