Associations between socio-economic status and household dysfunction in childhood and school-to-work trajectories: the mediating role of adolescent mental health problems.

Young adults with low parental SES backgrounds were more likely to follow NEET trajectories compared to a study-to-work trajectory.

• Adjusted odds ratio for NEET trajectory: aOR 3.83 (95% CI 2.24–6.54)
• Data from 1134 participants in the Dutch TRAILS prospective cohort with 18-year follow-up
• Parental SES was assessed at age 11
• School-to-work trajectories were identified from ages 20 to 28 using sequence and hierarchical clustering analysis

Young adults with low parental SES backgrounds were more likely to follow early work trajectories compared to a study-to-work trajectory.

• Adjusted odds ratio for early work trajectory: aOR 5.15 (95% CI 3.13–8.49)
• This association was stronger than that for the NEET trajectory (aOR 3.83)
• Parental SES was one of three household dysfunction factors examined, alongside parental mental health and parental divorce

Young adults whose parents divorced in childhood were less likely to follow an early work trajectory compared to a study-to-work trajectory.

• Adjusted odds ratio: aOR 0.63 (95% CI 0.40–0.92)
• Parental divorce was assessed at age 11
• This was the only statistically significant association found for parental divorce among the school-to-work trajectories examined

Parental mental health problems were not associated with school-to-work trajectories.

• Parental mental health was one of three household dysfunction factors assessed at age 11
• No statistically significant associations were found between parental mental health problems and any school-to-work trajectory
• Structural equation modelling was used to examine direct effects

Adolescent mental health did not mediate the associations between household dysfunction and school-to-work trajectories.

• Mental health was assessed at age 16, between the childhood household dysfunction measures (age 11) and the school-to-work trajectories (ages 20–28)
• Structural equation modelling was used to examine mediation
• This null mediation finding applied to all three household dysfunction factors: parental SES, parental mental health, and parental divorce

The study used a prospective cohort design with sequence and hierarchical clustering analysis to identify school-to-work trajectories.

• Sample consisted of 1134 participants from the Dutch TRAILS (TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey) cohort
• Follow-up period was 18 years
• School-to-work trajectories were mapped from ages 20 to 28
• Structural equation modelling was used to examine both direct effects and mediation pathways