The current study was designed to investigate the unique, long-term effects of family routines during adolescence on multiple developmental domains in young adulthood for rural African-Americans.

Prospective data were collected annually for 6 years from 504 rural African-American youth and their parents, beginning when the youth were 16 years of age.

Results indicated that youth whose primary caregivers reported more family routines during adolescence (e.g., regularly eating together as a family, consistent bedtime) reported less alcohol use, greater emotional self-regulation, lower epinephrine levels, and higher rates of college/university enrollment in young adulthood. These effects were evident for all outcomes controlling for socioeconomic risk, sex, and available baseline (age 16 years) measures; for a subset of outcomes, the effects of family routines persisted even after taking into account levels of supportive parenting, harsh parenting, and household chaos.

Findings substantiate the benefits of consistent, predictable family environments for healthy development and suggest that family routines constitute an important, yet understudied, factor for adolescents’ long-term development.