Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Building 10 CRC, Room 4-1339, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Dev Psychol. 2013 Jul;49(7):1407-12. doi: 10.1037/a0029557. Epub 2012 Aug 13.
Sense of control is greater among children who grow up in households of higher socioeconomic status. It is unclear if this childhood advantage persists throughout life or if schooling and adulthood experiences override any early childhood advantage. Using data from 2 nationally representative samples of primarily middle-aged (National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, or MIDUS), and older adults (Health and Retirement Study, or HRS), I tested if personal mastery and perceived constraints in adulthood were associated with the educational attainment of the participant's father or mother, adjusting for participant's education level, income, and other demographic characteristics. In both samples, personal mastery was not associated with either parent's education level, but perceived constraints had a graded inverse association with mother's education level. These results indicate that childhood experiences continue to be associated with perceived constraints, even in later life, and may not be completely overridden by adult experiences.
在社会经济地位较高的家庭中成长的孩子，其控制感更强。目前尚不清楚这种童年优势是否会持续一生，还是学校教育和成年经历会超过任何早期的童年优势。本研究使用了来自两个具有全国代表性的主要中年（美国中期生活发展调查，或 MIDUS）和老年（健康与退休研究，或 HRS）人群样本的数据，检验了成年后的个人掌控感和感知限制是否与参与者的父亲或母亲的受教育程度有关，同时调整了参与者的教育水平、收入和其他人口统计学特征。在这两个样本中，个人掌控感都与父母的教育水平无关，但感知限制与母亲的教育水平呈梯度反比关系。这些结果表明，即使在成年后，童年经历仍与感知限制有关，而且这些经历可能不会被成年经历完全掩盖。
