Entering Adulthood: Poor, Socially Disadvantaged and Resiliant

本研究的中心目标是评估儿童经济剥夺与几个成人早期结果的关系，包括(1)家庭形成的时间和顺序，(2)学校完成情况和社会经济成就，(3)避免反社会和自毁行为，并实践亲社会行为。这项拟议的研究使用了国家青年纵向调查(NLSY)最近的年轻人补充资料。这些数据将与早期NLSY样本中的记录相关联，包括母亲和家庭记录、成年人对儿童发展的评估，以及首次根据劳工统计局提供的邮政编码地址专门创建的社区指标。有三个具体目标：使用这些数据来描述和模拟处于危险中的年轻人在童年期间的经济轨迹；估计童年时期家庭收入轨迹对青春期后期和成年期早期成功适应的关键指标的有害影响；评估这些联系背后的因果机制，以及确定邻里和家庭背景对成功的成人早期过渡的缓和影响。最重要的目标是在一个统一的理论和分析框架中将几个不同的文献结合在一起。这项研究将提供一个独特的机会来研究第一代处于风险中的成年人，他们在过去20年的重大社会和经济动荡中长大。

The central objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between childhood economic deprivation and several early adult outcomes, including (1) the timing and sequencing of family formation, (2) school completion and socioeconomic attainment, and (3) avoiding antisocial and self-destructive behaviors and practicing prosocial behaviors. The proposed study uses recent young adult supplements of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). These data will be linked to records from earlier NLSY samples including mother and family records, adults' assessments of childhood development, and neighborhood indicators specially created from zip-code addresses provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the first time. There are three specific objectives: to use these data to describe and model the economic trajectories of `at risk` young adults during childhood; to estimate the deleterious effects of family income trajectories during childhood on critical indicators of successful adjustment in late adolescence and early adulthood; to evaluate the causal mechanisms underlying these connections, as well as identify the moderating influences of neighborhood and family context on successful early adult transitions. The overriding objective is to bring together several disparate literatures in a unified theoretical and analytical framework. The study will provide a unique opportunity to examine the first generation of `at risk` adults who grew up with the major social and economic upheavals of the past two decades.