Oosterhoff, BenjaminPoppler, AshleighHill, Ryan M.Fitzgerald, HollyShook, Natalie J.2022-09-202022-09-202022-03Oosterhoff, B., Poppler, A., Hill, R. M., Fitzgerald, H., & Shook, N. J. (2022). Understanding the costs and benefits of politics among adolescents within a sociocultural context. Infant and Child Development, 31(2), e2280.1522-7227https://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/17192This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Understanding the costs and benefits of politics among adolescents within a sociocultural context. Infant and Child Development 31, 2 (2022)], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2280. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions: https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.html#3.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 experiencesen-UScopyright wiley 2022https://web.archive.org/web/20200106202133/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/library-info/products/price-listshttp://web.archive.org/web/20190530141919/https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.htmladolescenceempowermenthealthpoliticsstressArticle