Longitudinal links between childhood family income and adult outcomes are well documented. However, research on childhood income volatility and young adult outcomes is limited. This study utilizes data from the NLSY (N = 6,410) to examine how childhood family income and income volatility relate to socioeconomic outcomes and mental/behavioral health in emerging adulthood. Results show that lower childhood income was associated with young adult socioeconomic and behavioral health outcomes. Higher income volatility was associated with increased depression and teen parenthood during young adulthood. Additional analyses examining trajectories of income volatility illustrated that children in families with unstable income trajectories (i.e., frequent income losses and gains) showed higher depression scores than those with stable trajectories. These findings suggest that income volatility, not just income level or income loss, is important to consider when studying economic disparities in young adult outcomes. Implications for policies and programs for low-income, high-volatility households are discussed.

儿童家庭收入与成人结局之间的纵向联系已得到充分证明。但是，关于儿童期收入波动和成年年轻人结局的研究是有限的。这项研究利用了NLSY（N  = 6,410 ）的数据来检验儿童期的家庭收入和收入波动如何与新兴成年期的社会经济成果和心理/行为健康相关。结果表明，较低的儿童收入与年轻成人的社会经济和行为健康状况相关。较高的收入波动性与年轻成年期间抑郁症和青少年父母行为的增加有关。进一步分析收入波动轨迹的分析表明，收入轨迹不稳定的家庭中的儿童（即经常性的收入损失和收益）显示出比那些拥有稳定轨迹的人更高的抑郁得分。这些发现表明，在研究年轻成年人结局中的经济差异时，重要的是要考虑收入波动，而不仅仅是收入水平或收入损失。讨论了对低收入，高波动性家庭的政策和计划的影响。