Human Development and the Life Course

Over the last six years, this senior scholar fellowship has focused on the behavioral continuities and changes that occur in the transition to young adulthood, with emphasis on sources of resilience and turning points, as well as influences that place young people at risk.

The transition to adulthood has received increasing attention over the past two decades in relation to education and development, but little is known about 1) the continuing influence of family members and 2) nonfamilial influences (mentors, friends, partners, teachers, religious leaders, etc.) along pathways into adulthood. “Linked lives within the family” (of children, siblings, parents, and grandparents) can provide insight to this point in the life course, and what these changing social ties mean for young and old. Influences beyond the family appear to have special significance among young people from disadvantaged environments, though most of the evidence is linked to ethnographic accounts. Elder has explored these influences in minority as well as Anglo-American subpopulations.

To investigate the continuing influence of family members in the transition to adulthood, he has turned to the three-generation Iowa study with its longitudinal data archive, as well as to other comparative data archives, such as a four-generation study in Los Angeles. Nonfamilial influences are investigated in the Iowa sample as well. Most of the work draws upon the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a sample with approximately 15,000 youths in grades 7-12 across four data points up to the year 2001--age range from 12 to 24. This study is uniquely valuable for its multi-ethnic sample, contextual richness on school and neighborhood variations, and sibling pairs (varying on genetic relatedness).

Perhaps the most important achievement thus far is the publication of the book Children of the Land (2000), which presents the finding that successful adolescents come from families with ties to the land and shows that income level is not a sufficient explanation of educational and life success.

Principal Investigator: Glen H. Elder, Jr.

Funding Source: Spencer Foundation

Funding Period: 03/01/99-02/28/10

Affiliated Research Projects:
• Life Course Studies