Mothers' marital history and the physical and mental health of young adults: An investigation over the early life course

Abstract

Using survey data from 12,424 adolescents and their mothers over 13 years in the nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the purpose of this study was to examine a life course model exploring the pathways linking mothers' marital history (identified as latent classes) and young adult health outcomes. During young adulthood (Wave 4), respondents ranged in age from 19 to 32. The results demonstrated unique long-term influences of stressful marital history typologies of mothers (prior to 1995) on the physical and mental health of young adults (2008) with reference to consistently married mothers after controlling for health status in 2001. These influences operated through family processes (economic pressure and parental rejection) and adolescent psychosocial adjustment (self-esteem, academic performance, and delinquent behavior). Our findings show that vulnerable groups of youth, in terms of mothers' marital history, can be identified early for appropriate intervention efforts.