Risky Business and Behaviors: Adolescents’ Occupational Expectations, Substance Use, and Anticipated Sexual Transmitted Infection

• In Event: 2-042 - Adolescent Future Expectations and Aspirations, Adult Outcomes, and the Influence of Gender and Sociocultural Context

Integrative Statement

This study examined how occupational expectations relate to substance use and sexual risk behaviors among adolescents. Existing research has consistently shown that occupational expectations predict many indicators of well-being, including academic achievement (e.g., Eccles & Wingfield, 2002; Mello, 2008). However, the relationship between occupational expectations and risky behaviors, including, substance use and sexual risks, has yet to be examined. Investigating psychological factors related to adolescent substance use is critical given rates of substance use (MTF, 2016; NIDA, 2017), co-morbid behaviors including sexual risks (Lowry, 1994), and the overall implications for adult health (Lynskey & Hall, 2000). Thus, this study addressed the research questions: how are adolescents’ occupational expectations associated with substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and does gender moderate these relationships?

Participants included 790 adolescents (Mage = 15.87, SDage = 1.23; 51% female) from diverse racial/ethnic groups: 6% African American, 18% Asian American, 15% European American, 43% Latino, 18% more than one race/ethnicity or another racial/ethnic group. Occupational Expectations were assessed with an open-ended question that asked participants, “What kind of work do you see yourself doing as an adult?” Responses were coded by trained research assistants and were based on the Hollingshead Occupational Index (1975). Categories included 1 (laborer), 2 (service), 3 (protective), 4 (artist), 5 (minor professional), and 6 (major professional). Second, substance use was measured with the prompt: “If you use marijuana or other drugs, how “high” (stoned, faded, wasted, trashed) do you usually like to get? Responses were coded as a binary variable, 0 (I don’t use drugs) or 1 (not at all high, a little high, moderately high, really high or wasted). Third, sexual risk was measured with the question, “What do you think your chances are of getting a sexually transmitted disease are within a year?” Responses ranged from 1 (no chance at all) to 5 (extremely high chance).

Results from ANOVA, shown in Figures 1 and 2, indicated that occupational expectations were associated with both substance use and sexually risk behaviors. Adolescents who expressed occupational expectations for laborer positions used more substances (F [5, 662] = 3.84, p < .01, Cohen’s f = .15; See Figure 1) and were more likely to anticipate acquiring a sexually transmitted infection (F [5, 645] = 8.49, p < .001, Cohen’s f = .24; See Figure 2) than their counterparts who expected to obtain other occupations. Males were at increased risk.

Overall, the findings showed that adolescents’ occupational expectations were negatively associated with risky behaviors. This study extends prior research focusing on future expectations and academic achievement (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002) to include substance use and sexual risk behaviors, topics that are vitally important for adolescent health. Future research should include longitudinal designs to determine the temporal ordering or directionality of the associations we observed in this study. Implications of this research include the following: being able to inform high school counselors about the relationship between an adolescent’s hope for their future career and the likelihood of their substance use and engaging in sexual risk behaviors.

Authors

• Zena R. Mello, San Francisco State University
  Presenting Author

• Laura J Finan, Illinois State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Y Alcaraz, San Francisco State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Daishea R Poole, California Baptist University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Julie Chandler, San Francisco State University
  Non-Presenting Author