Ilsung Nam

Predicting Savings From Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Propensity Score Approach

This paper examines the progression of savings between adolescence and young adulthood. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we ask whether the likelihood of having a savings account in young adulthood and the amount of savings can be significantly predicted by two factors: having a savings account during adolescence and having parents who own assets. Descriptive statistics reveal that adolescents with savings accounts are more often White, employed, and live in households in which the head is married, has more education, and owns assets. Propensity score analyses confirm that young adults are more likely to have a savings account when they have a savings account as adolescents. Some evidence suggests that adolescents whose parents have savings on their behalf and have higher net worth are more likely to have higher amounts of savings as young adults. Findings suggest that parents play an important role in modeling saving habits for adolescents. Further, our findings suggest that having a savings account in adolescence leads to an increased likelihood of having a savings account in young adulthood; however, this finding requires confirmation in future research.

Direct Effects of Assets and Savings on the College Progress of Black Young Adults

Descriptive data indicate that 62% of White young adults between the ages of 17 and 23 years were on course (i.e., either in college or have graduated from college) in 2007, compared with only 37% of Black young adults. Given this, finding novel and promising ways to promote college progress among Black young adults, in particular, is a growing concern for policy makers. Controlling for a number of factors, the authors find that young adults who have school savings as adolescents are more likely to be on course than young adults who did not have school savings regardless of race. The authors conclude that policies that help parents and adolescents accumulate savings may be a simple and effective strategy for helping keep young adults “on course” in their college education, while taking on less debt.

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Core Bereavement Items

Despite being a routinely administered assessment of grieving, few studies have empirically examined the psychometric properties of the Core Bereavement Items (CBI). The present study investigated the factor structure, internal reliability, and concurrent validity of the CBI in a large, diverse sample of bereaved young adults (N = 1,366). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (conducted on randomly selected halves of the sample) supported a two-factor structure, with items tapping into grief-related Thoughts and Emotional Response to loss. These factors showed strong internal consistency and unique associations with demographic variables, circumstantial factors surrounding the loss, and a measure of prolonged/severe grief—highlighting the potential applicability of the identified factor structure.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Cross-Cultural Examination of the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG)

Grief is an important psychological response to loss and it is frequently encountered by clients served in diverse areas of social work practice. Despite its importance, little is known about the different aspects of grief that clients experience and the degree to which these dimensions are consistent across White and minority groups. This study examined the dimensionality of the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG) and its stability across minority and non-minority individuals using confirmatory factor analysis. The findings highlight the multidimensionality of grief across diverse client groups, hold important implications for social work practice, and point to the utility of the TRIG for rapidly assessing grief in a variety of social work practice settings.