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Early Family Transitions and Depressive Symptom Changes From Adolescence to Early Adulthood
Author(s) -
Booth Alan,
Rustenbach Elisa,
McHale Susan
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00457.x
Subject(s) - cohabitation , early adulthood , young adult , psychology , developmental psychology , disadvantaged , depressive symptoms , context (archaeology) , adult development , life course approach , psychiatry , cognition , paleontology , political science , law , biology
Some research and theory suggest that early cohabitation, parenthood, and marriage have negative long‐term implications. Nevertheless, in the context of their resources and opportunities, early transitions may represent positive choices for some individuals. We studied the family and personal characteristics of young adults ( N = 8,172) who did, versus those who did not, make early family transitions. We assessed changes in their depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood. Individuals who made early family transitions were disadvantaged in many respects, but differed little from those who did not with respect to changes in depressive symptoms. That they stay “even” with those who do not make transitions suggests that some young adults make positive choices from among limited options.