Agency and Opportunity in Early Adolescence

Investigating Gender‐Specific Patterns in Developmental Trajectories Using Longitudinal Data

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21444568
AutoresLinnea A Zimmerman (0000-0002-0118-0889, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore Maryland USA, autor de correspondencia), Cary Karp (0000-0002-4050-7602, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore Maryland USA), Celia Karp (Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore Maryland USA), A Ramaiya (0000-0002-6807-2858, Johns Hopkins University), Eric Mafuta (0000-0001-7986-4618, University of Kinshasa School of Public Health Kinshasa DRC), Claire Moreau (0000-0002-8637-6249, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore Maryland USA), Saifuddin Ahmed (0000-0001-6372-213X, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore Maryland USA)
Año2025
Volumen97
Número7
Páginas1921-1940
Fecha de publicación2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Adolescence (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0140-1971 • E-ISSN: 1095-9254
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jad.70013
PMID40635611
OpenAlexW4412149025
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas68

INTRODUCTION: Little research has explored the relationship of opportunity structures, such as parental influence and neighborhood context, with the development of individual agency amongst adolescents, particularly in understanding gender-specific relationships. METHODS: We use longitudinal data from 1188 boys and 1153 girls who were age 10-14 at enrollment and followed for up to 5 years during the Global Early Adolescent Study in Kinshasa, DRC (2017-2022). Group-based trajectory modeling identified gender-specific clusters within two domains of agency, Freedom of Movement and Voice. Multinomial logistic regression assessed the relationship between opportunity structures at the individual, household, parental, peer (Voice only), and neighborhood level with the probability of cluster membership. RESULTS: We identified three distinct groups for both boys and girls within each domain. Wealth and education were inconsistently related to trajectories and peer influence showed little association with the development of Voice for either gender. Parental monitoring was associated with the development of both domains for boys, but showed no association for girls. Conversely, parental closeness was more strongly associated with development for girls, than for boys. Neighborhood safety was associated with greater Voice and Freedom of Movement for both boys and girls. Neighborhood trust was associated with Freedom of Movement but not Voice for boys, but the opposite for girls. CONCLUSIONS: The design of interventions to promote adolescent empowerment should consider the gendered ways in which parental and neighborhood structures influence the development of agency for adolescents and consider whether gender-specific components may be needed.

Adolescent development · Agency (philosophy) · Developmental psychology · Developmental Science · Longitudinal data · Longitudinal study · Sociology · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Demography · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support