Raymond R. Swisher

Paternal incarceration and trajectories of marijuana and other illegal drug use from adolescence into young adulthood: evidence from longitudinal panels of males and females in the United States

AIMS One-eighth of young adults in the United States report that their biological father has ever been incarcerated (FEI). This study is the first to examine associations between FEI and trajectories of substance use during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood for the US population. DESIGN Using multi-level modeling techniques, trajectories of marijuana and other illegal drug use are examined, with FEI as the primary independent variable. SETTING Data are from the first three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of US adolescents beginning in 1995. PARTICIPANTS Panels of 7157 males and 7997 females followed from adolescence (7th-12th grades) into early adulthood (ages 18-27 years). MEASUREMENTS Dependent variables included an ordinal measure of marijuana frequency of use in last thirty days, and a dichotomous measure for whether respondent had any use in the last thirty days of illegal drugs such crystal meth, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, PCP, LSD, speed, and ecstasy. FINDINGS Among males and females, respectively, FEI is associated with an increased frequency of marijuana use, and increased odds of any other illegal drug use. Interactions between FEI and age further reveal that FEI is associated with an accentuated trajectory (i.e. a steeper slope) of marijuana use, and an elevated risk (i.e. higher mean level) of other illegal drug use. CONCLUSIONS Analysis provides some of the first evidence that paternal incarceration is significantly associated with drug use among U.S. males and females, even after controlling for a number of family background, parental, and individual characteristics.

The long arm of the farm: how an occupation structures exposure and vulnerability to stressors across role domains.

We examine how the occupation of farming structures the stress experiences of individuals through the timing and placement of actions. Further, we show how occupations have effects that spillover into family and friendship relationships. We find that farming affects both exposure and vulnerability to stressors. Specifically, farm men are more exposed to financial and job-related stressors, while less prone to marital conflict, than non-farmers. Given the importance of cohesion in farm family operations, farm men are more vulnerable to such conflict when it occurs. However, farm men are unaffected, if not consoled, by knowledge of undesirable events in the lives of their friends. We explore this finding and conclude that farm men use downward social comparisons to cope with the high levels of uncertainty characteristic of farming in the aftermath of the 1980s farm crisis.

If they grow up: exploring the neighborhood context of adolescent and young adult survival expectations

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this paper examines individual and neighborhood predictors of adolescent and young adult survival expectations - their confidence of surviving to age 35. Analyses revealed that within-person increases in depression and violent perpetration decreased the odds of expecting to survive. Individuals who rated themselves in good health and received routine physical care had greater survival expectations. Consistent with documented health disparities, Black and Hispanic youth had lower survival expectations than did their White peers. Neighborhood poverty was linked to diminished survival expectations both within and between persons, with the between person association remaining significant controlling for mental and physical health, exposure to violence, own violence, and a wide range of socio-demographic factors.

Educational Pathways and Change in Crime Between Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Objectives: This article examines the relationship between intergenerational educational pathways and change in crime. Moreover, it examines the potential mediating roles of family and employment transitions, economic stressors, and social psychological factors. Method: Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 14,742) and negative binomial models are used to assess associations between educational pathways (i.e., upward, downward, and stable) and change in crime between adolescence and early adulthood. Selection effects are assessed with lagged dependent variables and controls for self-control, grades, and the Add Health Picture Vocabulary Test. Results: Intergenerational educational pathways are significantly associated with changes in crime. Downward educational pathways were predictive of increases in crime, whereas upward pathways were associated with decreases in crime. These associations were partly mediated by family transitions, and more strongly by economic stressors. These results were robust to controls for selection related variables. Conclusions: This study is among the first to examine the relationship between intergenerational educational pathways and crime in the United States. Both upward and downward changes in educational attainments were found to be significant for crime. These findings are notable given the continuing expansion of higher education as well as concerns regarding increasing stratification and downward mobility in the United States.

Adolescent Survival Expectations: Variations by Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity

Adolescent survival expectations are linked to a range of problem behaviors, poor health, and later socioeconomic disadvantage, yet scholars have not examined how survival expectations are differentially patterned by race, ethnicity, and/or nativity. This is a critical omission given that many risk factors for low survival expectations are themselves stratified by race and ethnicity. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we modeled racial, ethnic, and immigrant group differences in trajectories of adolescent survival expectations and assess whether these differences are accounted for by family, neighborhood, and/or other risk factors (e.g., health care access, substance use, exposure to violence). Findings indicated that most racial, ethnic, and immigrant groups were more pessimistic about their survival than were non-Hispanic whites, with the exception of Cuban youth, who were the most optimistic. Foreign-born Mexican youth had the lowest survival expectations, contrary to expectations from the “healthy-immigrant” hypothesis.

Parenthood Residency Status and Criminal Desistance across Neighborhood Contexts

ABSTRACT Research on desistance and parenthood has yielded mixed results bringing into question whether, and for whom, parenthood matters. Scholarship has not fully explored the importance of residency status or patterns of desistance across a full range of neighborhood contexts, nor examined distinctions between temporary and long-term desistance. Our study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine the association between parenthood residence and criminal desistance across levels of adolescent neighborhood poverty. Our findings demonstrate that parenthood has different meanings for desistance, depending on its duration, residency status, and neighborhood context.

Social Class, Family Formation, and Delinquency in Early Adulthood

Recent research suggests increasing heterogeneity in the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. This study considers how this heterogeneity may influence delinquency between these two developmental periods. We focus on the role of family transitions, educational attainment, and employment in predicting risk of nonviolent delinquency and substance use, as well as disparities in transitions across socioeconomic status subgroups. Data are from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). We find that family and neighborhood advantage are negatively associated with transitions into marriage, cohabitation, and parenthood, yet positively associated with educational attainment. In addition, adolescent family and neighborhood advantage are associated with a continuation of delinquent behavior and substance use during early adulthood. In multivariate analyses, accounting for family transitions in early adulthood largely attenuates the relationship between neighborhood advantage in adolescence and delinquency in early adulthood. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for developmental criminology.

Postsecondary Education, Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Crime: An Examination of Life Course Relative Deprivation:

The growing importance of a college degree for economic stability, coupled with increasing educational inequality in the United States, suggest potential criminogenic implications for downward educational mobility. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this article examines the associations between intergenerational educational mobility, neighborhood disadvantage in adulthood, and crime. Drawing on the few extant studies of educational mobility and crime, as well as social comparison theory, it tests whether the consequences of downward educational mobility are moderated by neighborhood contexts. Results suggest that downward mobility is associated with increases in crime, and most strongly in more advantaged neighborhoods. The implications of these findings for future research on social mobility, education, and crime are discussed.

Adolescent Work and Alcohol Use: Moderation by Neighborhood Context and the Role of Peers

ABSTRACT Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study looks at the adolescent work and binge drinking relationship among a sample of 4,826 adolescents. The article assesses variability in the work–binge drinking relationship by social class and neighborhood disadvantage and seeks to explain variability by considering social control and social learning processes. Results reveal that the detrimental relationships between work intensity and binge drinking are stronger for those from more advantaged neighborhoods. Results also show that perceived peer substance use explains neighborhood disadvantage differences in the relationship between intense work and binge drinking.