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Meaningful involvement in instrumental activity and well‐being: Studies of older adolescents and at risk urban teen‐agers
Author(s) -
Maton Kenneth I.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00931306
Subject(s) - juvenile delinquency , citation , economic justice , library science , psychology , criminology , substance abuse , sociology , gerontology , medicine , law , political science , psychiatry , computer science
Meaningful involvement in instrumental activity, social support, and well-being were assessed in two studies. The first study focused on older adolescents enrolled in college (mean age, 18.8; N = 152), and the second on urban black male, and pregnant female, teen-agers (mean age, 17.1; N = 92), half of whom (N = 46) were school dropouts. In both studies, regression analyses indicated that meaningful instrumental activity was positively related to life satisfaction, independent of social support from friends and from parents. In addition, meaningful instrumental activity was positively related to self-esteem to a greater extent (a) for male than for female college students (Study 1); and (b) for school-attending than for school-dropout urban black males (Study 2). In Study 2, higher mean levels of meaningful instrumental activity were reported (a) by school-attending than by school-dropout urban adolescents; and (b) by black male teens than by pregnant female teens. The implications for future research and intervention are discussed.