Work and family in normative and at-risk adolescents’ perception of their future

Abstract

• Developing positive perception of future is based on personal and social resources. • Self-enhancement and self-transcendence develop positive perceptions of future. • Risk factors to positive perception of future: conservation and openness to change. • Level of religiosity affects adolescents’ perceptions of work and family future. Perception of the future (PF) includes setting goals, establishing courses of action for achieving them, and assessing one’s personal abilities to do so. The present study was designed to examine the degree to which the research variables (personal characteristics, personal and social resources, and values) contribute to explaining the variance in measures of PF between at-risk adolescents and their normative peers regarding life roles in two realms – work and family. It was further designed to examine whether there are differences between the groups in the rate to which these variables contribute to variance. Participants were 323 Jewish Israeli adolescents (age 14–18) in two comparison groups – 139 at-risk adolescents who were treated in child and youth care (CYC) units, and 184 normative high-school students. The research tool was a questionnaire that examined personal characteristics, personal resources, values, and measures of PF work and family life roles. The conclusion was that the groups of variables examined have a relatively similar contribution to explaining the variance in perception of the importance of work and family in both groups. At the same time, self-efficacy, optimism, and values of openness to change, as well as the personal characteristics, contributed differently to each group. The variables’ contribution to PF in both groups was examined to identify those that predict the importance of perception of future in different areas in each group, which could enable education and welfare professionals establish means of helping at-risk adolescents form positive PF regarding various life roles and manage to integrate successfully into society.