Contribution of Adolescence to the Life Course: What Matters Most in the Long Run?

Abstract

The authors’ wish is for more long-term longitudinal studies specifically designed to demonstrate the importance of adolescence in the life course. Specifically, the authors wish for their science to document as rigorously as possible the individual and contextual characteristics and experiences that matter the most during adolescence for long-term adult health and well-being. Recent research has shown the early childhood effects on adult outcomes, including effects from intervention programs, bringing needed scientific evidence to inform social policy about the importance of optimizing early development. In most of these efforts, there is little emphasis on adolescence, and thus there is little understanding about the effects of adolescence over and above the effects of childhood on adult outcomes. The authors’ view is that adolescence matters a great deal for long-term health and well-being and they summarize what it will take to make their wish come true.

Additional information

Funding

The first author gratefully acknowledges grant support for long-term longitudinal studies from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (DA016575-12, DA037902-01) and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA022087-01).The second author gratefully acknowledges that the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin is supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant 5-R24-HD042849.