High school to college transition

The transition to college is a difficult period of adjustment for many adolescents. The college transition is associated with a rapid decrease in parent and teacher support and an increase in academic expectations. Many adolescents make this transition smoothly and do not engage in risky behaviors despite the increased freedom that comes with college. However, other adolescents start engaging in risky behaviors such as smoking, alcohol, and drug use and their academic performance suffers as a result. We recently finished conducting a longitudinal study designed to identify factors that predict adolescents making a successful transition to college. Adolescents were followed from the end of their senior year in high school through the end of their first year in college and completed questionnaires at three time points.