From Adolescent Schooling to Adult Health: Elucidating the Link between High School Experiences and Inflammation in Young Adulthood

Kristen M. Schorpp, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Using data from the 1994-2008 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study investigates the mechanisms underlying the link between adolescent school experiences and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in young adulthood. Results of ordinal logistic regression analysis indicate that academic achievement and aptitude significantly lowers the odds of having elevated CRP by early adulthood, while school academic and social problems predict clinically high levels of CRP. These associations are reduced after adjusting for family structural and socioeconomic characteristics, health behaviors, and future educational attainment. Stratification by sex and age reveals that high school academic achievement continues to predict adult CRP levels in females after adjusting for all covariates, while academic and social problems in high school continue to predict male CRP levels. These findings elucidate how social and academic factors during adolescence are linked to life course trajectories in health and well-being.