A developmental cascade model linking competence and symptoms was tested in a study of a normative, urban school sample of 205 children (initially 8 to 12 years old). Internalizing and externalizing symptoms and academic competence were assessed by multiple methods at the study outset and after 7, 10, and 20 years. A series of nested cascade models was tested through structural equation modeling. The final model indicated 2 hypothesized cascade effects: Externalizing problems evident in childhood appeared to undermine academic competence by adolescence, which subsequently showed a negative effect on internalizing problems in young adulthood. A significant exploratory effect was consistent with internalizing symptoms containing or lowering the net risk for externalizing problems under some conditions. These 3 cascade effects did not differ by gender and were not attributable to effects of IQ, parenting quality, or socioeconomic differences. Implications are discussed for developmental models of cascades, progressions, and preventive interventions.

Patterns of continuity and change in competence and resilience over the transition to adulthood were examined in relation to adversity and psychosocial resources, with a focus on adaptive resources that may be particularly important for this transition. Variable-focused and person-focused analyses drew on data from the Project Competence longitudinal study of a school cohort followed over 20 years from childhood through emerging adulthood~EA! into the young adulthood~YA! years with excellent retention~90%!. Success in age-salient and emerging developmental tasks from EA to YA was examined in a sample of 173 of the original participants with complete data on adversity, competence, and key resources. Regressions and extreme-group analyses indicated striking continuity in competence and resilience, yet also predictable change. Success in developmental tasks in EA and YA was related to core resources originating in childhood~IQ, parenting quality, socioeconomic status! and also to a set of EA adaptive resources that included planfulness0future motivation, autonomy, adult support, and coping skills. EA adaptive resources had unique predictive significance for successful transitions to adulthood, both overall and for the small group of individuals whose pattern of adaptation changed dramatically from maladaptive to resilient over the transition. Results are discussed in relation to the possibility that the transition to adulthood is a window of opportunity for changing the life course.

Individuals, parents, communities, and societies all share a stake in successful transitions to adulthood, both for adolescents already doing well and for those in trouble. Like all developmental transitions, this one denotes a period of concentrated change in individuals, their contexts, and their interactions that may increase vulnerabilities and threats for the individual as well as opportunities for positive transformation. Emerging adulthood (EA) in contemporary societies holds new challenges and new opportunities for young people as they negotiate a complex array of choices during a prolonged period of exploration, challenge, and change, as they make their way toward adult roles and responsibilities (Arnett, 2000). Many young people will negotiate this transition successfully, but others will not. To improve the chances of young people succeeding in the early adult years, one needs to understand when and how successful transitions to adulthood occur, and particularly what may make a difference for adolescents in danger of floundering along the way.In this chapter, we examine the meaning of resilience in relation to emerging adulthood, focusing on development of individuals growing up with the odds stacked against them because of psychosocial risk and adversity. Several questions capture the themes of this chapter: What does resilience mean in the context of EA? Does resilience among youth at high risk endure through the transition to adulthood? Does resilience emerge during EA? Is EA a window of change that offers opportunities to redirect the life course in more positive directions? In the first part of the chapter, we define resilience in the contextThe authors are deeply grateful to Michael Maddaus and all the participants in Project Competence who have shared their life histories with others so that we might learn more about successful transitions to adulthood and how to foster resilience.

Associations among internalizing, externalizing, and social competence were examined in a longitudinal cohort (N = 205) of 8- to 12-year-old children reassessed after 7, 10, and 20 years. Theoretically informed nested structural equation models tested interconnections among broad multi-informant constructs across four developmental periods. Follow-up analyses examined gender invariance, measurement and age effects, and putative common causes. Key model comparisons indicated robust negative paths from social competence to internalizing problems from childhood to adolescence and from emerging adulthood to young adulthood. Social competence and externalizing problems showed strong initial associations in childhood but no longitudinal cross-domain paths. Using a developmental psychopathology framework, results are discussed in relation to cascade and transactional effects and the interplay between competence and symptoms over time.

Existing longitudinal research on the interplay between externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and academic and social competence has documented "cascading" effects from early aggressive/disruptive behavior through impairments in competence, leading to symptoms of depression and anxiety. The primary aim of the current study was to replicate such work using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development while also extending the developmental window of investigation of cascades back into early childhood. Participating families (N = 1,160) completed questionnaire measures of externalizing, internalizing, and social competence (maternal report), as well as individual assessment of academic achievement, spanning five time points from age 54 months through age 15 years. A series of nested structural equation models tested predicted links across various domains of competence and psychopathology. Results were consistent with prior research, demonstrating cross-domain effects from early externalizing problems through effects on both academic and social competence into later internalizing problems. Effects held across gender and were largely unaffected by inclusion of socioeconomic status, early caregiving, and early cognitive ability as covariates in the model.

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Results emphasize the importance of independent data for testing mediational claims, and support claims that the processes involved in the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology are different for male and female youth.

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