How do perceived expectations of what it means to be an adult affect mental health? We draw from life course and social psychological literature to argue that falling behind perceived expectations for reaching markers of adulthood is associated with depression and anxiety. We test predictions with data from an original sample of more than five hundred 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States. Consistent with predictions, we find a positive relationship between falling behind expectations and both anxiety and depression even while controlling for own expectations about the accomplishment of markers of adulthood. In particular, we find that falling behind perceived expectations of peers regarding markers of adulthood is associated with anxiety and that falling behind perceived expectations of parents and society regarding markers of adulthood is associated with depressive symptoms.

对成年人的预期期望如何影响心理健康？我们从生活历程和社会心理学文献中得出结论，认为落后于达到成年标志的预期期望与抑郁和焦虑有关。我们使用来自美国500多名18至29岁年龄段儿童的原始样本中的数据测试预测。与预测一致，即使在控制自己对成年指标完成的期望时，我们也发现落后于期望与焦虑和抑郁之间存在正相关关系。特别是，