Background Subjective well-being as a predictor for later behavior and health has highlighted its relationship to health, work performance, and social relationships. However, the majority of such studies neglect the developmental nature of well-being in contributing to important changes across the transition to adulthood. Methods To examine the potential role of subjective well-being as a long-term predictor of critical life outcomes, we examined indicators of positive and negative affect at age 14 as a predictor of relationship, adjustment, self worth, and career outcomes a decade later at ages 23 to 25, controlling for family income and gender. We utilized multi-informant methods including reports from the target participant, close friends, and romantic partners in a demographically diverse community sample of 184 participants. Results Early adolescent positive affect predicted less relationship problems (less self-reported and partner-reported conflict, greater friendship attachment as rated by close peers), healthy adjustment to adulthood (lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness). It also predicted positive work functioning (higher levels of career satisfaction and job competence) and increased self-worth. Negative affect did not significantly predict any of these important life outcomes. In addition to predicting desirable mean levels of later outcomes, early positive affect predicted beneficial changes across time in many outcomes. Conclusions The findings extend early research on the beneficial outcomes of subjective well-being by having an earlier assessment of well-being, including informant reports in measuring a large variety of outcome variables, and by extending the findings to a lower socioeconomic group of a diverse and younger sample. The results highlight the importance of considering positive affect as an important component of subjective well-being distinct from negative affect.
Adolescent romantic relationships have the potential to affect psychological functioning well into adulthood. This study assessed adolescent romantic relationship qualities as long-term predictors of psychological functioning utilizing a longitudinal multi-method, multi-informant study of 80 participants (59% female; 54% Caucasian, 35% African American, 11% mixed or other race) assessed at age 17 along with their romantic partners and at ages 25–27. Controlling for gender, family income, and baseline mental health, partner-reported hostile conflict at age 17 predicted relative increases in internalizing behaviors from age 17 to 27. In contrast, observed teen support with their partner during a help-seeking task at age 17 predicted relative decreases in externalizing behaviors over time. The results are interpreted as suggesting qualities that may help determine whether adolescent romances have positive vs. negative long-term psychological health implications.
Adolescent-era predictors of adult romantic life satisfaction were examined in a multi-method, prospective, longitudinal study of 165 adolescents followed from ages 13 to 30. Progress in key developmental tasks, including establishing positive expectations and capacity for assertiveness with peers at age 13, social competence at ages 15 and 16, and ability to form and maintain strong close friendships at ages 16 to 18, predicted romantic life satisfaction at ages 27 to 30. In contrast, several qualities linked to romantic experience during adolescence (i.e., sexual and dating experience, physical attractiveness) were unrelated to future satisfaction. Results suggest a central role of competence in non-romantic friendships as preparation for successful management of the future demands of adult romantic life.The fundamental importance of a satisfying romantic life in adulthood is well established. The presence of functional romantic relationships has been linked to both adult mental health outcomes (e.g., lower levels of anxiety and depression (Horn, Xu, Beam, Turkheimer, & Emery, 2013;Wade & Pevalin, 2004)) as well as to greater short-and long-term physical health, and even to reduced risk of early mortality (Hughes & Waite, 2009). Although selection effects account for some of these findings, with healthier individuals more likely to have stable relationships, there is little question as to the centrality of romantic functioning to adult well-being (Horn, et al., 2013). This central role of romantic relationship functioning in adulthood suggests the importance of identifying its precursors at earlier stages of development.Research to date has begun to identify factors in early-and mid-adolescence, such as family relationship quality, attachment experiences, and early peer competence that predict romantic relationship quality into late adolescence and the early twenties (Oudekerk, Allen, Hessel, & Molloy, 2015;Seiffge-Krenke, 2003;Simpson, Collins, & Salvatore, 2011). However, although identifying predictors into late adolescence and early adulthood is an important step, the implications of these predictions for longer-term romantic satisfaction are unclear given the developmental changes that continue to take place in romantic relationship functioning after the late adolescent and early adult period (Cohen, Kasen, Chen, Hartmark,
Attachment was examined as a predictor of teens' empathic support for friends in a multimethod longitudinal study of 184 U.S. adolescents (58% Caucasian, 29% African American, 13% other) followed from ages 14 to 18. Adolescents' secure state of mind regarding attachment at 14 predicted teens' greater capacity to provide empathic support during observed interactions with friends across ages 16-18 (B average = .39). Teens' empathic support was generally stable during this period, and less secure teens were slower to develop these skills. Further, teens' attachment security predicted the degree to which friends called for their support (B average = .29), which was associated with teens' responsiveness to such calls. The findings suggest that secure attachment predicts teens' ability to provide empathic support in close friendships.
Perceptions of adolescent–parent and adolescent–peer relationship qualities, and adolescents’ attachment states of mind were examined as predictors of adult social and romantic relationship quality, depressive symptoms, and work performance. Adolescents (86 male, 98 female; 58% White, 29% African American, 8% mixed race/ethnicity, 5% other groups) were followed from age 13 to 24 via observational, self‐, parent‐, and close friend‐reports. Adolescent close friendship quality was a significantly better predictor of adult peer and romantic outcomes, work performance, and depressive symptoms than parental reports of the parent–teen relationship; attachment security was also a strong predictor of numerous outcomes. Results are interpreted as reflecting the difficulty for parents judging parent–teen relationship quality and as reflecting the growing importance of close friendships during this period.
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