Family socioeconomic circumstances directly influence adult education
level. Adolescent psychosocial resources and health-promoting behaviour
collectively termed as ‘reserve capacity’ and school achievement may
likely mediate the effect of family socioeconomic circumstances on adult
education level. We tested these relationships using 1985–1995 survey data
on 12–18-year-old Finns (N = 41,822) linked with three-generation registry
data of Statistics Finland until 2009. Results of the multinomial logistic
regression models, adjusted for sex and age at end of follow-up, showed
that socioeconomic circumstances of parents and grandparents predicted
adult education level. School achievement and reserve capacity dimensions
of perceived health, health-promoting behaviour and social support in
adolescence also positively predicted adult education. Moreover, these
tended to decrease the effect of family socioeconomic circumstances on
educational level. Our findings suggest that formulating interventions which
build reserve capacity and improve school performance, especially among
adolescents from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, could likely
reduce educational inequalities.