National Longitudinal Study Of Adolescent Research Articles

Do We Belong? Examining the Associations Between Adolescents' Perceptions of School Belonging, Teacher Discrimination, Peer Prejudice and Suicide.

In the USA, suicide is a leading cause of death for adolescents ages 12 to 18 (National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 2019). Given the urgency of this public health crisis, this paper aims to explore the impact of a sense of school belonging and teacher-based discrimination and peer-based prejudice on suicidal ideation and attempts among Black youth. This secondary analysis used a sample of Black youth (N = 4229; Mage = 16) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health data. Independent variables included a sense of school belonging, school-based teacher discrimination, and school-based peer prejudice; the dependent variable was suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The results of multinomial regression analyses revealed that as Black adolescents' sense of school belonging decreased, they were 35% more likely to be at risk for suicidal ideation and attempts. Findings from our study support the assertion that the school microsystem plays a substantial role in modifying the risk of suicidal behavior among Black youth.

Is anybody there? A longitudinal examination of help-seeking and suicidal risk among Latino, Black, and non-Hispanic white adolescents.

Understanding adolescents' and emerging adults' help-seeking behaviors is important to curb suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), especially among racial/ethnic minorities who have some of the highest chronic rates of STB in the United States. Learning how diverse groups of adolescents seek help during emotional crises can help us understand the stark health disparities related to suicide risk and respond to them in culturally informed ways. The study observed adolescents via a nationally representative sample (n=20,745) over 14 years (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health [Add Health]) to examine the association between help-seeking behaviors and STB. Longitudinal multinomial logistic regressions were run to assess for racial/ethnic and gender disparities. Help-seeking was not protective for Black female STB but alternatively was protective for each male group (non-Hispanic white, Black, and Latino). Latinas in their early-to-late 20s with no self-reported STB were at an extremely high risk of suicide attempts just 6 years later. This is the first study to examine race/ethnicity*gender in six independent groups to assess suicidality longitudinally among a nationally representative sample. Tailoring existing interventions to meet the needs of growing and diverse communities is critical for suicide prevention programs and policies.

Chronic hypertension and risk of preterm delivery: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health.

Chronic hypertension during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. In 2017, the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) lowered thresholds to classify hypertension in non-pregnant adults to SBP≥130mmHg and DBP≥80mmHg (ie stage I hypertension), resulting in an additional 4.5-million reproductive-aged women meeting criteria for hypertension. Little is known about effects of pre-pregnancy blood pressure (BP) in this range. To examine the effect of pre-pregnancy maternal BP on preterm delivery. We analysed the data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, including participants that had measured BP at Wave IV (2008-09) and a pregnancy that resulted in a singleton live birth between Waves IV and V (2016-18; n=2038). We categorised BP using ACC/AHA cut-offs: normal (SBP<120mmHg and DBP<80mmHg), elevated (SBP 120-129mmHg and DBP<80mmHg), hypertension stage I (SBP 130-139mmHg or DBP 80-89mmHg) and hypertension stage II (SBP≥140mmHg or DBP≥90mmHg). We estimated risk ratios (RR) with log-binomial regression adjusting for maternal demographics, anthropometrics and medication use. The prevalence of preterm delivery was 12.6%. A standard deviation (SD) increment in SBP (SD=12.2mmHg) and DBP (SD=9.3mmHg) was associated with a 14% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2, 27) and 20% (95% CI 4, 37) higher risk of preterm delivery. Compared to normotensive controls, stage I (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01, 1.74) and stage II (RR 1.34, 95% CI 0.89, 2.00) hypertension were associated with increased risk. We observed greater risk of preterm delivery among women with higher pre-pregnancy BP. Women with stage I hypertension during pregnancy may benefit from increased BP monitoring. Additional studies on the utility of foetal surveillance in this group are warranted.

Suicidal ideations and Attempts Within the Family Context: The Role of Parent Support, Bonding, and Peer Experiences with Suicidal Behaviors.

The rate of suicidality is increasing faster in Black American youth than in any other group in the USA. Researchers have found that family-level factors are important environmental factors for predicting depression and anxiety among Black youth, but less is known about how family- and friendship-level factors are associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among Black youth. This secondary analysis used the data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health with a sample of Black adolescents (N = 4232) with a mean age of 16 years. The predictors included parental and other contextual factors on the outcome, which was suicidal behaviors. A multinomial analysis was employed to assess which factors contributed to or prevented suicidal behaviors. Our results indicated that parental support was significantly and positively associated with reporting suicidal ideation and attempts. The results indicated that Black youth with a decrease in parental support were 41% more likely to report ideation and 68% more likely to report attempting suicide compared to those reporting no parental support. Findings from our study support the assertion that the influence from the familial microsystem is pronounced in modifying suicidal behavior of Black youth.

Examining Direct and Indirect Pathways between Adolescent Extra-Familial Criminal Victimization and Adult Mental Health

This study examines the association between extra-familial criminal victimizations in adolescence and two mental health outcomes—depressive symptomology and suicide ideation—reported in adulthood (mean age = 28). Guided by the adverse childhood experiences and the stress process model, this association is explored while considering other salient predictors of adult mental health, including childhood abuse, negative life events experienced in adolescence and adult stressors including recent criminal victimization and economic strain. Utilizing Wave I (1994–1995) and IV (2008–2009) data from the restricted version of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health, mediation analyses reveal that adolescent extra-familial victimization experiences are largely associated with adult mental health outcomes indirectly, via adolescent mental health. These results suggest that while such victimization experiences are important factors in understanding adult mental health and should be considered when examining the enduring consequences of adverse childhood experiences, this particular association is complex, nuanced, and only one ingredient in a mixture of an array of adverse experiences that affect adult mental health.

Vicarious Victimization, Negative Emotions, and Maladaptive Coping: Investigating the Role of Violent Peers.

According to general strain theory's (GST) vicarious strain hypothesis, individuals' behavior is influenced by witnessing or having knowledge of others' stressful experiences, especially those within their network. Drawing on Agnew's GST, the current study examines the relationship between peer victimization and violent offending, as well as the potential intervening factors in this relationship. The primary research questions are: (a) does vicarious strain occur through having friends who are victimized? And (b) what role does violent peers play in the coping process? Data for the analysis were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health's friendship network data. Results from multivariate analysis show that victimization of ones' friend (or peer victimization) is associated with depression as well as personal involvement in violent offending. This relationship, however, is fully mediated by depression. Regarding deviant peers, a three-way interaction effect was observed, specifically peer victimization, involvement with peers, and associating violent peers was a significant predictor of violent offending. Findings from the current study highlight the importance of considering the role of deviant peers in the coping process. Results lend support to Agnew's GST. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Teen Pregnancy, Depression, and Substance Abuse: The Conditioning Effect of Deviant Peers

ABSTRACT General Strain Theory (GST) suggests that individuals who experience strain are pressured into criminal and deviant behavior. Consistent with GST, the current study assesses the relationship between strain in the form of teenage pregnancy and substance use behavior, specifically alcohol problems and marijuana use. In addition, deviant peer association is a robust predictor of criminal behavior, therefore, we also investigate the role of deviant peers in the coping process among females who experience teenage pregnancy. Data for the analysis were obtained from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health (Add Health). In a sample of 5,236 adolescent females drawn from Waves I and II, results show that teenage pregnancy is a significant predictor of depression and substance use involvement. Furthermore, a 3-way-interaction effect was observed, specifically teenage pregnancy, association with deviant peers, and depression was a significant predictor of substance use behaviors. Implications for theory, research, and social programs for teen parents are discussed.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Cigarette Use Trends in the United States among Multiracial and Other Youth, 1994-2008

Tobacco use among the multiracial population is grossly underresearched. This study explored the cigarette-smoking trends of multiracial individuals over time in comparison with monoracial individuals and assessed the relationship between cigarette smoking and factors at the individual, family, peer, school, and state levels. This study used data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents and Adult Health from 1994 to 2008. This study examined a subsample of 9,421 respondents who self-identified as Black, Asian, American Indian, Hispanic, White, or multiracial. Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the population-level data. Findings suggest that multiracial individuals reported high rates of cigarette use over time. The most consistent correlates of cigarette use were family factors, peer cigarette use, and school policies that prohibit staff from smoking on school premises. Additional research is needed to identify the correlates and causes of cigarette use among multiracial adolescents and young adults.

Racial differences in heritability of cigarette smoking in adolescents and young adults

IntroductionAlthough epidemiologic studies suggest low levels of cigarette use among African American adolescents relative to White U.S. adolescents, it is not known whether this may be due to racial differences in the relative contribution of genes and environment to cigarette use initiation and progression to regular use. MethodsUsing data from White (n=2665) and African American (n=809) twins and full siblings sampled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents, we fitted age-, sex- and race-specific variance decomposition models to estimate the magnitude of genetic and environmental effects on cigarette use initiation and cigarette use quantity in Whites and African Americans across adolescence and adulthood. We employ a causal-contingent-common pathway model to estimate the amount of variance explained in quantity of cigarettes smoked contingent on cigarette use initiation. ResultsAfrican Americans had lower cigarette use prevalence from adolescence through adulthood, and used cigarettes less heavily than Whites. Race-specific causal-contingent-common pathway models indicate that racial differences in genetic and environmental contributions to cigarette use initiation and cigarette use quantities are not present in adolescence but appear in young adulthood. Additive genetic factors were an important risk factor for cigarette use initiation for White but not African American young adults and adults. ConclusionsGenetic and environmental contributions for cigarette use are similar by race in adolescence. In adulthood, genes have a stronger influence for cigarette use among White adolescents while the influence of the environment is minimal. For African Americans, both genetic and environmental influences are important in young adulthood and adulthood.

Cohabitation and Marriage Intensity: Consolidation, Intimacy, and Commitment

In this paper, the authors report on cohabitation and marriage data coming from the third wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, or Add Health; a national longitudinal study of adolescents and young adults beginning in 1995 that has been funded by NICHD and 17 other federal agencies. Add Health respondents were aged 18-26 in Wave III (2001-02), when romantic relationships are particularly salient in young people’s lives, and tend to become more serious and intimate as they take on adult roles and responsibilities. Add Health employed several innovative methods to measure cohabitation, and to better understand the relationship dynamics of cohabiting unions in ways that are similar to marital unions. They present two different ways to measure cohabiting unions, according to the length of time a couple has “lived together,” and the implications of different definitions for the levels of cohabitation in the Add Health sample. They also develop measures that capture domains of relationship functioning, quality, and intimacy; and contrast these aspects of relationships by cohabitation and marital status and by the duration of the relationship. Finally, they are able to contrast cohabiting relationships with married relationships, according to whether cohabitation preceded marriage, to obtain further insights into the different contexts of these relationships, and the extent to which we can observe a continuum of relationship intensity in our various measures across the different types of relationships.

A Study of Occasional and Intensive Weapon Carrying Among Adolescents Using a Nationally Representative Sample

This study employed the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents (Add Health) data, a nationally representative sample of adolescents. The focus of the study was to examine whether similar risk factors underlie both occasional and intensive adolescent weapon carrying. Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that the characteristics of the two types of weapon carriers are largely overlapping but with some disparities. In addition, this study revealed a strong effect of prior victimization on the probability of weapon carrying, employing a victimization measure that included only serious and violent victimization experiences.

Disentangling the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Violent Delinquency: Using a Nationally Representative Sample

This study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents (Add Health) data, a nationally representative sample of adolescents, to disentangle the relationship between child maltreatment and violent delinquency. Also examined are potential moderating effects of gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and religiosity on the association between child maltreatment and violent delinquency. Contrary to prior research findings, the current analyses reveal that physical abuse is not associated with future violent delinquency, whereas sexual abuse and neglect predict violent delinquency significantly. The current study also did not reveal any moderating effects of gender, SES, and religiosity on the association between maltreatment and violent delinquency. Interpretations of these findings are presented, drawing on the properties of the national probability sample compared to the findings of most prior studies that used localized samples.

Paternal Relationship Quality as a Protective Factor: Preventing Alcohol Use Among African American Adolescents

This study examines the effects of father involvement on alcohol consumption in African American adolescents. A representative sample of 1,027 students was selected from a national longitudinal study of adolescents in grades 7 through 12. Family structure and relationship quality were examined for three groups of fathers: nonresidential fathers, residential fathers, and father figures. The study explores the extent to which a father’s presence and relationship quality serves as protective factors for adolescent alcohol use. The data supports the hypothesis that having a positive father-child relationship decreases the likelihood that an adolescent uses alcohol, and it is a greater deterrent to adolescent alcohol use than family structure. Through this study’s findings, it was determined that a positive child relationship is not dependent on whether or not the father resides in the home.

Pubertal Transitions, Perceptions of Being Overweight, and Adolescents' Psychological Maladjustment: Gender and Ethnic Differences

The physical changes of pubertal growth typically initiate a redefinition of self among boys and girls, with an emphasis on body image. This change in self-image entails notable adjustment risks when it involves a perception of being including depressed moods, somatic complaints, and lower self-esteem. Substantial support for this proposition was found in data from the National Longitudinal Study ofAdolescent Health (Add Health). As hypothesized, pubertal development and its associated weight gains (identified by BMI) are linked significantly to perceptions of being overweight, particularly among girls. These perceptions increase the risk of depressed moods, somatic complaints, and lower self-esteem among both genders. In a test of this model by racial-ethnic and gender groups, adolescents who claim to be overweight are more likely to be influenced by pubertal growth if they are Anglo- or Hispanic-American girls than boys or African-Americans. Also, a sense of being overweight has more negative effects on Anglo adolescents' emotional health than on that of African- and Hispanic American youths.