Understanding the costs and benefits of politics among adolescents within a sociocultural context
Open accessAbstract
Politics entails personal costs and benefits, which may differ for youth from different sociocultural backgrounds. The at‐stake hypothesis proposes that politically marginalized youth experience greater costs (e.g., stress, conflict) and benefits (e.g., empowerment) related to politics, whereas the at‐risk hypothesis proposes that politically marginalized youth experience greater costs but lower benefits. In Study 1, we examined the factor structure of a new political costs and benefits measure among youth (N = 1,056,Mage = 15.91 years) and tested mental health and demographic correlates. Consistent with the at‐stake hypothesis, marginalized youth experienced greater political costs and benefits than non‐marginalized youth, although findings were nuanced. In Study 2, a sub‐sample of participants (N = 191,Mage = 16.05 years) were recontacted from Study 1 to provide written explanations for why specific findings emerged. Adolescents' reasons indicated that laws and policies disproportionately affect youth from marginalized populations, thus producing both negative and positive political experiences
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Individuals from marginalized backgrounds face greater political costs (e.g., stress) but also benefits (e.g., empowerment) in relation to politics.
“face greater political costs (e.g., stress) but also benefits (e.g., empowerment) in relation to politics (Oosterhoff et al., 2022).”
From The Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Oosterhoff et al., 2022
Cites
Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling
Tabri, N., & Elliott, C. M. (2012) · Canadian Graduate Journal of Sociology and Criminology · doi:10.15353/cgjsc.v1i1.3787 · Cited by 39,065 · see citing works
Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches
Lewis, S. (2015) · Health Promotion Practice · doi:10.1177/1524839915580941 · Cited by 22,105 · see citing works
Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. (2005) · University of Massachusetts Amherst · doi:10.7275/jyj1-4868 · Cited by 10,297 · see citing works
The brief symptom inventory: an introductory report.
Derogatis, L. R., & Melisaratos, N. (1983) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700048017 · Cited by 6,650 · see citing works
(2009) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.46-3325 · Cited by 1,519 · see citing works
Political participation and civic engagement: Towards a new typology
Ekman, J., & Amnå, E. (2012) · Human Affairs · doi:10.2478/s13374-012-0024-1 · Cited by 1,099 · see citing works
The persistent sampling bias in developmental psychology: A call to action
Nielsen, M., Haun, D. B. M., Kärtner, J., & Legare, C. H. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2017.04.017 · Cited by 1,023 · see citing works
Positive Youth Development A View of the Issues
Lerner, R. M., Almerigi, J. B., Theokas, C., & Lerner, J. V. (2005) · The Journal of Early Adolescence · doi:10.1177/0272431604273211 · Cited by 907 · see citing works
Supporting thinking on sample sizes for thematic analyses: a quantitative tool
Fugard, A. J. B., & POTTS, H. W. W. (2015) · International Journal of Social Research Methodology · doi:10.1080/13645579.2015.1005453 · Cited by 778 · see citing works
The shape of and solutions to the MTurk quality crisis
Kennedy, R., Clifford, S., Burleigh, T., Waggoner, P. D., Jewell, R., & Winter, N. J. G. (2020) · Political Science Research and Methods · doi:10.1017/psrm.2020.6 · Cited by 506 · see citing works
Levinson, M. (2012) · Harvard University Press eBooks · doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674065291 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
The Specificity Principle in Acculturation Science
Bornstein, M. H. (2017) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691616655997 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
Cashman, S. B., Adeky, S., Allen, A. J., Corburn, J., Israel, B. A., Montaño, J., Rafelito, A., Rhodes, S. D., Swanston, S., Wallerstein, N. B., et al. (2008) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2007.113571 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
Heberle, A. E., Rapa, L. J., & Faragó, F. (2020) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000230 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Ullman, J. B., & Bentler, P. M. (2003) · Handbook of Psychology · doi:10.1002/0471264385.wei0224 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Community Service and Political Identity Development in Adolescence
Yates, M., & Youniss, J. (1998) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1998.tb01232.x · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Ballard, P. J., Hoyt, L. T., & Pachucki, M. C. (2019) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12998 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Ask the Children: What America's Children Really Think About Working Parents
Galinsky, E. (1999) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Kerr, D. L., Santurri, L., & Peters, P. (2013) · Journal of American College Health · doi:10.1080/07448481.2013.787619 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Civic Purpose: An Integrated Construct for Understanding Civic Development in Adolescence
Malin, H., Ballard, P. J., & Damon, W. (2015) · Human Development · doi:10.1159/000381655 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Taking stock of youth organizing: An interdisciplinary perspective
Christens, B. D., & Kirshner, B. (2011) · New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development · doi:10.1002/cd.309 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
careless: Procedures for Computing Indices of Careless Responding
Yentes, R. D., & Wilhelm, F. (2018) · doi:10.32614/cran.package.careless · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Metzger, A., Alvis, L. M., Oosterhoff, B. J., Babskie, E., Syvertsen, A. K., & Wray‐Lake, L. (2018) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0842-5 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Self-citationWhat Motivates Youth Civic Involvement?
Ballard, P. J. (2014) · Journal of Adolescent Research · doi:10.1177/0743558413520224 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Friends, relatives, sanity, and health: The costs of politics
Smith, K. B., Hibbing, M. V., & Hibbing, J. R. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221870 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Rogers, L. O. (2019) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/dev0000640 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
How Children Understand Civic Actions
Metzger, A., Syvertsen, A. K., Oosterhoff, B. J., Babskie, E., & Wray‐Lake, L. (2015) · Journal of Adolescent Research · doi:10.1177/0743558415610002 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationRisky Politics? Associations Between Adolescent Risk Preference and Political Engagement
Oosterhoff, B. J., & Wray‐Lake, L. (2019) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.13313 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationStudying Sociopolitical Development through Social Network Theory
Baker‐Doyle, K. J. (2016) · doi:10.5040/9798400631511.ch-009 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Conner, J. O., Greytak, E., Evich, C. D., & Wray-Lake, L. (2023) · Youth · doi:10.3390/youth3010009 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Political engagement and wellbeing among college students
Ballard, P. J., Ni, X., & Brocato, N. (2020) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101209 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Alvis, L. M., Douglas, R. D., Shook, N. J., & Oosterhoff, B. J. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02670-y · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Effect of Civic Engagement on Different Dimensions of Well-Being in Youth: A Scoping Review
Mužík, M., Šerek, J., & Juhová, D. S. (2025) · Adolescent Research Review · doi:10.1007/s40894-024-00239-x · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“…minority, or otherwise marginalized backgrounds are usually less engaged in civic activities than their counterparts (Flanagan & Levine, 2010 ; Levinson, 2010 ) and face greater political costs (e.g., stress) but also benefits (e.g., empowerment) in relation to politics (Oosterhoff et al., 2022).”
Oosterhoff, B. J., Alvis, L. M., Deutchman, D., Poppler, A., & Palmer, C. A. (2021) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01465-5 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationEarly Adolescents Demonstrate Peer-Network Homophily in Political Attitudes and Values
Oosterhoff, B. J., Poppler, A., & Palmer, C. A. (2022) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/09567976211063912 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationWray‐Lake, L., Halgunseth, L. C., & Witherspoon, D. P. (2022) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12789 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Suzuki, S., Hoyt, L. T., Yazdani, N., Kornbluh, M., Hope, E. C., Hagan, M. J., Cohen, A. K., & Ballard, P. J. (2023) · Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.cpnec.2023.100218 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Oosterhoff, B. J., Hill, R. M., & Slonaker, N. J. (2020) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2020.1787169 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationLin, L., & Shek, D. T. L. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18115765 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Chan, R. C. H., & Leung, J. S. Y. (2023) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/ajcp.12689 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Hill, R. M., Busby, D. R., Brown, J. L., Sumlin, E. D., Fernandez, E., & Sharp, C. (2023) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1111/sltb.13000 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationYouth activism: developing sociopolitical synergy across interest, knowledge, and involvement
Wray-Lake, L., Hope, E. C., Saavedra, J. A., Arce, M., & Conner, J. O. (2025) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2025.2481253 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Zong, X., Cheah, C. S. L., & Ren, H. (2023) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-023-01879-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Saavedra, J. A., Conner, J. O., Hope, E. C., & Greytak, E. (2024) · Youth · doi:10.3390/youth4020053 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Wegemer, C. M., Hoyt, L. T., & Ballard, P. J. (2025) · Youth · doi:10.3390/youth5010013 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Youth Leadership and Participation in Political Processes
Majumdar, B. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-99-4969-4_26 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Cohen, A. K., Fitzgerald, J. C., Trejo, G., Yalif, I. U., Wesson, P., Wolfson, M., & Ballard, P. J. (2025) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-025-24838-y · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Patterns in Civic Engagement and Health Among Diverse Adolescent Students
Ballard, P. J., Suzuki, S., Manalo-Pedro, E., & Cohen, A. K. (2026) · Health Promotion Practice · doi:10.1177/15248399261443235 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Chang, T., & Shih, K. Y. (2025) · Journal of Family Theory & Review · doi:10.1111/jftr.70025 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Between meme and reality: youth perceptions of politics and politicians in the digital age
Paz-Rebollo, M. A., Feijoo, B., & Nevado, J. I. (2026) · Journal of Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/13676261.2026.2614483
- Authors
- Oosterhoff, B., Poppler, A., Hill, R. M., Fitzgerald, H., & Shook, N. J.
- Affiliations
- Montana State University (US)
- Baylor College of Medicine (US)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- Corresponding author
- Oosterhoff, Benjamin
- Venue
- Infant and Child Development
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-11-11
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 1522-7219 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-7227
- OpenAlex
- W4225751513
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 4.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
- Locations
- Infant and Child Development (publishedVersion)
- Montana State University ScholarWorks (Montana State University) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Youth, Politics, and Society
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Keywords
- political participation, adolescents, political exclusion, youth mental health, sociocultural background, political empowerment, political stress, political conflict
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
