Social Structural Differences in Long-Term Relationships between Adolescent Work Intensity and Adult Deviance

• In Event: Examining the Impact of Job Skills, Work, and Financial Independence on Offending Outcomes

Abstract

Research has found that working intense hours is related to substance use and delinquency in adolescence. Few studies, however, have focused on long-term relationships between adolescent work intensity and deviance, and fewer yet have examined the extent to which long-term relationships vary by subgroups of the population. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this research examines long-term relationships between adolescent work intensity and adult substance use and non-violent deviance, respectively. This study also examines variability in these relationships by neighborhood disadvantage. Preliminary results show that adolescent work intensity is positively related to deviance in adulthood. Contrary to expectations, preliminary results also show that while higher levels of adolescent work intensity are related to higher levels of adult binge drinking and non-violent deviance among youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods, it is related to lower levels of adult binge drinking and non-violent deviance among youth from advantaged neighborhoods.

Author

• Gregory C. Rocheleau, Youngstown State University