This revision of an earlier application seeks 5 years of continued support for a study of over 500 young adults who have been interviewed each year since early adolescence and now average 22 years-of-age (The Family Transitions Project, MH51361). The parents, a near-aged sibling, close friends, romantic partners, and the children of these young adults also have been participants in this research. Annual multi-informant reports (self, other, and trained observer) on each of these participants over the previous 10-year period have generated a rich archive of information on individual health and maladjustment, family and peer relationships, instrumental successes and failures, and social and economic events and conditions. This broad base of information, collected across three generations, lays the foundation to study generational continuities, discontinuities, interdependence, and reciprocities as these young adults transition through the particularly critical life stage of early adulthood. Passage through this critical period will be evaluated within the full context of the young adults' lives, including personal characteristics of competence, distress and disorder, family and other close relationships, social and economic events and conditions, and the characteristics and development of their young children. Special emphasis is to be placed on the identification of mediational pathways and moderating mechanisms that may account for associations within and across life domains and generations. Additionally, replications and extensions of earlier cross- generational work as well as cross-site replications of the proposed research will be performed. In short, the proposed investigation provides a significant opportunity to prospectively study and identify factors associated with the successful or unsuccessful transition to adult roles in employment, romantic relationships, and parenting, using a longitudinal design and information collected across three generations of participants.
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