SOCIAL CAPITAL, SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT-ADOLESCENT WELL-BEING

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The purpose of this project is to contribute to the continuing activities of the NICHD Family and Child Well-Being Research Network. The project has two major components: an individual research agenda and a collaborative research agenda. The Principal Investigator will pursue the first component, while the collaborative research agenda will involve joint work with other members of the Research Network. The specific aims of the individual research project are: 1) to examine the features of the social capital available to adolescents; 2) to examine the quantity and quality of adolescent involvement and engagement in school, work, and extracurricular activities; and, 3) to investigate the relationship between social capital and social involvement and early sexual activity, educational attainment, health related behavior, and health outcomes. This research will use data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add-Health). The specific aims of the collaborative research project are: 1) to contribute to the work of the Federal Interagency Forum for Child and Family Statistics: 2) to contribute to the on-going work of the Research Network on welfare reform issues; and, 3) to assist in the efforts of the Network to integrate health outcomes and health related behaviors into social science models of family and child well-being. The Principal Investigator will contribute to these efforts by his work on the Wisconsin Works (W2) state-level welfare reform initiative, his research on the effects of welfare and family planning policies on out of wedlock childbearing, maternal health, and infant health, and his research on the effects of social capital and social involvement on health and health related behavior.