What does emerging adulthood refer to?

Concluding remarks

Emerging adulthood has been proposed to be a distinct period of the life course for young people in developed, industrialized societies. It has been characterized as a period of exploration for most people as they examine possible life paths and gradually arrive at more stable roles in the process of making commitments in the domains of love, work, and worldviews [Arnett, 2000].

From a personality trait development perspective, previous research has provided some support for the idea that emerging adulthood is a distinct life stage with unique developmental tasks and trajectories. Specifically, the findings of cross-sectional, cross-cultural, and longitudinal studies suggest that the time between the late teens and the early 20s is marked by distinctive patterns of personality trait change that are [partly] different from the patterns observed during the broader period of young adulthood. First, there is some evidence to suggest that personality maturation—as indicated by normative increases in emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness during young adulthood—is somewhat less pronounced during emerging adulthood. It remains to be tested whether the attenuated patterns of personality maturation in emerging adulthood are indeed related to delayed transitions into adult role responsibilities. Second, mean-level increases in openness to experience seem to be a unique characteristic of the period of emerging adulthood. Whether and how these changes in openness are related to increases in emerging adults’ exploratory behavior remains a topic for future research.

Emerging Adulthood

Emerging adulthood [EA] is defined as a distinct time period between the ages of 18 and 25 where individuals transition from adolescence to young adulthood. During EA, individuals have the freedom to explore values and beliefs in their lives distinct from previously identified authority figures in childhood and are not confined to the limitations associated with adulthood. EA is characterized by five areas of development: [1] establishing one’s own identity, [2] a time of feeling in-between, [3] a time of being self-focused, [4] a time of believing there are endless possibilities, and [5] a time where lifestyle is one of instability [Arnett, 2000]. Perhaps the most important aspect of cannabis cessation associated with EA is how strongly an individual feels the current period of his life is a time of experimentation. Those who treat EA as a period to maximally experiment with individual lifestyles [eg, adhere to such expressions as “You Only Live Once” or “YOLO”] are relatively less likely to quit [Little et al., 2013; Sussman & Arnett, 2014].

There is a strong association between older age and self-initiated cannabis cessation; many adolescent cannabis users tend to stop use around their mid-to-late twenties as societal roles of adulthood become relevant [Chen & Kandel, 1998; Kandel & Raveis, 1989]. Those that hold traditional values consistent with mainstream societal norms are more likely to self-initiate cessation. For example, these individuals are motivated to quit to avoid testing positive on a drug test at work, and believe that using cannabis may pose vocational problems or prevent them from obtaining a job [Sussman & Dent, 1999, 2004; Weiner et al., 1999]. Individuals who are goal oriented [eg, have higher job aspirations or are actively seeking employment, who seek higher education or hold a degree higher than a high school education] are also more likely to discontinue use [Chen & Kandel, 1998; Sussman & Dent, 1999, 2004; Weiner et al., 1999]. The duties established in adult life may act as other stimuli that detract from persistent cannabis use.

Perhaps the most influential EA event that determines whether one will self-recover from cannabis use is having a child or children. The construction of one’s own nuclear family creates a socially defined “adult” role in which perceived acceptability of substance use may become rejected. This is particularly true for females who are about to embark on motherhood. When a female becomes pregnant, she usually quits using for fear of hurting the fetus [Chen & Kandel, 1998]. Also, males who have children or are becoming a parent for the first time are also more likely to quit than males without children [Little et al., 2013; Kandel & Raveis, 1989; Sussman & Dent, 1999, 2004]. Having a family [ie, marriage and becoming a parent] can be considered adaptive life strategies that may motivate individuals to quit and reinforce the quitting process [Rooke et al., 2011].

Conclusions

Emerging adulthood is now acknowledged as a distinct developmental period replete with its own triumphs and challenges. A growing number of emerging adults regrettably struggle to meet the developmental milestones necessary to transition to healthy adulthood, and anxiety disorders often compound these difficulties. Fortunately, treatments for this population are beginning to emerge. The Launching Emerging Adults Program [LEAP] targets anxiety disorders in emerging adults as they transition into independent living, offering a multimodal approach to addressing anxiety during this key developmental stage. Informed by an advanced understanding of the unique developmental factors impacting treatment for this population, this approach offers hope for emerging adults struggling with anxiety disorders.

8 Intersectionality in Emerging Adulthood: A Focus on Ethnicity, Immigration, and Undocumented Status

Emerging adulthood is the period of life between ages 18 and 29 [Arnett, 2000, 2011]. Emerging adults from immigrant backgrounds [those who have migrated to the United States as well as those who are the children of immigrants] make up one in three 18- to 34-year olds [Rumbaut & Komaie, 2010] and one in four 16- to 25-year olds [Batalova & Fix, 2011].a In addition, nearly half [47%] of 16- to 26-year-old immigrant youth are undocumentedb compared to less than a third [31%] of the total immigrant population in the United States, suggesting that legal status disproportionality affects the lives of undocumented youth as they come of age [Batalova & Fix, 2011]. Undocumented immigrants are diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, country of origin, and immigration histories [Suárez-Orozco et al., 2015; Teranishi, Suárez-Orozco, & Suárez-Orozco, 2015] ranging from various places around the globe, including Canada, Asia, Europe, Africa, and other parts of Latin America; however, migrants from Mexico and Central America are disproportionately affected by exclusionary migration laws and make up the majority of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

In many major US cities, young people are coming into contact with others from nations all around the globe. Immigrant-origin youth in particular sit at the front lines for understanding the ways in which cultural shifts brought about by globalization play out [Fuligni & Tsai, 2015; Suárez-Orozco & Qin-Hilliard, 2004] and provide important insight into these processes for youth across the globe. How do researchers begin to explore and theorize about highly politicized intersectional identities? Furthermore, how do we begin to think about the intersection of identities that might not sit comfortably within the same body? In this section, questions of how to understand the intersectional identities of undocumented immigrant emerging adults are taken up. We offer both theoretical and methodological contributions for researching the intersectional identities of undocumented emerging adults and highlight frontiers of new lines of research exploration. In particular, we explore the ways in which the Hyphenated Selves framework along with mixed methods can be applied to undocumented emerging adults who are living at the hyphen of sociopolitical belonging to understand their intersectional identities.

Abstract

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are distinct developmental periods marked by significant changes in physical and social maturation, familial and societal expectations, and brain development, specifically with regard to emotion and behavioral control. These stages of life carry significant risk for the development of psychopathology and related functional impairments that adversely impact the achievement of important academic, occupational, and social milestones. Exposure therapy with adolescents and young adults must involve contextually rich in vivo or simulated interactions with emotionally provocative stimuli and situations, and must address areas of functional impairment and/or missed developmental milestones. Involving parents in exposure therapy with adolescence and young adults should be a strategic and collaborative process with the youth and family to facilitate individuation, decrease accommodation, and support practice and mastery. The scientific support, specific recommendations, and illustrative examples for successful exposure therapy with adolescents and young adults are described in this chapter.

Sexual health and LGBTQ youth

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are developmental periods characterized by biological, social, and cognitive changes. Hill [1983] suggested that a fundamental part of that change is navigating the emergence of both sexuality and intimacy. Youth become more concerned with their sexual selves, sexual drives, as well as with the associated feelings, cognitions, and behaviors. These factors are largely influenced by interacting with peers—exchanges that frequently occur online [Hatchel & Subrahmanyam, 2018]. Digital media offer opportunities for youth to explore their sexual selves via a wealth of sexual health information, by finding and interacting with potential romantic and sexual partners, as well as exposure to sexually explicit content. However, these youth are also at risk for sexual risk and sexual exploitation. These themes tend to generalize well to LGBTQ youth, but there are unique complications that need to be considered [Hatchel et al., 2017].

Defining sexuality and sexual orientation pose a challenge for researchers due to the inherent complexity of the human experience. Sexuality involves dimensions such as identity, behavior, and feelings of attraction [Salomaa & Matsick, 2019]. Van Anders [2015] expands on these concepts: [1] sexual identity includes not only the conventional labels [e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer] but also sexual identity according to the number of partners [e.g., pansexual, asexual, polyamorous], and referring to other components of sexual relationships [e.g., kink-identified]; [2] sexual orientation is defined according to the individual’s sexual interest and romantic attraction [e.g., male-oriented, female-oriented, bisexual, etc.]; and [3] sexual status is defined in terms of sexual behavior [e.g., men who have sex with men regardless of identity or attraction] [Salomaa & Matsick, 2019; Van Anders, 2015]. For example, a man may feel romantically attracted to another man [i.e., sexual orientation] but not self-identify as gay or bisexual [i.e., sexual identity]. Similarly, a woman may have a sexual encounter with another woman [i.e., sexual status] but not be romantically attracted to women in general [i.e., sexual orientation] or identify as a lesbian [i.e., sexual identity]. The important distinction between identity, attraction, and behavior serves to better understand the experiences of LGBTQ youth and adolescents in general.

There is a large body of research that demonstrates the sexual health disparities between LGBTQ youth and their peers. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System [2017] reports that LGB students were more likely to experience any type of sexual violence [22.2%] when compared to students who were questioning their sexual orientation [16.7%] and heterosexual students [7.9%; Kann et al., 2018]. A recent survey of 19 large urban school districts in 10 different U.S. states found that transgender students experienced disproportionate rates of sexual violence and risky sexual behaviors [Johns et al., 2019]. For example, 30% of transgender students reported using drugs or alcohol before their last sexual encounter versus only 18% of cisgender peers. Transgender students were also more likely to report not using condoms during their last sexual encounter [64% vs 38%].

For LGBTQ youth, the development of healthy sexuality and intimacy can be restricted by their geographic isolation from other members of the LGBTQ community, which is true especially for youth living in rural areas [Hulko & Hovanes, 2018]. Hulko and Hovanes [2018] highlight the experiences of youth living in small towns and their difficulty in disclosing their sexual identity and communicating with other LGBTQ adolescents. It follows that digital media would be useful tools for LGBTQ youth navigating developmental tasks.

However, there are sexual risks for LGBTQ youth using these platforms [Pascoe, 2011; Patel, Masyukova, Sutton, & Horvath, 2016]. In a study of digital media use and sexual risks among 200 sexually active adolescent men who have sex with men [AMSM], researchers found that the use of dating applications [e.g., Grinder, Tinder, Hornet]—often for casual sexual encounters—was prevalent among AMSM [52.5%; Macapagal et al., 2018]. Most AMSM using dating apps reported doing so because of lack of access to same-sex individuals and to avoid being outed. Additionally, youth who were more engaged in the use of digital media reported higher rates of risky sexual behaviors, reported having more casual sexual encounters, and perceived themselves to be at a higher risk for HIV [Macapagal et al., 2018]. The study found that 64% of AMSM had sexual encounters with men they met using dating apps, while only 25% of them reported engaging in safe sex practices such as using condoms. Others have found similar relationships between unsafe sexual behaviors and meeting partners online among LGBTQ youth [Rice et al., 2015; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2016]. The increased online presence of underage youth in dating apps and websites can result in serious criminal charges for underage youth who may share explicit sexual pictures of themselves as well as for adults who may interact with them [Macapagal et al., 2018].

Some youth may encounter stigma within the online LGBTQ community [Giwa & Greensmith, 2012]. They may be ostracized if they do not meet some of the rigid standards for acceptable identities and appearances, which are characteristic of LGBTQ dating apps. For example, some Grinder users post explicit rejection of certain groups of people. LGBTQ youth of color, bisexual youth, as well as transgender and gender nonconforming youth are stigmatized by individuals who do not consider them sexually desirable [Rivera et al., 2019; Sutter & Perrin, 2016; Szymanski & Sung, 2010].

Utilizing social media, including dating apps, in developmental pursuits like exploring sexuality can contribute to other difficulties such as body dissatisfaction and eating disorders—possible mechanisms may be self-comparisons and self-objectification [Hill & Fischer, 2016]. Most of the extant literature concerned with the association with body image–related issues, and digital media has focused on adolescent girls. This is a notable limitation because there is a preponderance of evidence demonstrating the increased risk for body image–related issues among LGBTQ youth [Austin, Nelson, Birkett, Calzo, & Everett, 2013; Connolly, Zervos, Barone, Johnson, & Joseph, 2016; McClain & Peebles, 2016]. Some studies have started to examine the link between digital media and body image issues among LGBTQ adults. For example, Griffiths, Murray, Krug, and McLean [2018] completed a cross-sectional study with 2733 LGBQ men and found associations between social media use and body image–related issues. This is often thought of as a manifestation of body-related stigma found within the LGBTQ community. More work needs to be done to expand our understanding of possible relationships between using dating apps and body image–related issues among LGBTQ youth.

Abstract

University life and emerging adulthood are potentially associated with several stressors negatively affecting students’ health and well-being. This chapter focuses on understanding the links among procrastination, dysfunctional health behaviors, and well-being in Greek university students. We argue that university life is linked to important lifestyle changes and challenges that could threaten students’ psychological balance and which may be further compromised by procrastination. After summarizing the theory on university students’ psychological characteristics, we review previous research suggesting a link between procrastination and dysfunctional health behaviors. Finally, we present data from a study of Greek university students that revealed a complex pattern of associations of procrastination to heath behavior frequency and dissatisfaction, as well as perceived barriers to and attitudes toward adopting a healthier lifestyle. We conclude by discussing the significance of these findings for informing policies aiming to protect students’ health and well-being.

Summary

For many individuals, emerging adulthood represents a time of peak use and misuse of various substances. Substance use during the time period relates to myriad negative consequences that could detrimentally influence life course. Fortunately, many, if not most, of these individuals later mature out of problematic substance use. Notably, these decreases in use typically do not occur in the presence of treatment. Importantly, many individuals continue to use certain substances, such as alcohol, though heavy consumption and negative consequences largely abate. These beneficial decreases are linked to adult role attainment as well as changes in certain personality traits.

Despite these normative trends, there is considerable variability in the developmental course of substance use and associated outcomes. Getting older is not a panacea for problematic substance involvement. Unfortunately, some individuals continue to engage in risky patterns of consumption and experience negative consequences from substance use throughout their lives. Thus, understanding the contributing factors to risky and potentially chronic patterns of use at all life stages is of paramount importance.

Loneliness of emerging adults

Loneliness in adolescence and emerging adulthood [Bonetti, Campbell, & Gilmore 2010] is commonly associated with depression, antisocial behaviors, and social anxiety, the latter is characterized by a strong fear of being humiliated and/or embarrassed during contact with others [Beidel et al., 2007; Prinstein, Boergers, & Vernberg, 2001]. Consequently, socially anxious children and adolescents often withdraw from social situations, which contributes to their view of themselves becoming distorted and may lead them to behave in ways that will elicit criticism or derision from others [Rapee & Heimberg, 1997]. Bonetti et al. [2010] attempted to explore the difference in Internet use and its effects on socially anxious children and adolescents, and those who are lonely. Their research indicated that those children and adolescents who self-identified as lonely, communicated online significantly more than those who self-reported being socially anxious. The lonely ones also indicated that they utilized the Internet more frequently than the anxious ones to communicate about personal issues, people in their lives, intimate topics, and their present and past experiences. Results supported the notion that lonely children and adolescents value the Internet as a communicative “safe” environment in which they can better express their inner selves and find conversation more satisfying than they do offline. Since they have poor social skills, they find it easier to communicate online, where they felt less shy and dared to say more about themselves and others.

Focus of Occupational Therapy Intervention in Emerging Adulthood

Based on the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood as described above, the occupational therapist may use a variety of meaningful occupations/tasks/activities to help young adults [ages 18–27] accomplish the self-exploration task of emerging adulthood. Some of the issues addressed in therapy may include career choice, characteristics of successful intimate relationships, the effect of one's behavior on establishment of desired intimacy and peer relationships, participation in the wider social activities through politics, and volunteering. Occupational tasks, such as creative leisure activities, may also be used to facilitate exploration of one's individual identity.