Focusing on the pre-adolescent to late-adolescent portion of the life cycle, research examined how "early" exit from student role and "early" entry into adult roles of parent or spouse reflects factors operating prior to adolescence. Interviews during 1969 with 1,202 fifth and sixth graders and their mothers in 6 southern states, and again during 1975 with 78.6% of the original sample of students (945) and 57.8% of mothers (546) provided two-wave panel data. Contrary to extant literature, socioeconomic origins, parental child-rearing techniques or other specific influences, academic ability, or pre-adolescent aspirations were not determinants of transition to parent or spouse. A small-magnitude dependence existed between early career decision-making/academic performance and dropping-out of school. Only three social origin variables (sex, race, maternal fatalism) had statistically significant influences on teenage marriage. Most acute correspondence of early marriage and school exodus occurred among white females; two-thirds of those married were dropouts. Black and white females were at least three times more likely to be dropouts and parents than their male peers. Parents seemed to introduce early role-transitory children to the normative structure which indicates that socioeconomic careers are supposed to be depressed by early timing of marriage and procreation, especially for females. (NEC)