Ou Suh-Ruu, Yoo Sangok, Reynolds Arthur J
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Human Capital Research Collaborative, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
J Adult Dev. 2024 Nov 7. doi: 10.1007/s10804-024-09499-2.
The beneficial impacts of civic participation on health are reported for adolescents and older adults. Still, civic participation is underrecognized in its potential to promote a wide range of well-being. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between civic participation in early adulthood and midlife well-being for a 1980 birth sample of minority youth who were economically disadvantaged and explore education as a mediator of such associations. The study sample included 1,101 participants from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a quasi-experimental design of a cohort of low-income minority children followed since 1985. Midlife well-being was measured by life satisfaction, psychological well-being, civic engagement, educational attainment, conviction, and incarceration experiences. The results showed that civic participation in early adulthood was positively associated with life satisfaction ( = 0.08, 95% [0.02, 0.15]), psychological well-being ( = 0.75, 95% [0.09, 1.41]), civic engagement ( = 0.48, 95% [0.34, 0.62]), and years of education ( = 0.23, 95% [0.12, 0.34]). Civic participation in early adulthood was negatively associated with conviction ( = -0.08, 95% [-0.15, -0.00]) and incarceration ( = -0.10, 95% [-0.19, -0.00]). The significant associations between civic participation in early adulthood and psychological well-being and criminal involvement were fully accounted for by educational attainment at age 29. The findings suggest encouraging civic participation in early adulthood might promote well-being in midlife. Moreover, civic participation in early adulthood is connected with better psychological well-being and less criminal involvement in midlife via educational attainment.
已有研究报道了公民参与对青少年和老年人健康的有益影响。然而，公民参与在促进广泛幸福方面的潜力仍未得到充分认识。本研究旨在调查1980年出生的经济弱势少数族裔青年在成年早期的公民参与与中年幸福感之间的关系，并探讨教育作为这些关联的中介作用。研究样本包括来自芝加哥纵向研究的1101名参与者，该研究是对自1985年以来的一组低收入少数族裔儿童进行的准实验设计。中年幸福感通过生活满意度、心理健康、公民参与、教育程度、定罪和监禁经历来衡量。结果表明，成年早期的公民参与与生活满意度（β = 0.08，95%置信区间[0.02，0.15]）、心理健康（β = 0.75，95%置信区间[0.09，1.41]）、公民参与（β = 0.48，95%置信区间[0.34，0.62]）和受教育年限（β = 0.23，95%置信区间[0.12，0.34]）呈正相关。成年早期的公民参与与定罪（β = -0.08，95%置信区间[-0.15，-0.00]）和监禁（β = -0.10，95%置信区间[-0.19，-0.00]）呈负相关。29岁时的教育程度完全解释了成年早期的公民参与与心理健康和犯罪参与之间的显著关联。研究结果表明，鼓励成年早期的公民参与可能会促进中年时期的幸福感。此外，成年早期的公民参与通过教育程度与中年时期更好的心理健康和更少的犯罪参与相关联。
