Adolescent loneliness and precarious employment in young adulthood: The moderating role of school attachment.

Young adults are increasingly exposed to precarious employment, yet little is known about how early-life social experiences relate to labor-market outcomes in adulthood. Drawing on life-course perspectives, this study examines whether adolescent loneliness is associated with precarious employment in young adulthood and whether school and neighborhood attachment moderate this association. We used longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Adolescent loneliness was measured in Wave I, and precarious employment was assessed in young adulthood (Wave IV). To account for unobserved family-level confounding, we employed sibling fixed effects models that compare siblings within the same family. Interaction terms were used to examine the moderating roles of school and neighborhood attachment. Adolescent loneliness was positively associated with higher levels of precarious employment in young adulthood. This association persisted after sibling fixed effects adjustment, indicating that it is not fully accounted for by shared family background. Supplementary analyses showed stronger associations with dimensions related to job stability, access to benefits, and workplace control. School attachment significantly moderated the association: the loneliness-precarity association was attenuated among adolescents with higher school attachment. Neighborhood attachment did not exhibit a significant moderating pattern. These findings suggest that adolescent loneliness is associated with enduring differences in employment quality in young adulthood and identify schools as key institutional contexts in which this association is attenuated. These findings point to adolescent loneliness and school belonging as important considerations for research and policy on inequality in young-adult employment quality.