Poster #201 - Competence and coping during the transition to adulthood for children of divorce: Developmental cascades model

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

The transition from adolescence to adulthood includes life changes related to work. This period has become more variable in recent decades, potentially creating uncertainty and stress for adolescents, and providing opportunity for researchers to understand mechanisms by which this transition occurs (Shanahan, 2000). Taking a lifecourse perspective, Clausen (1991) posited that adolescent “planful competence,” influences educational attainment and career stability in adulthood. However, Clausen was primarily concerned with personality traits, not with adaptive or maladaptive development. More recent work offers a domain-specific, developmentally-sensitive conceptualization of competence (Havinghurst, 1982). Empirical work supports this conceptualization (i.e., that academic competence becomes less salient as work competence becomes more salient in young adulthood; Roisman et al., 2004). Masten and colleagues (2004) found in a correlational study that young adult work competence is influenced both by age-salient competence (i.e., academic competence) and psychological resources (e.g., coping, future motivation) earlier in life. We extend this research by exploring within- and cross-domain associations of academic competence (AC) and coping efficacy (CE) from childhood to adolescence (as well as adolescent educational expectations) and their associations with work competence (WC) in young adulthood (YA). This study was conducted in the context of an intervention, so we additionally explored intervention, risk, and intervention by risk effects.
Participants were 240 families with divorcing parents particpating in the New Beginnings Program, an intervention designed to reduce risk for substance use and mental health problems (nintervention=164; ncontrol=76; Wolchik et al., 2000, 2013). Participants were 9-12 years old at baseline, and were followed-up at 6-mo, 6-yrs, and 15-yrs post-intervention. Youth reported coping efficacy using the coping efficacy scale; academic competence using Coatsworth competence scales; one item about future educational expectations; and WC using independent ratings of competence from structured interviews. Our developmental cascades model (Masten & Ciccheti, 2010) included all within-domain, cross-time and cross-domain, cross-time paths and within-time correlations for the main study variables. The model also included baseline internalizing and self-esteem as covariates on childhood variables and regressed all main study variables on a risk composite (i.e., externalizing and environmental factors like conflict, SES, negative events), intervention status, and a risk × intervention interaction.
AC was stable over time and positively predicted future educational expectations and coping efficacy in adolescence (see figure 1). CE was not stable over time after controlling for covariates. However, adolescent CE positively predicted YA WC, above the effects of AC, future expectations, and covariates. We found direct effects of baseline risk on childhood CE and all adolescent variables. In all cases except adolescent AC, we also found intervention by risk effects.
Findings suggest adolescents’ future educational expectations and CE might be two paths by which AC influences WC for children of divorce. While baseline risk factors have the potential to negatively affect these paths, New Beginnings Program improved outcomes for participants at higher risk. Results support the notion that early risk detection and subsequent intervention is important for long-term outcomes and suggest that future educational expectations and CE might be important direct targets for intervention in adolescence.

Authors

• Chanler Hilley, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Lindstrom Johnson, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kit Elam, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sharlene Wolchik, REACH Institute, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Irwin Sandler, REACH Institute, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author