Citation
Bennett, Ashley G.; Wood, David; Goldhagen, Jeffrey; Butterfield, Ryan; & Kraemer, Dale F. (2014). Finding Hope in Hopeless Environments. Journal of Adolescent Health.Abstract
Purpose Hope, reflected in one's beliefs about the future, motivates goal-directed behavior and facilitates positive youth development. Adolescents' future expectations of life expectancy and educational attainment predict risk-taking behaviors, educational achievements, and health outcomes. Previous studies have used these proxy measurements of hope to characterize high-risk youth and their hopeless environments. Most have focused on poverty, or the lack of financial capital, as the major determinant of health. The objective of this study was to use a human capital investment framework to investigate the individual and contextual assets of hopeful adolescents. Methods The public-use data (n = 6,504) from Wave I of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was used for this analysis. Adolescents who were “almost certain” of living to age 35 and attending college were considered to have high hope. Univariate analyses identified demographic characteristics of the study sample and quantified the numbers of youth in each variable category. The sample was divided into four categories based on their Hope Score ( < 7, 8, 9, or 10). A bivariate analysis evaluated associations and trends between the Hope Scores and covariates. Multivariable logistic regression compared adolescents with a score of 10 on the Hope Scale to those with lower Hope Scores and identified the human capital assets associated with high hope. The odds ratio of each covariate was adjusted for the contributions of the other variables in the model. Results Statistically significant relationships were found between the highest sense of hope and social capital (family, neighborhood, school, and general connectedness), financial capital (household income and neighborhood poverty concentration), educational capital (parent education), and environmental capital (breastfeeding and gender). Hope had stronger associations with social and educational capital measurements than with financial capital measurements. Race and family structure failed to remain significant when controlling for the other variables. Conclusions Hope, as a form of personal capital serves as a priceless asset in the face of adversity. Identifying the human capital assets that serve as major determinants of health is crucial in order to guide the design of policy and social interventions to optimize child health and well-being.URL
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X13006939Reference Type
Conference proceedingBook Title
Journal of Adolescent HealthAuthor(s)
Bennett, Ashley G.Wood, David
Goldhagen, Jeffrey
Butterfield, Ryan
Kraemer, Dale F.