Citation

Hilley CD, Lindstrom Johnson S, Cheng TL. J. Youth Adolesc. 2019; 48(8): 1555-1566.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10964-019-01032-z

PMID

31115785

Abstract

Future orientation has been established as having positive associations with health and educational outcomes for adolescents exposed to violence. However, conceptualizations of future orientation have been inconsistent. This study uses latent profile analysis to understand the interrelationships between measures of future orientation (e.g., commitment to learning, goal orientation, hope, expectancies, fatalism). Participants were 188 primarily African American male early adolescents ranging from 10 to 15 years old (60.6% male; M_age = 12.87, SD_age = 1.52). Adolescents in the high- and low-future orientation profiles differed on academic behaviors and aggressive behavior. A discordant profile emerged with adolescents moderate on all measures of future orientation except expectancies. Relational aspects of parenting were associated with higher likelihood of adolescents being assigned to the high- and low-future orientation profiles. These findings suggest the importance of parental warmth in promoting future orientation for adolescents in risky environments, as improving future orientation might mitigate risk for future negative academic comes or engagement in violent behavior.

Language: en

Keywords

Future orientation; Latent profile analysis; Risk and protective factors; Violence exposure