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Adverse Experiences in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood Disadvantages

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Abstract

Despite extensive research documenting associations between adverse early-life experiences and negative outcomes in later life, little is known about how adverse experiences in late adolescence relate to young adulthood disadvantages. This study examines the role of adverse experiences during late adolescence on young adults’ education and work trajectories in Taiwan. Drawing theories and research from human development and sociology, the study links indicators of disadvantages in young adulthood to measures of adverse experiences in late adolescence using data from the Taiwan Youth Project data (n = 1221; median ages 18, 20, and 22; 49.4% female). The analysis found that running away from home was associated with instability in education or employment and that having cumulative adverse experiences was associated with graduating with debt and instability in education or employment. Some associations were explained by financial pressure, however, taken together, the findings suggest that certain adverse experiences in late adolescence have a significant impact on disadvantaged education and work trajectories in young adulthood.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks scholars at the Graduate Institute of Social Work and the Department of Sociology, National Chengchi University for their comments and suggestions. The author also thanks Dr. Miriam Linver (Montclair State University) for the valuable comments.

Funding

This study was supported by the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant numbers: MOST 109-2410-H-110-002-MY2, MOST 110-2420-H-002-003-MY3-V11004).

Data Sharing and Declaration

The datasets generated during the current study are not publicly available but are available on reasonable request.

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  1. Center for Teacher Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70 Lien-hai Rd., Kaohsiung, 804, Taiwan

    Wei-Lin Chen

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  1. Wei-Lin Chen
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Correspondence to Wei-Lin Chen.

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The study received ethical approval from the National Cheng Kung University Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval number: NCKU HREC-E-108-484-2).

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Informed consent was provided by respondents’ parents in the Taiwan Youth Project.

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Chen, WL. Adverse Experiences in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood Disadvantages. J Youth Adolescence 52, 585–597 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01714-1

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