Longitudinal Study Of Young People Research Articles

Rethinking young people’s aspirations in times of crisis: stories of futures from a de-industrialising city

In this paper - where we will draw on data from a small scale longitudinal study of young people’s post-COVID aspirations and sense of their futures in a de-industrialising city - we will suggest that Appadurai’s (2004) ideas about the ‘capacity to aspire’ encourages us to shift our focus from the ‘aspirations’ of individual young people to think, instead, about the different resources that might be at play in shaping a capacity to aspire. Departing from the detailed stories of two of the young ­people who participated in this project, we will argue that critical, post-humanist and futures oriented ontologies offer productive possibilities for reimagining the ‘promise of education’ in relation to young people’s aspirations, their dreams and hopes, fears, anxieties and despair that emerge from the “thick of social life” (Appadurai, 2004) in which young people live, imagine who they are, and what they might become.

Coast and City, It Matters Where You Live: How Geography Shapes Progression to Higher Education in England

Progression to higher education in England varies markedly by region, with lower rates of participation outside of London. While some previous studies have explored challenges in accessing higher education in rural and coastal areas, there is a lack of research which considers both individual-level and geographic effects in relation to regional variations in HE progression. In this study, using multivariate regression analysis, we examine whether regional differences in transition to higher education can be explained by the rural/coastal nature of the geographic area in which young people grow up, by area-level deprivation, or by the characteristics of young people living within these regions. The analysis uses the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, a representative cohort study. These data have been linked to information on the proximity to the coast. Consistent with other work, we find that individual differences and area-level deprivation predict HE aspirations and progression. The newly introduced coastal/rural indicator also predicts HE aspirations and progression, but this is mitigated by the inclusion of individual differences and area-level deprivation. However, we find that unexplained regional differences persist. In particular, the South West of England emerges as a regional cold spot for HE. Consequently, policy makers should consider the role that regional dynamics may have in influencing the choices and constraints faced by young people. The approach may also be applicable to understanding inequalities in progression to HE in other countries.

My Turning Point Tells the Story: A Longitudinal Examination of Greater Episodic Detail and Youth Depressive Symptoms

Although research findings show that the personal memories of people who are depressed are characterized by sparse episodic detail, under some circumstances, the opposite pattern emerges. Specifically, a recent study (Salmon et al., 2021) has shown that for community youth, greater episodic detail in a highly self-relevant narrative (a life turning point) predicted increased depressive symptoms concurrently and one year later. In a new longitudinal study of young people (N = 320 at Time 1, M = 16.9 years; 81% female) followed up over six months, we aimed to replicate and extend this finding. In Study A, we compared the turning point with a narrative about a conflict event, to establish whether the detail in a turning point memory uniquely predicted depressive symptoms. Supporting the first hypothesis, at both time-points, greater episodic detail was concurrently positively associated with depressive symptoms for turning point narratives only. Contrary to our second hypothesis, greater detail did not predict increased depressive symptoms longitudinally. The reverse pattern was significant, however, in that greater initial depressive symptoms predicted greater detail uniquely in the turning point narrative six months later. In Study B, we determined that the concurrent association between episodic detail and depressive symptoms in turning points (but not conflict events) was exacerbated by linguistic markers of self-focus (greater I-talk and lower distancing language). These findings suggest that greater detail in a turning point narrative may uniquely signify risk of psychological distress when youth narrate the experience with heightened self-focus.

The role of the university environment in shaping education and employment inequalities

ABSTRACT Life course theory posits that social, structural, and cultural contexts shape individuals’ life outcomes. Using this theory, we investigated whether inequalities in education and employment outcomes for young people with marginalised identities are shaped by the university environment they attended. Based on UK national statistics, universities with similar social, cultural, economic, and physical environments were clustered. These clusters were linked to the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) cohort dataset to determine whether different university environments predicted differences in outcomes. We observed a mixed picture with no definitive pattern for any marginalised identity. Social and economic environments played a role in predicting education outcomes of young people. Social, cultural, and economic environments were important in predicting employment outcomes. The physical environment did not have any impact. This research emphasises a need for more creative policies within certain universities that address education and employment inequalities.

Network behavior as a specific feature of generation Z communicative competence and their readiness for online learning

The article presents the results of a longitudinal study of young people belonging to the category of generation Z. The study was conducted over a period of 3 years, starting in 2019, and was devoted to studying the formation of social characteristics of generation Z under the influence of socialization in the digital environment. The study also included a comparative analysis of the younger and older age groups in Generation Z, who are now high school students and students. The results of the study showed that the younger representatives of generation Z have a more pronounced desire for individualism and self-organization on the Internet. The social characteristics of generation Z must be taken into account when organizing online learning.

Community-, network-, and individual-level predictors of uptake of medication for opioid use disorder among young people who inject drugs and their networks: A multilevel analysis

BackgroundOpioid use has been increasing at alarming rates over the past 15 years, yet uptake of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) remains low. Much of the research on individual characteristics predicting MOUD uptake is equivocal, and there is a dearth of research on setting-level and network-level characteristics that predict MOUD uptake. Towards a more holistic, multilevel understanding, we explore individual-level, network-level, and community-level characteristics associated with MOUD uptake. MethodsBaseline data from a longitudinal study of young people who inject drugs and their injection and support network members living in Chicago (N = 165) was used to conduct cross-sectional multilevel logistic regression analyses to examine associations between MOUD uptake and a set of potential predictors at the individual-, network-, and community-levels that were chosen based on theoretical relevance or support from previous empirical studies. ResultsStigma at both the individual and community levels was significantly associated with MOUD uptake (though in different directions). Greater individual-level stigma was associated with a higher likelihood of MOUD uptake, while having a more normatively stigmatizing community environment was associated with a lower likelihood of MOUD uptake. Using heroin and cocaine simultaneously and having a larger support network were associated with a greater likelihood of MOUD uptake. ConclusionsThe present study’s holistic, multilevel approach identified three individual-level characteristics, one network-level characteristic, and one community-level characteristic associated with MOUD uptake. However, more research is needed examining multilevel predictors, to help with developing interventions addressing barriers to MOUD use at multiple levels of influence.

Social differentiation in career decision-making processes and higher education intentions: the role of family background and school composition in the use of different sources of information

ABSTRACT The way in which young people’s post-school intentions and pathways reflect their social background has been the subject of a good deal of research. However, much less attention has been paid to social differentiation in the amount and kind of career guidance information received by young people and its role in reinforcing or ameliorating social differentiation in transitions. This article contributes by examining the extent to which sources of information and guidance activities vary by social background and school social mix and the consequences of this variation for intentions to go on to higher education. The paper draws on data from a large-scale longitudinal study of young people in Ireland, the Growing Up in Ireland study. It finds that young people from more advantaged backgrounds are much more reliant on their parents as a source of information and advice, reflecting access to insider knowledge of the educational system, and are more likely to pay for private guidance services. In contrast, young people from less advantaged backgrounds and those attending schools with a concentration of working-class students are more reliant on school-based sources of information, though these resources are insufficient to boost their chances of making the transition to higher education.

Incongruence between parental and adolescent educational aspirations hinders academic attainment.

Previous research has shown that parental educational aspirations for their children are an important predictor of children's academic attainment. However, recent studies have pointed to potential negative effects, in particular if there is a mismatch between parental educational aspirations and the aspirations of their children. This study examines (1) the role of socio-demographic and school achievement-related factors in shaping a potential (mis)match between parental educational aspirations and the aspirations of their children, and (2) whether incongruence between parental and their children's educational aspirations hinders academic attainment in times of social change. We use data collected for the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) and Next Steps (formerly known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England), a cohort of young people born in 1989/90. We find that in both cohorts socio-demographic and achievement-related characteristics are associated with incongruent aspirations, and that incongruent aspirations between parents and their children are associated with a decreased likelihood of participating in and completing higher education. The study contributes to current debates regarding the causes and correlates of discrepancies in educational aspirations and how such discrepancies affect later life chances.

Differences in mental health inequalities based on university attendance: Intersectional multilevel analyses of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy

There is an increasing focus on structural and social determinants of inequalities in young people's mental health across different social contexts. Taking higher education as a specific social context, it is unclear whether university attendance shapes the impact of intersectional social identities and positions on young people's mental health outcomes. Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) was used to predict the odds that mental distress during adolescence, sex, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, ethnicity, and their intersections, were associated with young people's mental health outcomes at age 25, and whether this differed based on university attendance. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England cohort study were analysed with the MAIHDA approach, and the results did not reveal any evidence of multiplicative intersectional (i.e., aggravating) effects on young people's mental health outcomes. However, important main effects of social identities and positions (i.e., an additive model) were observed. The findings suggested that being female or identifying as a sexual minority increased the odds of young people experiencing mental health problems at age 25, although the odds of self-harming were half the size for sexual minorities who had attended university. Black and Asian individuals were less likely to declare a mental illness than White individuals. Young people who grew up in a more deprived area and had not attended university were more likely to experience mental health problems. These findings imply that mental health interventions for young people do not necessarily have to be designed exclusively for specific intersectional groups. Further, university attendance appears to produce better mental health outcomes for some young people, hence more investigation is needed to understand what universities do for young people, and whether this could be replicated in the wider general population.

Does attending an English private school benefit mental health and life satisfaction? From adolescence to adulthood

ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that there is a small but significant cumulative private school advantage in terms of educational attainment in Britain. However, research on how school type influences non-educational outcomes is more scarcer. This paper aims to identify the extent to which school type influences satisfaction with life and mental health from adolescence to early adulthood. Using Next Steps, a longitudinal study of young people in England born in 1989/90, the authors use multiple variable regression analyses to address the research questions. They find that for this cohort there is no evidence of a difference for mental health and life satisfaction by school type for either men or women in adolescence or early adulthood.

Is positive school climate associated with better adolescent mental health? Longitudinal study of young people in England

Background and objectivesStudies suggest that individual student-reported connection to school is associated with better mental health. However, there is less evidence for associations between schools’ overall school climate and the mental health of their students. This may reflect limitations in which mental health outcomes have been examined. We conducted a large longitudinal study in schools, hypothesising that we would find associations at both the student and school levels between student-reported positive school climate, and reduced student conduct and emotional problems and improved mental wellbeing. MethodsWe tracked students in 20 English secondary schools from near the end of the first year of secondary school (age 11/12) over 3 years using reliable measures of school climate and mental health. ResultsWe found associations between student-level reports of positive school climate at baseline, and reduced conduct and emotional problems and better mental wellbeing at 3-year follow-up adjusting for various potential confounders. We also found some evidence of adjusted associations between baseline school-level measures of overall positive climate and better student mental health at follow-up. However, these student- and school-level associations reduced considerably when also adjusting for baseline mental health. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that there are associations between school climate and student mental health at both the student and school level but these associations are complex and not necessarily causal.

Exploration of the costs of accessing health services: data from a longitudinal study of young people in transition from paediatric to adult services

BackgroundEconomic evaluations that include the patient perspective often base their estimates of patient time and travel costs on data collected at a single point in time. This, however, may be inaccurate if the costs of accessing care change substantially over time, as may be the case for young people in transition from paediatric to adult health services.AimsThe aim of this study was to explore the differences in these time and travel costs between two data collection points for young individuals in transition between health care services, and thus to provide an insight of whether such costs should be collected more than once.MethodsDescriptive statistics and regression modelling were used to estimate the average difference in costs between the two points of data collection, as well as the potential drivers of those cost differences.ResultsWe found a small difference in costs between the two time points, equal to -£45.78 [95% CI: − 89.70 to − 1.86]. The results were largely driven by changes in the unit cost of visits and in the number of attendances.ConclusionsA simple and common assumption that patient costs could be collected at a single time point cannot be made in the context of our study. When deciding on the frequency of elicitation of patient costs, future studies should consider the relative impacts of additional data collection on the estimates of efficiency, inequalities and resource implications for collecting new data.

Entrenched Inequalities? Class, Gender and Ethnic Differences in Educational and Occupational Attainment in England.

Research in social stratification tends to focus on class differences in educational and occupational attainment, with particular attention to primary and secondary effects in the former, and class reproduction in the latter, domain. Research in ethnic studies tends to focus, however, on ethnic penalty or premium. Many studies have been conducted in each tradition on specific issues but little research is available that examines class, gender and ethnic effects simultaneously or in tandem with contextual effects, let alone on the whole trajectory from compulsory schooling, through further and higher education, to labor market position. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, this paper shows pronounced class differences but remarkable gender progress in each of the educational domains. With regard to ethnicity, people from minority ethnic heritages had lower GCSE scores due to poorer family conditions but achieved higher transition rates to A-Level study, higher university enrollment and, for some groups, greater attendance at elite universities, resulting in an overall higher rate of degree-level attainment than did whites. One might expect members of ethnic minority backgrounds to fare equally well in their earlier careers in the labor market, but only to find them more vulnerable to unemployment, less likely to have earnings, and more disadvantaged in terms of disposable incomes.

The Emotional Nature of Birth Family Relationships for Care-experienced and Adopted Young People: A Longitudinal Perspective

Research focused on relationships and contact with birth family for children and young people who were separated from them as infants has rarely acknowledged the emotional and dynamic nature of such interactions. Curiosity has been dominant in adoption research. However, in our longitudinal study of young people who entered care at a young age, a range of other feelings and combination of feelings emerged in the youths’ narratives, including contentment and mixed feelings such as anger, affection, loss, guilt, or worry. Type of placement, that is, whether the young people had been adopted, lived with kinship foster carers or non-relative foster parents, did not determine their emotional reactions to their birth family. The young people’s perspectives and emotions often changed over time. In this article, we describe the young people’s emotional responses to birth family, and highlight implications for theory, research, and practice.

Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health With Adolescent Health Behaviors in the UK Millennium Cohort

There is potential for mental health status to act as a determinant of an individual's ability to engage in healthful lifestyle behaviors. To investigate the associations of parent-reported mental health problems during childhood and self-reported mental health problems in adolescence with health behaviors in adolescence. This cohort study used data from wave 4 (collected in 2008) and wave 6 (collected in 2015) of the Millennium Cohort Study, a UK population-representative longitudinal study of young people born during 2000 to 2001. Wave 4 included data on parent-reported mental health issues for children at age 7 years. Wave 6 included data on self-reported mental health problems as well as health behaviors for the same children at age 14 years. Data were analyzed July 5, 2020. Mental health problems at age 7 years were parent-reported using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Mental health problems at age 14 years were self-reported using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. Health behaviors at age 14 years were the main outcome of interest. Sleep duration; fruit, vegetable, and soft drink consumption; and social media use were self-reported using recall on a typical day. Regression models were calculated for each lifestyle variable, with mental health change from ages 7 to 14 years as the exposure variable. Data were weighted to account for the potential clustering of region of sampling and adjusted for nonresponse. A total of 9369 participants were included in waves 4 and 6 of the Millennium Cohort Study, including 4665 (48.1%) girls and 6014 participants (81.9%) who were born in England. Adolescents who self-reported mental health problems at age 14 years only were less likely to have at least 9 hours of sleep (odds ratio [OR], 0.39; 95% CI, 0.34-0.45) and to consume fruit (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.46-0.65) and vegetables (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52-0.83) reported greater use of social media (b = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.49-0.75) compared with individuals who did not have mental health problems at both time points. Similarly, those with mental health problems at both time points were less likely to achieve 9 hours sleep (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51-0.90), consume fruit (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.26-0.58) and vegetables (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.35-0.91), and reported greater social media use (b = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.34-0.91). These findings suggest that the presence of depressive symptoms at ages 7 and 14 years and at age 14 years only were associated with some health behaviors in adolescence. These findings are particularly important given that independent health behaviors can deteriorate and become habitual during adolescence, and adolescence is a known time for the first emergence of mental health problems that continue into adulthood.

Can Individual Agency Compensate for Background Disadvantage? Predicting Tertiary Educational Attainment among Males and Females

Adolescent agency has been identified as a central aspect in the study of social mobility and status attainment. There is however still a lack of understanding of (a) how different SES dimensions influence the expression of multiple dimensions of agency; (b) the interplay of SES and adolescent agency in shaping adult outcomes; and (c) variations in these associations by gender. Focusing on educational mobility, this study adopts a multiple exposure multiple outcome approach specifying the associations between multiple SES dimensions and multiple indicators of domain-specific agency and their relative role as predictors of educational attainment, also testing for potential gender differences. The study draws on data collected for the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, comprising 6719 individuals born in 1989/90 (48% female; 85% first generation students; 15% ethnic minority status). The findings show that multiple SES indicators independently influence the expression of different agency dimensions, in particular regarding educational intentions and success expectations. Moreover, multiple dimensions of education-related agency are significant predictors of enrolment in university by age 20 and degree completion by age 25, after controlling for family SES, ethnicity, and prior academic attainment. The evidence points to mainly independent agency effects and provides some support for compensatory effects regarding school engagement. Although females report higher levels of education-related agency, the manifestation of agency benefits both males and females equally. The findings suggest that critical insights into social mobility processes can be gained when using more complex models that take into account multiple dimensions of SES and agency and their interactions over time.

Religious upbringing and other religious influences among young adults and changes in faith in the transition to adulthood: a 10-year longitudinal study of young people in Finland

ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on religious transmission in families and other religious influences among young adults and their linkage to changes in faith in transition to adulthood. The special interest lies in the question of what happens to those with no religious upbringing at home: are there other factors which may turn out as meaningful and contribute to religious growth when parents are not active in giving religious upbringing? The study is based on a 10-year follow-up study of young people between the ages of 14/15 to 25 who were confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Of all young adults, about one-third became more distant from faith, and about one in seven closer to faith in the transition to adulthood. Young people who have experienced a religious upbringing from both parents are far most likely to believe and they experience less distancing from faith. However, beliefs may also develop and remain in circumstances with no religious upbringing at home if there are other meaningful influences in the lives of young people. Confirmation period, and grandparents, in particular, were mentioned as contributing to growth in faith by those with no religious upbringing from home, and school was mentioned as providing general knowledge.

Patterns of criminal activity among residential care-leavers in South Africa

Research on care-leaving internationally suggests that young adults with experience of residential or foster care are disproportionately likely to engage in criminal activity and to come into conflict with the law. There is, however, no research on this population in South Africa. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of young people transitioning out of care and journeying towards young adulthood over a period of five years. The sample included 51 participants who had had at least two (and up to five) interviews (spaced approximately a year apart) since leaving care. A mixed methods design was utilised to investigate their patterns of criminal engagement over time. Results suggest three patterns among this sample of care-leavers: those who are ‘crime free’, reporting no criminal activity over two or more post-care interviews (73% of the sample); those reporting ‘incidental crime’, viz. criminal activity in just one follow-up interview, with the crime being of low severity and seldom having conflict with the law (10% of participants); and those reporting ‘regular crime’, viz. criminal activity in two or more follow-up interviews, with more severe types of crime and greater likelihood of coming into conflict with the law (including being found guilty of a crime in court and spending a night or more in jail) and an increase in frequency and severity of crime over the years out of care (18% of participants). Findings are discussed in relation to international literature and implications for practice are proposed.

The role of local labour market conditions and pupil attainment on post-compulsory schooling decisions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of local labour market conditions and pupil educational attainment as primary determinants of the post-compulsory schooling decision. Design/methodology/approach Through the specification of a nested logit model, the restrictive independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) assumption inherent in the multinomial logit (MNL) model is relaxed across multiple unordered outcomes. Findings The analysis shows that the factors influencing schooling decisions differ for males and females. For females, on average, the key drivers of the schooling decision are expected wage returns based on youth educational attainment, attitudes to school and parental aspirations, rather than local labour market conditions. For males, higher local unemployment rates encourage greater investment in education. Originality/value The contribution of this paper to the existing literature is threefold. First, a nested logit model is proposed as an alternative to a MNL. The former can formally incorporate the structured and sequential decision-making process that youths may engage with in relation to the post-compulsory schooling decision, as well as relaxing the restrictive IIA assumption inherent in the MNL across multiple unordered outcomes, an issue the authors discuss in more detail in the Methodology section below. Second, the analysis is based on extremely rich socio-economic data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, matched to local labour market data and administrative data from the National Pupil Database and Pupil Level Annual School Census, which provide a broad set of unusually high-quality measures of prior attainment. The authors argue that such high-quality data and an appropriate model specification allows identification of the determinants of the post-compulsory decision in a more detailed manner than many previous analyses. Third, the data have the scale necessary to consider whether the determinants of post-compulsory schooling decisions vary by gender, a particularly important issue given the differential education participation rates of males and females (e.g. in this cohort, females are about 10 percentage points more likely to go on to higher education in the UK than males), and the gendered choices of occupation (see, e.g. Bertrand, 2011). The work will, therefore, provide recent empirical evidence from England on gender differences in the determinants of education choices.

The Immigrant Paradox Among the UK’s Adolescents: Data from the LSYPE 2004–2010 Project

The literature on the acculturation of the UK’s ethnic minority youth by generation status is limited. This gap in knowledge base brings to question whether we see different adaption patterns among adolescents from different ethnic groups over time. I examined the sociocultural adaptation of the UK’s ethnic minority youth by comparing first-generation youth to their second plus generation counterparts. By doing so, I establish baseline measures of sociocultural adaptation for first-generation youth for this cohort. I compared 13–15-year-old adolescents on the sociocultural scales of risky behavior (7 items), feelings about school (11 items), mental health (12 items), relational family efficacy (4 items), and bully victimization (5 items), as well as on achievement gains by key stage 3 (9th grade). I used the first Longitudinal Study of Young People in England 2004–2010 database to make these analyses by modeling generation effects, ethnicity effects, and generation × ethnicity interaction effects (Bangladeshi, n = 743; Black African, n = 716; Black Caribbean, n = 990; Indian, n = 1019; Pakistani, n = 963; White immigrant, n = 232). Analyses included multivariate linear regression and hierarchical linear regression when appropriate. My findings demonstrated an immigrant paradox on achievement gains for four of the ethnic groups but an immigrant disadvantage on mental health for White immigrants. I discuss my findings within the contexts of segmented assimilation theory, protective factors, and supports that schools and communities can provide.