Longitudinal association between adolescent work values and mental health and well-being in adulthood: a 23-year prospective cohort study

Abstract

Personal values developed in adolescence may influence mental health and well-being over the life course. Using data from 684 respondents in the Youth Development Study (61.9% of respondents in the baseline survey), we explored the effects of work values at ages 14-15 on positive and negative emotions, as well as psychological resources (self-esteem and mastery), at ages 37-38. We adjusted for socioeconomic status and the baseline scores of these outcomes using linear regression analyses. Having the work value of getting ahead in adolescence was positively associated with self-esteem in adulthood. Work values in adolescence did not predict positive emotions, negative emotions, or mastery in adulthood. Valuing one's growth in adolescence may help develop self-esteem in adulthood. Personal values are defined as broad, trans-situational, desirable goals that serve as guiding principles in people's lives 1. A well-known theory of personal values proposed by Schwartz 2 classified personal values into 10 types. These types of personal values have been associated with mental health and psychological well-being. For example, the values of universalism, benevolence, achievement, hedonism, self-direction, and stimulation have been positively correlated with psychological well-being 3-5. Personal values have also been associated with psychological resources underlying mental health and well-being, such as self-esteem and mastery 4,6,7. Personal values are considered to be developed through the psychological processes in which adolescents acquire the ability to control the conflict between learned values and actual behaviour 8 and are highly stable across time 9. Thus, personal values acquired in adolescence may have an influence on health and well-being over the life course. Unfortunately, there is limited evidence supporting this hypothesis. For example, cross-sectional studies based on respondents' retrospective recall reported that personal values in adolescence were associated with lifetime suicidal ideation, as well as suicidal ideation and psychological distress in adulthood, in a community population 10,11. A cross-sectional study conducted among working populations reported that personal values in adolescence were associated with mental health and well-being in adulthood 12. However, to date, we are unaware of any longitudinal study that has been conducted to explore the association between personal values in adolescence and health and well-being in adulthood. Work values are the goals or rewards people seek through their work 13 , and are seen as expressions of more general personal values in the context of a work setting 14,15. Work values are often studied in two dimensions: intrinsic (e.g. interesting work, meaningfulness, learning opportunities, etc.) and extrinsic rewards (e.g. pay, security, prestige, opportunities for advancement, etc.) 15-20. Work values have been associated with the mental health and well-being of workers 15,21-24 , as well as employment 25 , work satisfaction 15,26,27 , occupational choic...

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“…Chow et al, 2017) and the United States (e.g. Fukasawa et al, 2020), freelancers in Russia (e.g. Shevchuk et al, 2018), and worker cooperatives in South Korea (Park, 2023) (see Figure 1).…”

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