Civic Participation in Early Adulthood and Midlife Well-being in an Inner City Cohort

The beneficial impacts of civic participation on health are reported for adolescents and older adults. Still, civic participation is underrecognized in its potential to promote a wide range of well-being. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between civic participation in early adulthood and midlife well-being for a 1980 birth sample of minority youth who were economically disadvantaged and explore education as a mediator of such associations. The study sample included 1,101 participants from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a quasi-experimental design of a cohort of low-income minority children followed since 1985. Midlife well-being was measured by life satisfaction, psychological well-being, civic engagement, educational attainment, conviction, and incarceration experiences. The results showed that civic participation in early adulthood was positively associated with life satisfaction (B = 0.08, 95% CI [0.02, 0.15]), psychological well-being (B = 0.75, 95% CI [0.09, 1.41]), civic engagement (B = 0.48, 95% CI [0.34, 0.62]), and years of education (B = 0.23, 95% CI [0.12, 0.34]). Civic participation in early adulthood was negatively associated with conviction (B = -0.08, 95% CI [-0.15, -0.00]) and incarceration (B = -0.10, 95% CI [-0.19, -0.00]). The significant associations between civic participation in early adulthood and psychological well-being and criminal involvement were fully accounted for by educational attainment at age 29. The findings suggest encouraging civic participation in early adulthood might promote well-being in midlife. Moreover, civic participation in early adulthood is connected with better psychological well-being and less criminal involvement in midlife via educational attainment.