Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
277 research outputs found
Sort by
Editorial: A critical life course stage
Full text linkAn introduction to this issue of the LLCS journal
Moral and social antecedents of young adults’ attitudes toward social inequality and social justice values
Full text linkIn light of growing social stratification, there have been calls to better understand the developmental antecedents of attitudes and values related to social inequality. In this study we predicted attitudes toward social inequality and social justice values from moral and social antecedents in a representative sample of Swiss adolescents (N = 1,258) at 15 (Time 1), 18 (Time 2), and 21 years of age (Time 3). We assessed children’s sympathy and morals in the context of individuals’ decision-making and anticipation of emotions in moral dilemmas. Social-contextual factors included relationship quality, which was assessed by the quality of one’s closest friendship and education level. Adolescents who reported higher friendship quality and sympathy showed stronger attitudes toward social inequality later. Interestingly, adolescents’ own education level at age 18 positively predicted attitudes toward social inequality at age 21 above and beyond parent education level, but only marginally at a younger age. Social justice values at age 18 were predicted by sympathy and the anticipation of moral emotions at age 15, and social justice values at age 21 were associated with sympathy at age 18. Results are discussed with respect to the potential significance of morality and social-contextual factors in the development of attitudes toward social inequality and social justice values in early adulthood.
A socio-ecological model of agency: The role of psycho-social and socioeconomic resources in shaping education and employment transitions in England
No full textThis study examines the role of structural and agentic resources in shaping school-to-work transitions in England. We ask to what extent are young people able to steer the course of their lives despite the constraining forces of social structure, and how satisfied are they with their lives following the completion of compulsory schooling. Drawing on data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England we use sequence analysis of monthly activity data to identify differences in the timing and sequencing of education and employment transitions. We identified six distinct pathways, differentiating between an academic track, three pathways involving further education and training, as well as a work-focused transition and a group of young people who were over a long period not in education or training (NEET). The findings suggest that not all young people are inclined to follow an academic track and instead select into pathways involving vocational training or further education, enabling them to experience competence and life satisfaction. For others, however, the lack of socioeconomic and psycho-social resources is too overwhelming and they encounter long-term experience of NEET or are not able to transform their educational credentials into employment opportunities. The findings highlight that in addition to considering structural constraints it is important to conceptualise the role of the agent for a better understanding of variations in youth transitions
An integrated and collaborative approach to developing and scripting questionnaires for longitudinal cohort studies and surveys: experience in Life Study
Full text linkEfficient development of questionnaires for longitudinal surveys and cohort studies as computer-assisted survey instruments usually entails close collaboration between scientific and fieldwork teams. We describe a system based on the use of a Structured Query Language (SQL) database established to maximise efficiency, minimise error and ensure clear communication of requirements across teams for ‘Life Study’, a UK-wide cohort study designed to recruit mothers, their babies, partners and non-resident fathers, with whom further contacts were planned at the outset. The use of the SQL database enabled construction and integration of different elements of the study, initially through creating a master copy of each variable. This supported swift and accurate creation of a range of outputs enabling, for example, review and approval of successive drafts and final specifications of questionnaires, efficient implementation of changes to variables, re-use of metadata specified at the outset, reduction of ambiguities for survey programmers, and efficient and accurate automation of questionnaire scripting. The SQL database was also used to generate the syntax to transform pilot data into formats specified for data archiving and for associated publication quality questionnaires. This innovative use of an SQL database for questionnaire development and scripting, and subsequent data processing and documentation, highlights the value of this approach in improving the quality and efficiency of longitudinal surveys
Review of Handbook of the Life Course, Volume II
No full textKarl Ulrich Mayer reviews the second volume of the Handbook of the Life Course, edited by Michael J. Shanahan, Jeylan T. Mortimer and Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson. Building on the success of the first volume in 2003, it identifies future directions for life course research and policy.
Origins of health inequalities: the case for Allostatic Load
Full text linkIn an opening paper Cyrille Delpierre, Cristina Barbosa-Solis, Jerome Torrisani, Muriel Darnaudery, Melanie Bartley, David Blane and Michelle Kelly-Irving explore the concept of Allostatic Load as a way of examining health inequalities. The impact of the environment on our biological systems is summarised by the concept of embodiment. The biological embedding of social conditions could therefore be a relevant mechanism to partly explain the social gradient in health. A key issue is how to measure the ‘physiological reality’, the biological expression of embodiment at individual and population levels. Allostatic load (AL) has been proposed as a measure of the overall cost of adapting to the environment, and may be a relevant tool or concept for measuring the way we have embodied our environment. The points they raise are then debated in commentaries by Linn Getz and Margret Olafia Tomasdottir, Tony Robertson and Per Gustafson. These commentaries are followed by a response from the authors of the opening paper
Life events and moves under duress: disruption in the life course and mobility outcomes
Full text linkThere is a well-established body of research about the effect of life course changes on the probability of migration and mobility, and there is well-documented evidence of the link between specific life course events and tenure. Still, we have only a partial picture of what happens in the housing market when specific disruptive events impact families. This article reviews our broad understanding of life course triggering events and then examines just what happens when families move following a destabilising event (involuntary moves, loss of job, divorce and separation). Families can be variously affected by these disruptive events but the effects are greater for families at the margin, those who are renters, living in less advantaged neighbourhoods and with lower incomes. While these findings are not surprising, the size and likelihood of disruptive events is both larger than often reported, and increased during the housing crisis of 2006 to 2009