Economic Effects of Adolescent to Adult Patterns of Cannabis Use: Full-Time Employment and Employment Stability

Research has yet to examine stability in employment as a function of cannabis use once an individual transitions into full-time work. Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, trajectories of cannabis use spanning ages 14 to 30 were identified among a sample of predominantly minorities (>80%; 68% African American). After hard-classifying individuals by patterns of cannabis use, probabilities of full-time employment and conditional probabilities of full-time employment were calculated and compared across patterns of use. Abstention or rare cannabis use was associated with a higher likelihood of full-time employment compared with other cannabis use patterns. Full-time employment stability was high for each pattern of cannabis use (>89%) and differences decreased with age and prior periods of employment. The results indicate that patterns of cannabis use spanning adolescence to adulthood have limited impact on the ability to retain full-time employment once employed and are interpreted in light of growing legalization of cannabis use.

The reproduction of child maltreatment: An examination of adolescent problem behavior, substance use, and precocious transitions in the link between victimization and perpetration

Growing evidence suggests that maltreatment is reproduced across generations as victims of maltreatment are at an increased risk for maltreatment perpetration. Unfortunately, little information about mediating pathways exists to provide an explanation for why maltreatment begets maltreatment. We use the number of types of maltreatment experienced to predict later maltreatment perpetration and then examine two developmental pathways that may serve as bridges between maltreatment victimization and perpetration: adolescent problem behaviors and precocious transitions to adulthood. With prospective, longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, we assess the relevance of these pathways for the number of maltreatment experiences as well as the number of maltreatment victimization experiences by developmental period (i.e., childhood and adolescence). Our results demonstrate a significant relationship between maltreatment victimization and maltreatment perpetration. Adolescent delinquency and two precocious transitions, dropping out of school and independent living, as well as the accumulation of precocious transitions and problem behaviors, serve as mediators of this intergenerational relationship. Furthermore, the relationship between the number of types of maltreatment and subsequent perpetration is primarily driven by experiences of maltreatment during adolescence. We discuss the implications of these results and set an agenda for the development of programs and policies to interrupt the cycle of maltreatment.

Doing Time and the Unemployment Line: The Impact of Incarceration on Ex-Inmates’ Employment Outcomes

This study measures the influence multiple incarcerations and age at first incarceration have on the lengths of time ex-inmates are not employed and the amount of time ex-inmates spend looking for employment. Fixed-effects analyses of longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) finds a relationship between incarceration at younger ages and longer non-employment experiences, but no association between incarcerations between 23 and 32 years old and non-employment lengths. Meanwhile, these individuals who experience incarceration younger spend equivalent time looking for employment as their never-incarcerated peers, despite having nonequivalent periods without employment.

Predicting Adult Under- and Over-Reporting of Self-Reported Arrests From Discrepancies in Adolescent Self-Reports of Arrests

Building on previous research, this article investigates whether discrepancies between official and self-reported measures of arrests as an adult can be predicted from such discrepancies as an adolescent. We use longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study to assess whether a pattern exists in adolescent and adult under- and over-reporting of arrests. We find consistency in under- and over-reporting throughout the adolescent–young adult life course. In other words, when respondents misreport the number of arrests they have experienced, they do so consistently regardless of age. This is reassuring for scholars using self-report data, as under- and over-reporting behaviors remain stable over this span of the life course. Finally, our models predicting discrepancies in official and self-reported arrests during the combined period of adolescence and young adulthood are both extremely strong. Our findings support the continued use of self-report measures as a valid indicator of delinquency.

African American Fathers

Much of the literature on African American fathers has tended to perpetuate a stereotype of absent and unsupportive parenting. This study employs a life course perspective to investigate the extent and predictors of involvement by young fathers. Data come from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study that has followed a representative sample of urban youth since they were in the seventh or eighth grade. Analysis is based on the young men in the sample who became fathers by age 22, of whom 67% are African American. Results suggest that African American fathers do not differ significantly from other young fathers in their contact with and support provided to their eldest biological child. For African American fathers, fulfilling a father role is, as hypothesized, related to the success of transition to adult roles and relationships and to prosocial behavior and problem behavior.