An Unexpected Success Story: Transition to Adulthood in Youth With Chronic Physical Health Conditions

Abstract

We used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY; 1987) to examine the relationship between having a chronic physical health condition during youth (ages 14 to 21), and the subsequent transition to adulthood among a nationally representative sample (10,485), followed from 1979 to 1986. We controlled for theoretically important baseline characteristics of the youths and their families in multivariate regression models examining educational attainment, marriage, income, unemployment, and self-esteem. Analyses suggest that adolescents and young adults with chronic physical health conditions are at a slightly higher risk of problems in early adult life, but these effects are overshadowed by more potent social, economic, and demographic characteristics of both the youths and their families of origin. These results were unexpected; we had hypothesized a wide variety of mechanisms whereby individuals with chronic conditions would not perform as well as their healthy peers in adult roles. For youths with very severe chronic health conditions, limitations in their transitions are often very substantial; however, these conditions are quite rare, and few appear in a nationally representative sample such as the NLSY. The great majority of youths with chronic health conditions appear to be successful in their early transitions to adulthood. Further follow-up studies are needed to confirm these findings in later adult life and other populations.