Citation

Hendrick CE, Cohen AK, Deardorff J, Cance JD. J. Sch. Health 2016; 86(3): 215-224.

Affiliation

Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, Health Behavior Health Education Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 2109 San Jacinto Blvd., Austin, TX 78712-1415. jdcance@austin.utexas.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American School Health Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/josh.12368

PMID

26830508

PMCID

PMC4741106

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Lifetime educational attainment is an important predictor of health and well-being for women in the United States. In this study, we examine the roles of sociocultural factors in youth and an understudied biological life event, pubertal timing, in predicting women's lifetime educational attainment.

METHODS: Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N = 3889), we conducted sequential multivariate linear regression analyses to investigate the influences of macro-level and family-level sociocultural contextual factors in youth (region of country, urbanicity, race/ethnicity, year of birth, household composition, mother's education, and mother's age at first birth) and early menarche, a marker of early pubertal development, on women's educational attainment after age 24.

RESULTS: Pubertal timing and all sociocultural factors in youth, other than year of birth, predicted women's lifetime educational attainment in bivariate models. Family factors had the strongest associations. When family factors were added to multivariate models, geographic region in youth, and pubertal timing were no longer significant.

CONCLUSION: Our findings provide additional evidence that family factors should be considered when developing comprehensive and inclusive interventions in childhood and adolescence to promote lifetime educational attainment among girls.

Language: en