Protective connections and educational attainment among young adults with childhood-onset chronic illness.
BACKGROUND
Youth with childhood-onset chronic illness (COCI) are at risk of poor educational attainment. Specific protective factors that promote college graduation in this population have not been studied previously. In this study, we examine the role protective factors during adolescence play in promoting college graduation among young adults with COCI.


METHODS
Data were collected from 10,925 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Protective factors present before 18 years of age included mentoring, parent relationship quality, school connectedness, and religious attendance. College graduation was the outcome of interest assessed when participants had a mean age of 28 years. Analysis was stratified by presence of COCI.


RESULTS
About 2% of participants (N = 230) had 1 of 4 COCIs (cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, or heart disease). All 4 protective factors were associated with college graduation for youth without COCI. In the final multivariate model, only school connectedness was associated with college graduation for youth with COCI.


CONCLUSIONS
School connectedness is of particular importance in promoting educational attainment for youth with COCI.
Department of Pediatrics, Duke University, DUMC 2906, Durham, NC 27710, USA. gary.maslow@duke.edu
Gary
G
Maslow
Abigail A
AA
Haydon
Annie-Laurie
AL
McRee
Carolyn T
CT
Halpern
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult