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Abstract
The etiology of psychological differences among those who pursue distinct lines of work have long been of scholarly interest. A prevalent early and continuing assumption is that experiences on the job influence psychological development; contemporary analysts focus on dimensions indicative of mental health. Still, such work-related psychological differences may instead be attributable to selection processes to the extent that individuals can choose, or be selected to, different lines of work, based on their prior characteristics. Whereas much attention has been directed to employment per se as a key determinant of mental health, we consider work status (employed or not) and hours of work, as well as work quality, including both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions among those who are employed. We also investigate differences in the effects of work experiences on mental health in distinct phases of the work career. Drawing on eleven waves of longitudinal data obtained from a cohort of ninth grade students followed prospectively to age 45–46 (54% female; 73% white), we examine whether key psychological dimensions indicative of mental health (mastery, depressive affect, and self-esteem) change in response to employment and to particular experiences on the job. The findings, based on a fixed-effects modeling strategy, indicate that observed psychological differences related to employment and work quality are not attributable to stable individual proclivities. Evidence suggests that mental health is responsive to changing experiences at work from mid-adolescence to mid-life.

AbstractFollowing Schulenberg's research on teenage employment and vocational development, we ask to what extent do job dimensions reflecting the quality of work experience during mid‐adolescence (e.g., work stress, autonomy, learning and advancement opportunities, hourly pay, wage satisfaction, and work hours) predict the same work experiences during the ensuing occupational career? Using longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (N = 711 individuals over 3164 occasions), and hybrid panel models to control for unobserved time‐stable selection influences, we find a high level of continuity of work quality from adolescence to mid‐life. Multiple dimensions of adolescent work quality are associated with the same dimensions of work quality in adulthood, even after controlling for educational attainment and other time‐varying adult confounders.