Suchergebnisse

In the United States, "some college" is attained more frequently than a 4-year college degree. However, attainments below 4-year college vary considerably in terms of credentials and years of higher education, and gender differences in health disparities remain overlooked. Additionally, high school experiences may confound any estimated health gains. We draw on national longitudinal data (Add Health; Waves IV and V) to estimate associations between subbaccalaureate education and general health during young adulthood and again at early midlife. Relative to attaining no education past high school, women's greater self-rated health with all levels of postsecondary attainment is robust to high school experiences, with the exception of vocational/technical training without a degree, in young adulthood and in early midlife. Greater health gains are linked to associate degrees compared to some college without a degree. For men, health benefits are found only among 4-year degree holders. For both genders, depressive symptom buffering linked to subbaccalaureate education is inconsistent and sometimes not robust to high school experiences. Overall, these findings offer a compelling case for recasting college health gains in terms of distinct postsecondary endpoints by gender.

Purpose To investigate whether changes in volunteering from adolescence to young adulthood are associated with subsequent health and well-being outcomes in adulthood. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Subjects U.S. adults from Wave IV (2008/2009; N = 12,234) and Wave V (2016-2018; N = 9,971). Measures Any volunteering and nine types of volunteering (independent variables) and 41 health and well-being outcomes (dependent variables) using an outcome-wide approach with multiple linear-, logistic-, and generalized linear regressions. Results Volunteering in young adulthood was associated with better health behaviors (e.g., 34% decreased risk of binge drinking, 95% CI [0.54, 0.81]) and improved psychosocial and civic outcomes (e.g., lower depressive symptoms (β = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.14, −0.02]) in adulthood. Volunteering showed little evidence of associations with other health and well-being outcomes (e.g., loneliness, (β = −0.04, 95% CI [−0.09, 0.01])). Assessing volunteering by organization types showed a range of positive and negative outcomes. For example, volunteering in hospitals/nursing homes was associated with a 36% increased risk of high cholesterol (95% CI [1.06, 1.73]) and volunteering with political clubs was associated with a 52% increased risk of an anxiety diagnosis (95% CI [1.13, 2.05]). Conclusion Our findings suggest more work is needed to determine the conditions under which volunteering is health promoting and to minimize potential adverse effects associated with some types of volunteering.