NCJ Number
217277
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 61-70
Date Published
January 2007
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effect of childhood factors on occupational status across the lifespan.
Abstract
In terms of occupational status, the results were consistent with the theory that individual attributes increasingly shape development across the lifespan. In young adulthood, childhood environmental factors were stronger predictors of occupational status than individual attributes. In later life, the opposite pattern was observed; childhood environmental factors became insignificant and individual factors became highly predictive of occupational status. Higher parental social class probably provided a few men with access to skilled jobs in young adulthood. However, childhood environmental strengths influenced occupational status primarily by their association with years of education. The overall message is not that childhood environment is unimportant, but rather that over decades, its influences on occupational status becomes less important and in later life do not dictate occupational destiny. While previous studies have identified numerous childhood factors that powerfully influence outcomes in young adulthood, this study examined data prospectively gathered from a group of inner city, socially disadvantaged men, followed for 60 years from adolescence until late life. Specifically, how the relative predictive power of individual variables and environmental variables varied across the lifetime was explored. In addition, it explored possible underlying processes that help explain the findings. Tables, figure, and references