Hope in Adolescence and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Adulthood: an Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Study

Background: A sense of hopelessness is rising at alarming levels among adolescents in the United States. There is urgent need to understand the potential implications of being hopeful on adolescents ' future health and wellbeing. Methods: This study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( N = 11,038, mean age at baseline = 15 years) to prospectively examine the relationship between baseline hope and a wide range of outcomes 12 years later. Thirty-eight outcomes were examined in the domains of physical health, health behavior, mental health, psychological well-being, social factors, and civic and prosocial behavior. Regression models were used to regress each outcome on baseline hope separately. Models controlled for a wide range of factors as well as prior values of the exposure (hope) and outcomes. Results: Having hope for the future in adolescence was associated with improvements in 11 subsequent outcomes after Bonferonni correction, including higher cognition and self -rated health, less physical inactivity, fewer depressive symptoms, lower perceived stress, and improvement on a number of psychological and social factors including greater happiness, more satisfaction with parenting, and increased voting and volunteering in adulthood. There were also a number of associations that were close to the null, which are equally important to explore and understand. Implications: The results of the study may have important implications for hope -based efforts and programs aimed at improving the lives of young people and promoting their current and future well-being.