Childhood self-control has been linked with better health, criminal justice, and economic outcomes in adulthood in predominately white cohorts outside of the United States. We investigated whether self-control in first grade predicted success in the transition to adulthood in a longitudinal cohort of first graders who participated in a universal intervention trial to prevent poor achievement and reduce aggression in Baltimore schools. We also explored whether the intervention moderated the relationship between self-control and young adult outcomes. Teachers rated self-control using the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised. Study outcomes were on-time high school graduation, college participation, teen pregnancy, substance use disorder, criminal justice system involvement, and incarceration (ages 19–26). Latent profile analysis was used to identify classes of childhood self-control. A high self-control class (n = 279, 48.1%), inattentive class (n = 201, 35.3%), and inattentive/hyperactive class (n = 90, 16.6%) were identified. Children with better self-control were more likely to graduate on time and attend college; no significant class differences were found for teen pregnancy, substance use disorder, criminal justice system involvement, or incarceration. A classroom-based intervention reduced criminal justice system involvement and substance use disorder among children with high self-control. Early interventions to promote child self-control may have long-term individual and social benefits.

Teenage childbearing (age 15–19 years) represents a significant public health issue that can generate considerable deleterious, multigenerational consequences for teen-childbearing mothers and their offspring. However, few studies have examined the potential mediating mechanisms that may explain if and how teen childbearing is associated with the development of offspring psychopathology. The current study used a developmental model to test the mediating role of chronic child maltreatment in the relationship between teen childbearing and offspring internalizing symptoms in childhood and emerging adulthood. The study participants were 384 individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged, ethnically diverse backgrounds, assessed across two longitudinal waves of data (i.e., ages 10–12 and 18–20). The sample included maltreated and nonmaltreated children, all of whom were comparable in terms of family income. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test direct and indirect pathways from teen childbearing to offspring psychopathology. A multigenerational developmental cascade was found such that individuals born to mothers who began their childbearing in adolescence were more likely to experience chronic maltreatment during childhood, which in turn predicted greater internalizing symptoms throughout childhood and emerging adulthood. Using a developmental psychopathology framework, the results are discussed with regard to implications for prevention and early intervention.

Though declining since the 1990s, adolescent pregnancy remains common in the United States. Social supports appear to improve outcomes for pregnant teens; however, teen pregnancy introduces social obstacles, such as stigma. This study investigates how currently or previously pregnant teens’ friendship networks differ from nonpregnant girls using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and multilevel regression models. To mitigate concerns that background differences contribute to both pregnancy risk and social networks, girls who experience a pregnancy prior to one data collection time point are compared girls who experience their first pregnancy after this time point. This group who become pregnant after the time point is presumably more similar to already pregnant teens than those never experiencing teen pregnancy. When compared to these girls who become pregnant in the future, those who have already experienced a teen pregnancy report similar numbers of friends (out-nominations) and perceived social acceptance, but are predicted to have fewer peers reporting them as friends (in-nominations) and fewer reciprocated friendships. This suggests that pregnant teens may face stigmatization, of which they may be unaware. It further highlights a new comparison group to account for selection in studies of adolescent pregnancy.