Work transitions.

Individuals make choices in, and adjust to, a world of work that is often a moving target. Because work is so central to human functioning, and transitions in and out of work can have major mental health repercussions, the authors argue that applied psychologists in health services need to understand those transitions. This article focuses on the different types of transition throughout a person's working life and the resources needed at different stages to ensure the success of these transitions.

The importance of cognitive development in middle childhood for adulthood socioeconomic status, mental health, and problem behavior.

This study examined the extent to which continuities and discontinuities in cognitive performance between ages 5 and 10 predicted adult income, educational success, household worklessness, criminality, teen parenthood, smoking, and depression. Assessed were the degree of this change during middle childhood, the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on this change, and the extent to which this change influenced adult outcomes. The analyses were conducted on 11,200 individuals from the UK Birth Cohort Study who were born in 1970 and who were resurveyed at ages 5, 10, 16, 26, and 30.

The influence of context, timing, and duration of risk experiences for the passage from childhood to midadulthood.

This study investigated the long-term effects of social disadvantage on academic achievement and on subsequent attainments in adulthood. The study drew on data collected for over 30,000 individuals born 12 years apart, following their development from birth to adulthood. The pathways that link social disadvantage to individual development across the life course were analyzed in a developmental-contextual systems model.

Pregnancy smoking and childhood conduct problems: a causal association?

Recent investigations have highlighted associations between maternal smoking in pregnancy and antisocial behaviour in offspring, and suggested the possibility of a causal effect. We used data from the 1970 British birth cohort study (BCS70) to examine these links in a large. population-based sample studied prospectively from birth to age 16.