title: Goal attainment, goal striving, and well-being during the transition to adulthood: a ten-year U.S. national longitudinal study.
abstract: This study examines the relation between young adults' goal achievement, continued goal striving over time, and subsequent well-being. Analysis of a longitudinal subsample of a nationally representative U.S. study of 5,693 adolescents as they transition to adulthood revealed that individuals who met their goals had higher well-being, but that the relation between goal completion and well-being varied by goal content. Continued goal striving was related to well-being and maintained domain-specific self-efficacies, whereas goal disengagement was accompanied by declines in domain-specific self-efficacies. Overall, the results suggest that long-term goal striving is beneficial for well-being during the transition to adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Emily E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Messersmith
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schulenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000328:Adult; D001240:Aspirations, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult