Sibling relationships are most individuals' longest lasting relationships, but their development remains understudied. Using a within-family, accelerated longitudinal design with data from mothers, ...fathers, and two siblings from 201 predominately White, working-, and middle-class families, we charted the development of sibling intimacy and conflict from age 7 to age 30. We also examined structural characteristics (sibling sex, sex constellation, age spacing, birth order) and both person mean (between-person) and time-varying (within-person) links between (a) feminine-typed, expressive personality and (b) maternal and paternal warmth and conflict and sibling intimacy and conflict, respectively, and tested whether sibling age moderated these linkages. Overall cubic changes suggested that intimacy declined from middle childhood through early adolescence and increased through the mid-20s and leveled off, whereas conflict was stable in middle childhood, declined across adolescence, and leveled off in young adulthood, with patterns that varied by sibling sex, dyad sex constellation, and birth order. Furthermore, expressivity was related to both sibling intimacy (positively) and conflict (negatively) at between- and within-person levels; maternal warmth was positively related to sibling intimacy and maternal conflict was positively related to sibling conflict at both between- and within-person levels; and father warmth and conflict were linked to sibling intimacy and conflict, respectively, at the within-person level. Finally, age moderated expressivity effects such that these disappeared in young adulthood and moderated the between-person father warmth effect such that this effect emerged in young adulthood and increased through age 30. Implications for theory and practice regarding sibling and other close relationships are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
The present article presents a review of identity status-based theory and research with adolescents and emerging adults, with some coverage of related approaches such as narrative identity and ...identity style. In the first section, we review Erikson’s theory of identity and early identity status research examining differences in personality and cognitive variables across statuses. We then review two contemporary identity models that extend identity status theory and explicitly frame identity development as a dynamic and iterative process. We also review work that has focused on specific domains of identity. The second section of the article discusses mental and physical health correlates of identity processes and statuses. The article concludes with recommendations for future identity research with adolescent and emerging adult populations.
Despite the importance of the school environment for mental health outcomes, there is little research on how the school context during adolescence may impact depressive symptoms among Asian Americans ...(AAs) over time. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the long-term effects of perceived prejudice from peers and teachers on school belonging and depressive symptoms in adolescence, early young adulthood, and young adulthood among AAs and (b) the mediating effects of school belonging and two early depressive symptoms on the associations between perceived prejudice from peers and teachers and young adulthood depressive symptoms. The data came from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. The present study used a subsample of 689 AAs who completed interviews during adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. The major data analysis strategy was structural equation modeling. The structural equation modeling results indicated that the major path coefficients from school context to depressive symptoms at the three time points for AAs were statistically significant, except for the path from adolescent depressive symptoms to young adulthood depressive symptoms. There were three significant mediating effects of school belonging and two early depressive symptoms on the association between perceived prejudice from teachers and young adulthood depressive symptoms in AAs. The results emphasize the importance of identifying school contextual risk factors leading to mental health disparities and developing culturally appropriate intervention strategies for AAs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
The current study examined the association between dispositional and state hope in college students using a 2-week diary. Specifically, we tested whether dispositional hope predicts lower levels of ...daily changes in state hope over a 2-week period as well as whether higher-than-normal levels of state hope would result in higher-than-normal levels on subsequent days. Data were collected from 101 students (Mage = 25.91) who were studying online due to COVID-19 restrictions. The sample was predominantly female (74 %) and Black (49 %) or Hispanic/Latinx (25 %). The results indicated that individuals with higher levels of dispositional hope at the beginning of the study experienced lower levels of lability in state hope compared to their counterparts with lower levels of dispositional hope. Additionally, when individuals reported levels of state hope on a particular day that were higher than average for them, they experienced a boost in state hope the following day. These results highlight the self-perpetuating nature of hope, and suggest that some individuals are less susceptible to daily fluctuations in hope than others based on their disposition. Furthermore, the results emphasize that hope varies both between – and within – persons.
This commentary examines key mental health policies across four transformative historical periods in America: the aftermath of World War II (1939-1946), the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), the ...Great Recession (2007-2009), and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2023). The post-WWII era established today's foundational mental health system, emphasizing military personnel, as reflected in the National Mental Health Act of 1946. During the Civil Rights Movement, the focus shifted toward community equality, leading to the Community Mental Health Act of 1963. The economic challenges of the Great Recession, especially affecting young adults, prompted a deep dive into the Affordable Care Act. The social isolation and economic suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The article highlights the need for a more inclusive policy development approach, one that recognizes and integrates the unique perspectives of young adults in shaping mental health policies and discourse. It concludes with recommendations to guide future policy evolution for enhanced mental health and societal well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Abstract
Objective
To identify trajectories of glycemic control over adolescence and emerging adulthood and to test whether demographic and psychosocial variables distinguished these trajectories.
...Methods
We enrolled 132 youth with type 1 diabetes when they were average age 12 and followed them for 11 years. We used group-based trajectory modeling to identify distinct patterns of glycemic control, and examined whether age 12 demographic and psychosocial variables distinguished the subsequent trajectories.
Results
We identified 5 trajectories of glycemic control: stable on target, stable above target, volatile late peak, stable high, and inverted U. Parent social status and household structure distinguished the more problematic trajectories from the stable on target group. Friend conflict, psychological distress, unmitigated communion, and self-care behavior at age 12 distinguished problematic glycemic control trajectories from the stable on target group.
Conclusions
These results can be used to identify youth who are at risk for deteriorating glycemic control over adolescence.
In developed countries, the years from Age 30 to 45 are, for many, the most intense, demanding, and rewarding years of adult life. During this period of the life span most adults must negotiate the ...intersecting demands of progressing in a chosen career, maintaining an intimate partnership, and caring for children. Successes or difficulties in meeting these simultaneous demands have the potential to profoundly influence the direction of a person's adult life. As such, we believe that it is of critical importance to better understand this developmental period that we call established adulthood. This article provides a new theoretical conceptualization of established adulthood, outlining its distinctiveness from emerging adulthood and midlife in terms of physical health, well-being, cognitive development, and the career-and-care-crunch of competing work and family responsibilities. We also consider variations in the timing and experience of established adulthood, including variations by gender and social class, and provide suggestions for future research. As economic and social arrangements continue to evolve, so too will this developmental period, providing fertile ground for developmental theory and research.
Public Significance Statement
This article provides a new theoretical conceptualization of established adulthood, the period from 30-45. The article distinguishes established adulthood from emerging adulthood and midlife in terms of physical health, well-being, cognitive development, and the career-and-care-crunch of competing work and family responsibilities. Because successes or difficulties in handling the intensity of the intersection of work and family demands have the potential to profoundly influence the direction of a person's adult life, a better understanding of this developmental period may promote policy, programs, or therapeutic interventions to support established adults as they navigate what may be one of the most intense and demanding periods of the life span.
Media literacy interventions partly aim at preventing undesirable media effects at a later point of time. However, longitudinal research on the interaction between media literacy education and media ...effects is lacking. In this longitudinal study among 1,947 13–25‐year‐olds, we started to address this lacuna by examining the potential of porn literacy education at schools to attenuate the longitudinal relationship between exposure to sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) and views of women as sex objects. A two‐way interaction effect emerged: The relationship between SEIM and sexist views became weaker, the more users had learned from porn literacy education. No gender or age differences occurred. This study thus provides some first evidence for the role of media education in reducing undesirable media effects.
•Mother-child reminiscing shapes emerging adults’ autobiographical reasoning.•Mother-child reminiscingleads to decreased depression symptoms in adulthood.•Mother-child reminiscingimproves self-esteem ...in adulthood.
The current study is an emerging adult follow-up of a longitudinal intervention study of maternal reminiscing (Growing Memories; N = 115). Mothers in the intervention condition were taught elaborative reminiscing skills when their children were 1.5–2.5 years old. We tested long-term effects of the intervention for emerging adults’ turning-point narratives and well-being at age 21 (n = 94; 82%). Emerging adults in the intervention condition displayed greater causal coherence (connections between past and present self) in their turning-point narratives and reported higher self-esteem and fewer depression symptoms than those in the control condition, even after accounting for personality traits and early childhood covariates. These findings suggest that maternal reminiscing has a long-term impact on their offsprings’ narrative identity and well-being.
Judged by the sheer amount of global media coverage, loneliness rates seem to be an increasingly urgent societal concern. From the late 1970s onward, the life experiences of emerging adults have been ...changing massively due to societal developments such as increased fragmentation of social relationships, greater mobility opportunities, and changes in communication due to technological innovations. These societal developments might have coincided with an increase in loneliness in emerging adults. In the present preregistered cross-temporal meta-analysis, we examined whether loneliness levels in emerging adults have changed over the last 43 years. Our analysis is based on 449 means from 345 studies with 437 independent samples and a total of 124,855 emerging adults who completed the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale between 1976 and 2019. Averaged across all studies, loneliness levels linearly increased with increasing calendar years (β = .224, 95% CI .138, .309). This increase corresponds to 0.56 standard deviations on the UCLA Loneliness Scale over the 43-year studied period. Overall, the results imply that loneliness can be a rising concern in emerging adulthood. Although the frequently used term "loneliness epidemic" seems exaggerated, emerging adults should therefore not be overlooked when designing interventions against loneliness.
Public Significance StatementThe present cross-temporal meta-analysis suggests that loneliness in emerging adults slightly increased over historical time from 1976 until 2019. Consequently, emerging adults should not be overlooked when designing future interventions or public health campaigns against loneliness.
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