Prospective associations among assets and successful transition to early adulthood

Objectives: We investigated prospective associations among assets (e.g., family communication), which research has shown to protect youths from risk behavior, and successful transition to early adulthood (STEA). Methods: We included participants (n = 651) aged 18 years and older at study wave 5 (2007-2008) of the Youth Asset Study, in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, metro area, in the analyses. We categorized 14 assets into individual-, family-, or community-level groups. We included asset groups assessed at wave 1 (2003-2004) in linear regression analyses to predict STEA 4 years later at wave 5. Results: Individual- and community-level assets significantly (P <.05) predicted STEA 4 years later and the associations were generally linear, indicating that the more assets participants possessed the better the STEA outcome. There was a gender interaction for family-level assets suggesting that family-level assets were significant predictors of STEA for males but not for females. Conclusions: Public health programming should focus on community- and family-level youth assets as well as individual-level youth assets to promote positive health outcomes in early adulthood.