Prior research suggests that depression and suicidal ideation put adolescents at risk for unhealthy development later in life. Although this research is compelling, much of it is limited by (a) a reliance on cross-sectional data that has made it difficult to disentangle the influence of depressive and suicidal symptoms from the influence of other co-occurring risk factors, (b) the use of small, clinic-based samples, and (c) a focus on single outcome variables rather than a constellation of outcomes associated with positive development. The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term influence of moderate-to-severe depressive or suicidal symptoms in adolescence on the transition to adulthood. Thirteen years of data from Waves I to IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health, N=11,186) were analyzed to assess the likelihood that study participants were positioned to make a healthy transition to adulthood by their mid/late twenties and early thirties.
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