Care Orientation in the Teens as a Predictor of Young Adult Psychosocial Adjustment

D. M. Hutchinson, J. A. Macdonald, W. T. Hallam, R. K. Leung, J. W. Toumbourou, R. McGee, G. Tooley, S. A. Hemphill, H. Skouteris and C. A. Olsson ()
Additional contact information
D. M. Hutchinson: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
J. A. Macdonald: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
W. T. Hallam: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
R. K. Leung: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
J. W. Toumbourou: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
R. McGee: University of Otago
G. Tooley: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
S. A. Hemphill: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
H. Skouteris: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology
C. A. Olsson: Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2016, vol. 17, issue 5, No 16, 2076 pages

Abstract: Abstract The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a watershed period in development that carries risk for poor psychosocial adjustment. It also carries potential for positive transitions into the caregiving roles and responsibilities of adult life. Research to date has predominantly focused on adolescent predictors of problematic rather than positive transitions; yet predictors of the latter hold equal (if not greater) promise for informing health promoting interventions. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to use Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to define patterns of psychosocial adjustment and maladjustment in young adulthood (21-years of age); (2) to examine the unique role of adolescent prosocial behaviour (e.g., volunteering and civic engagement) in promoting adjustment and reducing maladjustment in young adulthood; and, (3) to examine whether protective developmental relationships are maintained after adjustment for other covariates including socio-economic background factors and personality characteristics. Data were drawn from the Victorian cohort of the International Youth Development Study (IYDS; N = 2407), a representative sample of students in Victoria, Australia. Students were assessed in Grade 9 (Mean age = 15-years) and followed up at age 21-years. LPA identified three psychosocial adjustment classes at age 21 defined as: (1) Adjusted (24.8 %); (2) Normative (63.9 %); and, (3) Maladjusted (11.3 %). Adolescent volunteering, belief in a moral order, family opportunities for prosocial behaviour, and commitment to school were associated with enhanced adjustment and reduced maladjustment in young adulthood. Findings highlight the potential benefit of interventions designed to enhance adolescent prosocial behaviours and care orientation in promoting healthy transitions into young adult life.

Keywords: Wellbeing; Psychosocial adjustment; Caring; Adolescence; Young adulthood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-015-9685-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:17:y:2016:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-015-9685-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... fe/journal/10902/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-015-9685-x

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Happiness Studies is currently edited by Antonella Delle Fave

More articles in Journal of Happiness Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().