Poverty, risk behavior and marriage: The effects of positive marital expectations on the future risk behaviors of adolescents growing up in poverty

A growing literature considers adolescent attitudes toward marriage (e.g., Brown, Feiring, & Furman, 1999; Collins & Sroufe, 1999). However, little is known about how youth living in poverty view their possibilities of future family formation. Marriage expectations and attitudes are important because research shows marriage has positive impacts on adults and children and is associated with positive social, economic, and physical outcomes (Waite, 1995). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of positive marital expectations on the behaviors of adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods. This study capitalizes on the Mobile Youth Survey (MYS), a 12-year study being conducted in youth who live in social disadvantaged areas in Mobile and Prichard Alabama, with 99 percent of MYS participants identifying African-American or biracial. The MYS is a community-based, multiple cohort longitudinal study that includes annual data collection. The survey is administered to youth ages 10-18 years of age. The MYS has been conducted yearly since 1998 and attempts to follow every participant until they turn 19 years old. Using data from 1998-2006, hierarchial linear modeling showed there were significant differences between the three different levels of positive marital expectations (None, Some, and A lot) and adolescent outcomes including alcohol use (p<0.0001), crack use (p<0.001), arrests (p<0.0001), unwanted sexual intercourse (p<0.05), gun carrying (p<0.05), frequency of sex (p<0.05), gang involvement (p<0.05), etc. The data shows that adolescents living in poverty hold future marital expectations. The data also shows that these positive marital expectations are related to lower levels of risky behaviors in adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods