A longitudinal study of the hopes and worries of adolescents

This paper describes a longitudinal questionnaire study of the future hopes and worries of 547, 11- and 14-year-olds from Nottingham, England. Results from interviews with 152 of the 14-year-olds are also presented. More than half of the teenagers spontaneously expressed hopes for and worries about employment and unemployment. One third of adolescents, and more boys than girls, were concerned about war, including nuclear war. Proportions of pupils worried about unemployment, own mortality, lack of money and AIDS increased significantly with age. Interview and questionnaire findings were in general agreement. However, worries such as exam failure, childbirth and unhappy marriage were more prominent at interview and mentioned significantly more frequently by girls than boys. Worries about employment and nuclear war appear to predominate throughout adolescence, but are not the sole concern of this age group. Consideration should be given to discussing teenage worries in the context of school/family based educational ventures.