title: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow up? Career Aspirations as a Marker for Adolescent Well-being.
abstract: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is a simple, commonly asked question that might provide insight into adolescent well-being. Career aspirations might reflect an adolescent's sense of identity, hope for the future, and self-efficacy, all of which are critical to identifying at-risk youth and intervening on risky behaviors. However, there are no studies on whether career aspirations are associated with adolescent emotional and health behavior outcomes.
  
  
  
  We analyzed cross-sectional surveys of 929 ninth to 12th grade low-income minority adolescents in Los Angeles assessing career aspirations and its association with hopelessness, self-efficacy, substance use, violence, and risky sexual activity. We used Department of Labor statistics to categorize career aspirations according to amount of education required, income, and prestige. Generalized estimating equations accounted for sociodemographic characteristics, school type, academic performance, and clustering at the school level.
  
  
  
  Grades, standardized test scores, and health behaviors varied according to career type. Adolescents with higher career aspirations, measured according to career-related education, income, and prestige reported less hopelessness and more self-efficacy. After adjusting for confounders, aspirations requiring high levels of education were associated with decreased odds of alcohol use, at-school substance use, and risky sexual activity, and higher prestige scores were associated with decreased odds of other drug use.
  
  
  
  Career aspirations might be a marker for adolescent health and well-being. Adults might consider asking a teen what they want to be when they grow up to gain insight into their levels of hopelessness and self-efficacy and provide context for counseling on healthy behavior change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics/Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, Los Angeles, Calif. Electronic address: rdudovitz@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Dudovitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics/Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, Calif; RAND, Santa Monica, Calif.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics/Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, Los Angeles, Calif.
authors.forename: Bergen B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine-General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
authors.forename: Mitchell D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067697:Adolescent Health; D001240:Aspirations, Psychological; D002321:Career Choice; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D000073599:Health Risk Behaviors; D065026:Hope; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: adolescents; career aspirations; hopelessness; self-efficacy; substance use