Does perceived post-traumatic growth predict better psychological adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic? Results from a national longitudinal survey in the USA

Adolescent depressive symptoms are risk factors for lower education and unemployment in early adulthood. This study examines how the course of symptoms from ages 16–25 influences early adult education and employment in Canada and the USA. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (n = 2348) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 Child/Young Adult (n = 3961), four trajectories (low-stable; increasing; decreasing; and increasing then decreasing, i.e., mid-peak) were linked to five outcomes (working with a post-secondary degree; a high school degree; no degree; in school; and NEET, i.e., not in employment, education, or training). In both countries, increasing, decreasing, and mid-peak trajectories were associated with higher odds of working with low educational credentials, and/or NEET relative to low-stable trajectories. In Canada, however, all trajectories had a higher predicted probability of either being in school or working with a post-secondary degree than the other outcomes; in the USA, all trajectory groups were most likely to be working with a high school degree. Higher depressive symptom levels at various points between adolescent and adulthood are associated with working with low education and NEET in Canada and the USA, but Canadians are more likely to have better education and employment outcomes.

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Expectations after expecting: the impact of first birth on the fertility expectations of one child women in the USA and UK

10.31235/osf.io/4atj7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alyce Raybould ◽

Rebecca Sear

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Longitudinal Survey ◽

National Longitudinal Survey ◽

First Birth ◽

Fertility Expectations ◽

New Information ◽

Before And After ◽

The Usa ◽

The Life Course ◽

The Impact

Expectations for having children are hypothesised to be predominantly influenced by societal family norms at young ages, and are adjusted during the life course in response to changing circumstances and new information. The onset of parenthood is likely to be a key event that affects expectations. This paper explores whether the expectations of women who have only one child (one child women) change in the five years before and after first birth, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (USA) and Understanding Society (UK). We aim to determine whether one child women are distinct in their expectations from women who go on to higher parities even before first birth, and whether the event of first birth is a catalyst for changing expectations. Our results show that, in both contexts, one child women expect closer to two children prior to, compared to after, first birth, when the trajectory declines more steeply towards one. One child women also expect fewer than higher parity mothers by the time of first birth. Our findings suggest that although one child women already expect fewer children compared to other mothers prior to first birth, their expectations are particularly affected by the onset of parenthood.

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