C D M H

Risk and Protective Factors in Adulthood

PI: Arnold Sameroff, Ph.D.
Co-Investigators: Tim Kasser, Ph.D.
John Schulenberg, Ph.D.
Leslie Gutman, Ph.D.
Katherine Rosenblum, Ph.D.

During the transition to adulthood youth become more independent of their families and play a more active role in their own development. Our concern with self-regulation as a major indicator of mental health has led us to assess the individual's adaptation to the growing autonomy inherent in adult status. We will examine how a sample of individuals who have been followed from infancy through adolescence in the Rochester Longitudinal Study have managed the transition from adolescence into adulthood. The sample will be assessed at 30 years of age for current status in mental health, educational and occupational achievement, future aspirations, and participation in intimate social relationships and community activities using structured phone interviews and self-administered questionnaires.

Three of the major findings from previous research with this sample studied from birth to 18-years of age will be reexamined. These findings were (1) children in environments with more risks have worse mental health and cognitive outcomes than children in environments with fewer risks, independent of the specificity of the risks involved, (2) high competent children raised in high risk environments have worse outcomes than low competent children raised in low risk environments, and (3) youth who aspired to material goals of financial success more than prosocial goals of self-acceptance and social affiliation had worse mental health.

Contrasts will be made between the developmental course of groups of children who were at high and low environmental risk during childhood. The life course for cases of resilient and non-resilient individuals will be compared to identify promotive and protective factors that foster healthy development. In addition information will be collected from participants who have become parents on current environmental risk and mental health of their children to compare with participants' mental health and environmental risks in their families-of-origin to determine the extent of intergenerational continuity in behavior.