Journal article
Agency and Mental Health: A Transition to Adulthood Paradox
Society and mental health, Vol.5(3), pp.163-181
11/01/2015
DOI: 10.1177/2156869315573632
Abstract
Building on calls within the health literature for a deeper engagement with the concept of agency, we utilize nationally representative survey data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N= 13,592) to develop an empirical conception of the traditional treatment of health agency focused on two social psychological constructs that build upon current foci on personal control within the stress process model: (1) subjective vitality and (2) a forward-looking orientation (optimism). We find an interesting paradox: adolescents with higher health-based agency early in the transition to adulthood have significantly higher status attainment (occupational and educational) outcomes, but early mental health advantages disappear over the transition to adulthood. This suggests that while subjective beliefs about health agency put adolescents on trajectories toward higher socioeconomic status, they also set them up for declines in mental health due to unachieved expectations. There seem to be objective upsides and subjective downsides of possessing greater agency in adolescence.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Agency and Mental Health: A Transition to Adulthood Paradox
- Creators
- Steven Hitlin - University of IowaLance D. Erickson - Brigham Young UniversityJ. Scott Brown - Miami University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Society and mental health, Vol.5(3), pp.163-181
- Publisher
- Sage
- DOI
- 10.1177/2156869315573632
- ISSN
- 2156-8693
- eISSN
- 2156-8731
- Number of pages
- 19
- Grant note
- 3P01 HD031928 / National Institute of Child Health and Development; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/01/2015
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology
- Record Identifier
- 9984306242202771
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