Prospective Associations Among Assets and Successful Transition to Early Adulthood

Objectives. We investigated prospective associations among assets (e.g., family communication), which research has shown to protect youths from risk behavior, and successful transition to early adulthood (STEA). Methods. We included participants (n = 651) aged 18 years and older at study wave 5 (2007-2008) of the Youth Asset Study, in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, metro area, in the analyses. We categorized 14 assets into individual-, family-, or community-level groups. We included asset groups assessed at wave 1 (2003-2004) in linear regression analyses to predict STEA 4 years later at wave 5. Results. Individual- and community-level assets significantly (P < .05) predicted STEA 4 years later and the associations were generally linear, indicating that the more assets participants possessed the better the STEA outcome. There was a gender interaction for family-level assets suggesting that family-level assets were significant predictors of STEA for males but not for females. Conclusions. Public health programming should focus on community- and family-level youth assets as well as individual-level youth assets to promote positive health outcomes in early adulthood.