While 75% mental health problems emerge by young adulthood, there is a strong reluctance during this developmental stage to seek professional help. Although limitations in mental health literacy, such as incorrect problem recognition, may hinder professional help-seeking intentions, the relationship between these variables has been understudied among young adults in the United States (U.S.) and racial/ethnic

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific and public health communities have become increasingly focused on understanding young adults’ physical distancing behaviors and the role that young adults have on viral potentiation and community spread. In the present study, we surveyed a group of 560 young adults (ages 22-28) from the greater Seattle area in April 2020, during statewide “shelter-in-place”

Asian and Latinx emerging adults in the United States typically hold stronger values and expectations regarding their duty to support and respect their families than their White peers. Yet, research has not fully explored how meeting familial expectations is associated with psychological well-being in these populations. This study examined ethnic-racial differences in perceptions of meeting familial

Rates of suicidal ideation and behavior are high and increasing in emerging adulthood. Research focused on suicidal ideation as a predictor of suicidal behavior has nearly exclusively conceptualized suicidal ideation as verbal thoughts about suicide. Emerging research suggests, however, that mentally imagining suicide may be even more impairing than verbal thoughts about suicide. Thirty-nine emerging

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and college campus closure in early 2020, students returned to live at home in unprecedented circumstances. A sample of 336 college students reported about their experiences living at home and the extent to which they perceived their mental health declining during the stay-at-home order (quarantine). Multiple regression analysis indicated that being a freshman (compared

We aim to identify typologies of parenting among emerging adults and describe how parenting typologies are related to their life satisfaction, self-efficacy, and parent-child relationship. Using a three-step latent class approach, we analyzed 472 mother-child and 426 father-child relations. We recruited the students from a private university in Upstate New York. We confirmed four parenting classes

With widespread concern for increased alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a pressing need to examine changes in young adults’ alcohol use and to identify antecedents of increased use. We tested the hypothesis that self-reported changes in alcohol use during the pandemic (frequency, quantity, heavy episodic drinking) would relate to perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use. In April

Attachment theory articulates that social and personal interactions influence individuals’ attachment characteristics. Although research has revealed various negative consequences of overparenting among offspring, very few studies have looked at the attachment features of overparented emerging adults. Relying on cross-sectional data collected from 231 emerging adults (M age = 24.22 years, 57.1% females)

Work-family conflict can create challenges for women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Little is known, however, about how young women in STEM reason about future work-family conflict. The current study examines work-family conflict expectations among undergraduate and graduate women in STEM. Participants (N = 156) responded to open- and closed-ended survey questions about

Although it is widely acknowledged that emerging adulthood is experienced differently by various groups, few studies have directly examined the theoretical features of emerging adulthood in vulnerable subpopulations of low-income young people in the United States. This study addressed this gap by exploring the salience of the five features proposed in emerging adulthood theory—identity exploration

Intimate partner violence is a serious social and public health problem for women. Researchers have shown the context in which intimate partner violence occurs matters, yet, prior work has not examined specifically whether motherhood, and the relationship context of motherhood, are associated with physical violence. Drawing on the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 492), and the stress

This study examines how, for emerging adults attending residential colleges, family incomes and the socioeconomic status (SES) composition of high schools are jointly associated with academic behaviors in college. Using a one-time survey, daily surveys, and additional data collection on high school SES composition, this study measured 221 college students’ (17–25 years old) SES backgrounds and academic

Women are outperforming men on many academic achievement metrics in tertiary education. Contributing factors may include the hegemonic masculine expectations for boys and men to be successful, strong, and unemotional. The aim of this qualitative study was to therefore investigate how American emerging adult men may perpetuate expectations of stoicism and silence when discussing their academic struggles

In this study, two different contexts were examined to identify and describe transition-to-adulthood profiles at age 25 (based on four adulthood markers) and to determine whether these profiles differ in well-being at age 25. Two French-Canadian samples (urban sample, N = 321; remote sample, N = 363) completed questionnaires at age 25 regarding adulthood markers (having left school, being a parent

Social jetlag (SJ)—the shift in sleep timing between workdays and free days—is linked to deleterious cardiometabolic outcomes. SJ is greatest among emerging adults, who are already at high risk for overweight/obesity and experience suboptimal weight loss outcomes. Goals of this ancillary study were to assess SJ among emerging adults enrolled in a 6-month behavioral weight loss trial and examine the

How do young adults get involved in community and political life and what distinguishes those who are engaged from those who are not? In an attempt to answer these questions, the current study examines civic participation (CP) profiles, and their predictors, among 311 French-Canadian youths transitioning into adulthood. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and multinomial logistic regressions were performed

Life scripts dictate the culturally appropriate order, content, and timing of autobiographical events. In the current study, we examined the ethnic-racial life scripts of American emerging adults from three ethnic-racial backgrounds. One hundred ninety-five Asian, 165 Latinx, and 45 White undergraduates produced and rated seven life events they believed to be prototypical of their ethnic-racial group

During the transition from school to university, students are faced with many challenges to their well-being. This is especially true in resource constrained societies like South Africa. While there is extensive research linking well-being with gratitude, less is known qualitatively about what individuals are grateful for. A sample of 933 undergraduate students submitted gratitude lists, resulting

Student exchange is associated with many positive outcomes, however, little is known about the experiences that drive such changes. The aim of the current qualitative study was to explore how exchange students conceptualize the processes of change and development during exchange within an identity framework. Twenty interviews were conducted with Australian and French exchange alumni aged 19–23 years

With the recent evolution of the labor market, emerging adults with no diploma are particularly exposed to unsatisfying jobs and barriers to access decent work. The aim of the research was to identify their representations of work, based on the psychology of emerging adulthood and the psychology of working theory. Differences related to each country’s level of development and to the work situations

The coronavirus pandemic that began in December 2019 (COVID-19) quickly spread globally with an increased transmission in the United States beginning in March 2020. Social distancing guidelines were instituted across the country, limiting contact individuals could have with others. This compared the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) emerging adults who completed

Loneliness among emerging adults in college has been primarily attributed to real and perceived socioemotional deficits. We posit that the cognitive underpinnings of loneliness are more complex. Participants were 520 students at a small liberal arts college in the Western United States (M age = 19.97; 69.7% women; 54.6% White) and 551 students at a large university in west-central Poland (M age = 21

Argentina’s labor market conditions hinder the possibilities for social integration and the securing of decent work. This particularly affects vulnerable emerging adults without a high school diploma. This study aims to understand the meanings of work in general, actual work experiences, and expectations for the future of young urban unskilled workers with no high school diploma. Using a qualitative

Recent trend analyses have documented changes over the past decades in psychological and relational variables (e.g., social interaction, empathy, loneliness) for emerging adults. With one exception), however, little research has examined how attachment styles may have changed over time. The present study, which involved data collected from 1997 to 2019 within one university setting, examined whether

Work and wellness have long been linked in the field of psychology, but few researchers have studied this topic with rural emerging adults without a high school diploma. Overall, rural areas in the United States have higher rates of poverty and lower educational attainment than nonrural areas. This narrative inquiry illuminates how precariousness in home and school contexts influenced the work trajectories

Desistance from the risky behaviors associated with adolescence is linked to entry into adult roles like marriage and employment. Increases in the age of these transitions may delay desistance from risky behaviors. Using population data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Health Statistics, and tabulated data from Monitoring the Future, we chart trends in six problem behaviors—arrests

For 20 years, the theory of emerging adulthood has shaped how we think about the third decade of life. In honor of that I would like to revisit the distinct features of emerging adulthood outlined ...

A significant percentage of college students discontinue mental health treatment prematurely. Using a discrete choice experiment, 909 students chose between experimentally manipulated descriptions ...

Unemployed and underemployed emerging adults (EAs) are at increased risk for depression. However, limited research has examined resilience and coping in this population. This study tested the resil...

Emerging adulthood emerged as a distinct developmental period about 20 years ago, thanks to Arnett’s (2000) pivotal work. Since then, scholars have examined developmental tasks, opportunities, and challenges unique to this developmental period. Given that it has been 20 years since its conception, the study of emerging adulthood has matured as well and now is entering a phase analogous to the emerging

Current global economic instability has exacerbated the challenges of contemporary emerging adulthood and increased the urgency of examining financial instability as a life condition during this life stage. For this special issue, we assembled eight papers from different countries to examine how emerging adults are navigating financial instability. In the current introduction to the special issue,

Although many college students view drinking as a means of gaining a community and being social, research has not established whether alcohol consumption influences students’ enjoyment and percepti...

Past research has found that religious commitment declines during emerging adulthood unless individuals make significant life commitments. A growing body of research has suggested that a resolution...

Although modern comprehensive conceptual models of sexual identity development acknowledge contextual factors, existing models have placed less emphasis on (a) the influence of multiple domains of ...

What enables the resilience of African emerging adults who live in sub-Saharan Africa and must contend with an everyday reality that is characterized by structural disadvantage and related hardship...

Families headed by single mothers are increasingly prevalent in the United States. These mothers face unique challenges that increase their risk of depression. Research shows children of depressed ...

Previous research has reported associations between diet and risk of depression and anxiety; however, this is underexplored in emerging adulthood (EA; 18–29 years). This systematic review examined ...

Registered reports are a relatively new type of journal article format in which the decision to publish an article is based on sound conceptualization, methods, and planned analyses rather than the specific nature of the results. Registered reports are becoming increasingly instituted in journals across the sciences but mostly in experimental contexts. Relatively few of these journals pertain directly

Emerging adults with chronic health conditions (CHCs) face additional challenges compared to their peers during this transitional period, which can exacerbate their symptoms and negatively impact t...

Compared to older cohorts, emerging adults are more susceptible to unemployment as they enter the labor market. In the context of increasing higher education access, an unstable economic climate is...

We investigated the relations between the endorsement of ambivalent sexism and relationship qualities in heterosexual romantic couples during emerging adulthood. The sample included 94 heterosexual...

Pathways between alcohol use and internalizing symptoms, controlling for comorbid externalizing symptoms, within a sample of 593 ethnically diverse emerging adults (age 20–22; 49% female) collected...

Resilience is often operationalized as the presence of positive behaviors and the absence of negative behaviors without considering external factors (e.g., racial discrimination), potentially limit...

Based on the notion of decent work and the Psychology of Working Theory, our research aimed to understand the subjective work experiences and anticipations of emerging adults doing precarious jobs ...

The purpose of this exploratory longitudinal study was to examine stability and change of helicopter parenting throughout the first few years of emerging adulthood and to examine child and parent–c...

In Canada, emerging adults consume more cannabis than any other age-group. This study examined emerging adults’ perceptions of dangerousness, perceptions of negative impacts, and level of disapprov...

Brazil and Portugal have different working contexts. In Brazil, mixed formal and informal ways dominate, while in Portugal, formal working contexts prevail. By means of in-depth interviews, this st...

Public health reports document an increase in rates of smoking among emerging adults. This study examines environmental influences and temperament as predictors of this increase. One hundred ninety...

Little is known about what factors are associated with emerging adult theory of mind (ToM). We predicted that childhood fantasy play (CFP), need for cognition (NfC), and fiction reading would be po...

Successfully transitioning to adulthood requires a successful transition from high school into college or the workforce. Yet for many emerging adults, this transition is not successful, leading to ...

We investigated how stereotypical portrayals of Latino/a characters on television influence Latino/a emerging adults’ (N = 136; ages 18–25) state self-esteem (i.e., social, appearance, and performa...

This study aimed to examine personal goal setting and identity processes in Czech university students. A total of 1,347 Czech emerging adults completed the questionnaires on goal setting, identity ...

Art-based research methods can enable young people to generate data that provide insights into their lives. We assessed the feasibility, value, and limitations of collages as a participatory resear...

The current study seeks to identify the role of dual enrollment participation on college outcomes among emerging adults. Data were used from the nationally representative High School Longitudinal S...

We examined helicopter parenting (e.g., intervening, assisting with tasks that emerging adults are capable of performing independently) during the transition to university relative to positive pare...

Multiracial families are becoming increasingly common in the United States, yet there is a dearth of research examining how parents of Multiracial youth provide support for navigating challenges as...

Becoming independent from parental financial support and developing financial capabilities are important life tasks in emerging adulthood (EA). However, research on how the accomplishment of these ...

Communication through social networking platforms is central to the social experience of today’s emerging adults. In this study, we examined associations between emerging adults’ off-line social fu...

The present study examined whether the spread of jealousy and negative relationship perceptions between romantic partners varies as a function of boyfriend and girlfriend internalizing symptoms. Pa...