The goal of our project is to understand processes of family formation in relation to career trajectories among youngadults, and the consequences of family formation behaviors for health outcomes in young adulthood. With fourwaves of Add Health data, this project examines how early experiences and investments in romantic relationshipsand education during adolescence initiate trajectories that extend into adulthood and influence key decisions aboutfamily formation and career development in the 20s. Unique data that are not available in any other national dataset are used, including involvement in romantic relationships during adolescence and new Add Health educationaldata on curriculum and academic intensity from high school transcripts. We first document patterns anddifferentials of family formation and career development among young adult men and women and acrosssocioeconomic, race, ethnic, and immigrant groups. With a life course perspective, we draw on theories ofsocialization and opportunity structures to define the important mechanisms of influence within the three domainsof context, biology, and behavior that operate in family formation trajectories. Their effects are then integrated ina dynamic longitudinal model of the determinants of family formation in young adulthood, including marriage,cohabitation, and marital and nonmarital childbearing. We use innovative methods to analyze the simultaneousdecisions involved in processes of family formation and contribute to knowledge about how adolescent experiencesand development are linked to behavior in young adulthood. Finally, we examine key hypotheses about the impactof union status and early nonmarital childbearing on mental health and stress outcomes, exploiting new biologicaldata at Wave IV, as well as repeated measures of mental health over the four interview waves in Add Health.
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