The present study examined the role of contextual support on mental health in the transition to adulthood within an extremely vulnerable group, youths aging out of foster care. Participants were 265 19-to 23-year-olds who retrospectively reported on 3 main contexts of emerging adulthood: housing security, educational achievement, and employment attainment in the first 2 years after exit from foster care. Mental health measured self-reported emotional distress, substance abuse, and deviancy at the time of interview. Growth Mixture Modeling empirically identified 3 latent trajectory classes from parallel growth processes. Stable-Engaged (41%) experienced secure housing and increasing connections to education and employment over time. Stable-Disengaged (30%) maintained housing but reported decreasing rates of education and small increases in employment. Instable-Disengaged (29%) experienced chronic housing instability, declined connection to education, and failed to attain employment. Stable- Engaged and Stable-Disengaged youths reported similarly better mental health compared to Instable-Disengaged youths, pointing to the importance of stable housing in the transition to adulthood.
