Youth Incarceration in Adult Facilities and Mental Health in Early Adulthood

PURPOSE

To examine the relationship between youth incarceration in adult correctional facilities and mental health in early adulthood.

METHODS

We analyzed nationally representative data from 1997 through 2019 (N = 8,961) using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. An ordinary least squares regression model using inverse probability weights was used to assess the influence of youth incarceration in an adult facility on average mental health scores from age 18 to 37.

RESULTS

Respondents incarcerated in an adult facility as a youth had poorer average mental health than those not held in adult prisons or jails over the course of the study period. Those incarcerated for longer in adult facilities also exhibited more mental health symptoms.

DISCUSSION

Young people incarcerated in adult correctional facilities experience poorer long-term mental health related to depression and anxiety in early adulthood.

Alcohol Use and Moffitt's Maturity Gap Thesis for Adolescent Offending: An Evolutionary Perspective and Analysis

While a wealth of research has focused on testing several arguments from Moffitt's developmental taxonomy of antisocial behavior-mainly the presence of life-course-persistent vs. adolescence-limited offending and predictors of each trajectory-much less attention has been devoted to examining how evolutionarily adaptive lifestyle factors common during adolescence may condition the relationship between the maturity gap and delinquent offending. One factor that may play a role during this period of development is alcohol use, as many adolescents begin to experiment with consuming alcohol in varying degrees in social settings to model adult-like behaviors. Yet presently much is unknown about the role of alcohol use on the association between the maturity gap and delinquency. The current study aims to address this void in the literature by analyzing data from a U.S. sample of adolescent males (N = 1,276) to assess whether alcohol use moderates the relationship between the maturity gap and delinquent behavior. Findings suggest that the maturity gap is associated with delinquent behavior and that the association becomes weaker at higher levels of alcohol use. The implications of these findings for Moffitt's maturity gap thesis and male offending from an evolutionary perspective are discussed.

Exposure to gun violence and handgun carrying from adolescence to adulthood

RATIONALE

While empirical interest in understanding the mental health consequences surrounding gun violence has increased, currently there is much unknown about the long reach of childhood exposure to gun violence on handgun carrying across the life course.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aims to evaluate the relations between witnessing gun violence before age 12 and subsequent handgun-carrying behavior from adolescence to adulthood in a nationally representative sample of U.S. youth.

METHODS

Data from 15 waves from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997) are analyzed (Ns range from 5695 to 5875 participants). Categorical latent growth curve models are estimated to assess individual differences in handgun-carrying behavior over time and the relationships between childhood exposure to gun violence, initial levels during adolescence, and rates of change from adolescence to adulthood.

RESULTS

Participants who reported witnessing seeing someone shot or shot at in childhood demonstrated higher odds of carrying a handgun in adolescence. Exposure to gun violence was not associated with changes in the odds of handgun carrying from adolescence to adulthood after controlling for theoretically relevant covariates.

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood exposure to gun violence appears to be a risk factor for handgun carrying in adolescence. Nonetheless, other behaviors and demographic characteristics account for inter-individual differences in changes in handgun carrying across the life course.

Internet access and partnership formation in the United States

The Internet has fundamentally altered how we communicate and access information and who we can interact with. However, the implications of Internet access for partnership formation are theoretically ambiguous. We examine their association using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) and Current Population Survey (CPS) in the United States. We find that the relationship between Internet access and partnership states (in the NLSY97) or partnership status (in the CPS) is age-dependent. While negative at the youngest adult ages, the association becomes positive as individuals reach their mid- to late 20s, for both same-sex and different-sex partnerships. The results suggest that Internet access is positively associated with union formation when individuals enter the stage in the young adult life course when they feel ready to commit to a long-term partnership. Our study contributes to a growing literature that highlights the implications of digital technologies for demographic processes.Supplementary material for this article is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2021.1999485.

Does Where You Live Matter? An Analysis of Intergenerational Transmission of Education Among Hispanic Americans

The intergenerational transmission of education from parents to children is an important indicator of societal inclusiveness and educational inequality. The present study uses restricted-access data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to investigate whether intergenerational educational transmission varies by county-level demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for Hispanic Americans. Based on parental birthplace, Hispanic Americans are grouped into 3 + generation (i.e., children of native-born Hispanic parents) and 2nd generation (i.e., children of foreign-born Hispanic parents). Men and women are analyzed separately. The results indicate that intergenerational educational mobility is higher if 3 + generation Hispanic men reside in areas with a larger Hispanic population, and if 2nd generation Hispanic men reside in areas with a larger college-educated population, during their adolescent years. County-level socioeconomic characteristics do not seem to affect intergenerational educational mobility of Hispanic women, non-Hispanic white men, or non-Hispanic white women. Theoretical and empirical implications of the findings are discussed.

The Causal Relationship between Childhood Adversity and Developmental Trajectories of Delinquency: A Consideration of Genetic and Environmental Confounds

An extensive line of research has found that children exposed to multiple forms of early life adversity are more likely to engage in high levels of delinquent behavior during adolescence. Several studies examining this association have used a range of multivariate statistical techniques capable of controlling for observable covariates. Fewer studies have used family-based research designs to additionally control for unobservable confounds, such as genetic and shared environmental influences, that may be associated with exposure to childhood adversity and delinquency. The current study analyzes self-report data on 2534 full-siblings (50% female) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to conduct a sibling-comparison analysis to provide a rigorous test of the causal hypothesis that exposure to childhood adversity causes differences in developmental patterns of delinquent behavior. Results from multivariate latent growth curve models revealed that childhood adversity was associated with higher starting levels of delinquency during adolescence and slower rates of decline from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Results from multivariate sibling-comparison models, however, revealed that siblings exposed to higher levels of childhood adversity reported higher starting levels of delinquent behavior, but not slower declines over time, suggesting that childhood adversity may not be directly associated with long-term patterns of delinquent behavior after genetic and shared environmental factors are taken into account. Implications of these results for future research are discussed.

On the distributional and evolutionary nature of the obesity wage penalty

The economics literature supports a link between labor market measures, such as earnings, and health conditions, such as obesity. There is reason to believe the effects of obesity on wages may vary for high- and low-earning individuals and that obesity wage effects may evolve over a lifecycle or from generation to generation. Drawing on data from two longitudinal surveys, we estimate quantile and fixed effect quantile regressions, among others, to further examine the obesity wage effect. Results suggest an increasingly severe penalty across the wage distribution for females. Specifically, the highest-earning women may be penalized as much as five times that of the lowest earners. Results for males suggest that penalties may be present at select wage levels, while prior research has generally found no male obesity penalty. We also provide evidence that the obesity penalty has increased across generations and limited evidence that it may slow earnings growth over one's lifetime.

The NLSY Kinship Links: Using the NLSY79 and NLSY-Children Data to Conduct Genetically-Informed and Family-Oriented Research

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth datasets (NLSY79; NLSY-Children/Young Adults; NLSY97) have extensive family pedigree information contained within them. These data sources are based on probability sampling, a longitudinal design, and a cross-generational and within-family data structure, with hundreds of phenotypes relevant to behavior genetic (BG) researchers, as well as to other developmental and family researchers. These datasets provide a unique and powerful source of information for BG researchers. But much of the information required for biometrical modeling has been hidden, and has required substantial programming effort to uncover-until recently. Our research team has spent over 20 years developing kinship links to genetically inform biometrical modeling. In the most recent release of kinship links from two of the NLSY datasets, the direct kinship indicators included in the 2006 surveys allowed successful and unambiguous linking of over 94 % of the potential pairs. In this paper, we provide details for research teams interested in using the NLSY data portfolio to conduct BG (and other family-oriented) research.

Gang membership between ages 5 and 17 years in the United States

PURPOSE

This study determined the frequency, prevalence, and turnover in gang membership between ages 5 and 17 years in the United States.

METHODS

Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which is representative of youth born between 1980 and 1984. Age-specific patterns of gang joining, participation, and leaving are estimated based on youths (N = 7,335) self-reported gang membership at the baseline and eight subsequent interviews, which were combined with population age estimates from the 2010 U.S. Census to produce national estimates of gang membership. Sampling variance-adjusted bounds were estimated based on assumptions about missing cases and survey design effects. Demographic and socioeconomic variables are used to compare differences between gang and nongang youth.

RESULTS

Youth gang members were disproportionately male, black, Hispanic, from single-parent households, and families living below the poverty level. We estimated that there were 1,059,000 youth gang members in the United States in 2010 (bounds ranging from 675,000 to 1,535,000). The prevalence of youth gang membership was 2.0% (1.2%-2.8%), peaking at age 14 years at 5.0% (3.9%-6.0%). Annually, 401,000 (204,000-639,000) juveniles join gangs and 378,000 (199,000-599,000) exit gangs, with a turnover rate of 36%.

CONCLUSIONS

We discovered that significantly more people are involved with gangs than previous estimates would suggest. Clinicians and policy makers must recognize that youth gang members may not conform to popular perceptions of gang demographics. The patterns of youth gang membership observed in this study support prevention programs aimed at children before the teen years. This strategy is more likely to succeed than gang intervention or suppression strategies aimed at teens.

Moving and union formation in the transition to adulthood in the United States

Although previous research has paid attention to profound changes in union formation among young adults, few studies have incorporated moving events in the estimation of union formation. Moreover, less attention has been given to detailed moving experiences in young adults' life course. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examine the relationship between moving and first union formation of young adults in the United States. Moving events are aggregated by distance moved, economic conditions in origin and destination places (i.e. moving within the same county, moving to new counties with better or the same economic conditions, and moving to new counties with worse economic conditions) and the time since a move. Our findings suggest that moving events, regardless of type, are significantly related to first union formation for females while the time since a move is important to union formation of males.

Concurrent trajectories of BMI and mental health patterns in emerging adulthood

Affective disorders and weight status have been consistently linked in childhood and adult research, and this comorbidity has synergistic effects leading to more severe health consequences. We map the co-development of these developmental processes in the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1997 (NLSY97) cohort ages 15 to 27 to inform the targeting of public health interventions. We estimate profiles of youth mental health and weight status through parallel process growth mixture modeling within a person-centered framework controlling for race/ethnicity, gender, and poverty status. Fit statistics indicate a 5-class parallel process model for the concurrent trajectories of BMI and mental health. The concurrent trajectories model reveals latent class trajectories of "stable normal weight, stable good mental health" (82.2%); "consistently obese, stable good mental health" (6.8%); "overweight becoming obese, declining mental health" (5.6%); "stable normal weight, improving mental health" (3.3%); and "morbid obesity, stable good mental health" (2.1%). The risk of developmental trajectories of poor mental health and BMI outcomes is greater for females, blacks, Hispanics, and individuals living below the poverty line. These results should help public health professionals to better target subpopulations approaching or already experiencing developmental pathways of risk for poor mental health and weight comorbidities. Multilevel investigation of lifestyle and contextual factors will foster further refinement of public health interventions.

Concurrent trajectories of BMI and mental health patterns in emerging adulthood

Affective disorders and weight status have been consistently linked in childhood and adult research, and this comorbidity has synergistic effects leading to more severe health consequences. We map the co-development of these developmental processes in the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1997 (NLSY97) cohort ages 15 to 27 to inform the targeting of public health interventions. We estimate profiles of youth mental health and weight status through parallel process growth mixture modeling within a person-centered framework controlling for race/ethnicity, gender, and poverty status. Fit statistics indicate a 5-class parallel process model for the concurrent trajectories of BMI and mental health. The concurrent trajectories model reveals latent class trajectories of "stable normal weight, stable good mental health" (82.2%); "consistently obese, stable good mental health" (6.8%); "overweight becoming obese, declining mental health" (5.6%); "stable normal weight, improving mental health" (3.3%); and "morbid obesity, stable good mental health" (2.1%). The risk of developmental trajectories of poor mental health and BMI outcomes is greater for females, blacks, Hispanics, and individuals living below the poverty line. These results should help public health professionals to better target subpopulations approaching or already experiencing developmental pathways of risk for poor mental health and weight comorbidities. Multilevel investigation of lifestyle and contextual factors will foster further refinement of public health interventions.