title: Twelfth-grade student work intensity linked to later educational attainment and substance use: new longitudinal evidence.
abstract: Long hours of paid employment during high school have been linked to a variety of problem behaviors, but questions remain about whether and to what extent work intensity makes any causal contribution. This study addresses those questions by focusing on how 12th-grade work intensity is associated with substance use and educational attainment in the years following high school. It uses 2 nationally representative longitudinal data sets from the Monitoring the Future project, spanning a total of 3 decades. One data set tracks 8th graders for 8 years (modal ages 14-22) and provides extensive controls for possible prior causes; the second, larger data set tracks 12th graders for up to 12 years (to modal ages 29-30) and permits assessment of possible short-term and longer term consequences. Findings based on propensity score matching and multivariate regression analyses are highly consistent across the 2 sets of data. All findings show that more fundamental prior problems, including low academic performance and aspirations, make substantial contributions to substance use and long-term academic attainment (selection effects), but the findings also suggest that high work intensity during high school has long-term costs in terms of college completion and perhaps cigarette use.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. jbachman@umich.edu
authors.forename: Jerald G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Bachman
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Staff
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: O'Malley
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schulenberg
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Freedman-Doan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult