This longitudinal study spanning three decades tested the hypothesis that positive family relationships during childhood and adolescence positively relates to psychological capital for work in early and middle adulthood. Psychological capital is a positive psychological resource comprising self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience that has important relevance for performance and well-being in the work setting. Family systems theory, life course and positive psychology frameworks, as well as conservation of resources theory furnished the conceptual basis. This research is based on the Fullerton Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation initiated in the United States in 1979, from infancy through adulthood (2017). Using a cross-informant methodology, when children were ages 9 to 17 years, both children and mothers annually and independently completed the Positive Family Relationships (PFR) scale, which measures how well family members get along and support each other. When the children reached adulthood, they completed the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PsyCap) for work at ages 29 and 38 years. The major finding from the structural equation models revealed that children’s and mothers’ PFR during childhood and adolescence each predicted PsyCap in early adulthood (age 29 years), which in turn, related to PsyCap entering middle adulthood (age 38 years). These findings supported the study hypothesis and indicated that positive family relationships during individuals’ upbringing may provide a foundation for workplace psychological capital across decades of development.
In lifespan developmental psychology (Baltes, 1987), development is conceptualized as a lifelong process that occurs from conception to death. Every life phase has its own challenges and opportunities. End of life has been largely neglected as a separate life period. Our ultimate goal is to define and synthesize the experience of end of life in order to establish a theoretical understanding of end of life as a developmental life phase. We first explore the challenges with defining end of life; next, we propose a subjective approach to examine end of life: the Self, Health, and Future-Time (SHiFT) model; and finally, we provide limitations and future directions for our SHiFT model. End of life is a complex, dynamic process that is shaped by an individual’s context. We recognize the end of life is a shared experience among people who are dying; we acknowledge this phase is a unique, meaningful part of the lifespan. We encourage further exploration of our model and empirical investigation of the three components (i.e., self, health, and future-time).
This study examined how caregiver and close friend emotion socialization relate to prosocial behavior among 309 emerging adults. Participants completed measures of retrospective caregiver emotion socialization, current friend emotion socialization, and six dimensions of prosocial behavior. Regression analyses revealed that both supportive and unsupportive caregiver responses were positively associated with most prosocial behavior dimensions, challenging traditional deficit-based models. Friend supportive responses showed independent positive associations with five prosocial dimensions, whereas unsupportive responses showed limited associations, with a significant negative association only for dire behavior. Moderation analyses showed that supportive caregiver responses did not buffer the associations between peer unsupportive reactions and any prosocial dimension. Friend supportive responses moderated the relation between caregiver unsupportive responses and anonymous prosocial behavior, such that individuals with unsupportive caregiver histories were more likely to help anonymously when close friends also tended not to respond supportively. These findings suggest that early caregiver experiences may establish enduring templates for prosocial engagement persisting into emerging adulthood, while friend emotion socialization may contribute independently through norm-based and situationally responsive pathways. The positive associations observed for unsupportive caregiver responses may reflect adversity-based learning processes that become channeled into other-oriented motivation by emerging adulthood. The peer relational context may further shape how this adversity-based prosocial motivation is behaviorally expressed.
As graduate education expands and academic pressures increase, developmental crisis and ego depletion have become salient concerns among graduate students. Developmental crisis involves identity confusion, career uncertainty, and existential distress; ego depletion reflects reduced subjective energy, vitality, and motivational prioritization. Using a three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged panel design with 2471 Chinese graduate students, this study examined associations among perceived teacher support, ego depletion, and developmental crisis. Results showed that perceived teacher support directly reduced later ego depletion and developmental crisis, and indirectly alleviated later developmental crisis by reducing ego depletion. Conversely, developmental crisis predicted lower subsequent perceived teacher support, suggesting that hindered development may weaken recognition of supportive cues. Ego depletion and developmental crisis also reciprocally reinforced each other, forming a vicious cycle. These findings support conservation of resources theory and highlight the need for perceptible teacher support systems and interventions targeting ego depletion to prevent and mitigate developmental crises.
Little is known about identity development and its associations with mental well-being across adulthood. This study investigated the average development of overall identity and mental well-being, and the links between them. The data were drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, focusing on ages 27, 36, 42, 50, and 61 years (n = 266–346). Overall identity was assessed using the Identity Achievement-Diffusion Scale, which was constructed based on semi-structured interviews, covering five life domains. Mental well-being was assessed using self-rated scales of psychological, social, and emotional well-being, as well as anxious and depressive feelings. The data were analyzed using latent growth curve modeling. Overall identity achievement increased nonlinearly from age 27 to 61, with the steepest growth occurring between ages 27 and 42. Life satisfaction and social well-being increased from age 36 or 42 to 61. There were no significant mean-level changes in psychological well-being or in depressive and anxious feelings. The level of overall identity achievement was associated positively with the level of psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and social well-being, and negatively with the level of anxious feelings. This study suggests that identity continues to develop positively and nonlinearly from young adulthood to the beginning of late adulthood. Higher levels of overall identity achievement are positively associated with the level of mental well-being in adults. Further longitudinal research is needed, taking into account both between-person and within-person levels of identity and mental well-being development, as well as their associations.
Given the increasing focus on positive outcomes after having experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), continued understanding of protective mechanisms is essential. This study examined the role of a Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-informed construct of the positive valence system (religious beliefs/spirituality) as a mediator via which ACEs are associated with flourishing among emerging adult college students. Further, the moderating role of an RDoC social process systems construct (social support) was simultaneously assessed in the direct association between ACEs and flourishing and the association between religious beliefs/spirituality and flourishing. Participants were 475 U.S. college students in the emerging adulthood period (ages 18–29). The moderated mediation analysis indicated that ACEs were indirectly associated with flourishing through religious beliefs/spirituality (b = –0.19, Boot SE = 0.05, 95
The first signs of aging, such as changes in appearance or physical capacity, often appear in middle adulthood and may lead to aging anxiety. Women experience greater pressure around their looks, and they might feel stronger aging anxiety if their self-worth is tied to their appearance and they have low appearance satisfaction. Conversely, an accepting, self-compassionate attitude may be related to lower levels of appearance-contingent self-worth, higher appearance satisfaction, and, in turn, lower aging anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the associations between aging anxiety and self-compassion in women in middle adulthood, which we broadly defined as the period between young adulthood and older age, and to examine mediating roles of appearance contingent self-worth and higher appearance satisfaction in this relationship. This cross-sectional study’s sample was 1023 Lithuanian women between 30 and 59 years of age (M = 44.96, SD = 8.22). The findings revealed that both appearance-related aging anxiety and general aging anxiety were related to self-compassion, appearance contingent self-worth, and appearance satisfaction. Self-compassion had a direct relationship to aging anxiety and an indirect relationship mediated through appearance contingent self-worth and appearance satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of self-compassion in middle adulthood and women’s relationship to their appearance as potential ways to negate aging anxiety.
Sense of personal identity plays a key role in shaping life satisfaction and mental health, but our knowledge of this relationship in adulthood is still limited. There have also been no studies on whether these relationships in adulthood are culturally specific or similar across cultures. Thus, the present study aimed to understand better how identity processes in the vocational, parental, and romantic domains are related to life satisfaction and severity of depressive symptoms in adults from five culturally diverse countries: United States (N = 467), South Africa (N = 306), Japan (N = 600), Poland (N = 456) and Israel (N = 488). The analysis showed significant differences in the intensity of identity processes between countries, with Japan and Poland having the lowest level of commitment and the highest level of reconsideration of commitment across different domains, whereas the United States and South Africa showed stronger in-depth exploration and commitment. Israel occupied an intermediate position, notable for its high commitment in the parenting domain. Overall, the results showed the rather universal significance of a mature identity – identity commitment was associated with higher life satisfaction and lower depressive symptoms and reconsideration of commitment with lower life satisfaction and higher depressive symptoms in all countries. However, some country differences were also observed, suggesting that social context and cultural values may influence the importance of particular identity domains. The study highlights the importance of integrating cultural context in analyses of identity in adulthood and provides a basis for further research in this area.
Nonprobative photographs can enhance the perceived truthfulness of statements, a phenomenon known as the “truthiness effect.” Although this effect has been well established among young adults, less is known about whether older adults are similarly influenced. The present study (N = 375) examined the truthiness effect in both young and older adults and explored whether metacognitive reflection could reduce it. Results showed that both age groups were susceptible to the truthiness effect; however, the effect was more pronounced for true statements among young adults, whereas it was more evident for false statements among older adults. Individual differences in cognitive style did not moderate the truthiness effect, although higher Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) scores were associated with more conservative truth judgments and better truth discrimination. Metacognitive reflection did not significantly attenuate the effect, although the overall pattern suggested a possible reduction, and it significantly improved participants’ ability to discriminate between true and false statements. These findings indicate that nonprobative photographs influence truth judgments differently in young and older adults, and suggest that metacognitive reflection prompts may be useful for improving judgment accuracy, with only limited evidence that they reduce the truthiness effect.
Although mental fatigue is known to negatively impact performance, it remains unclear how cognitive resources interact with fatigue levels across the adult lifespan. Using a dual-task paradigm, we manipulated cognitive load (low vs. high) to induce varying levels of mental fatigue in young, middle-aged, and older adults. We assessed self-reported fatigue, sleepiness, and motivation pre- and post-task, while exploring task-related fluctuations in task accuracy and eye-metrics (pupil size, pupillary response speed, and long blinks). Younger adults reported higher subjective fatigue and had lower task performance than older adults did. There was no significant interaction effect between age and cognitive load condition on performance. Results indicated that pupil size and long blinks are useful indicators of cognitive load in younger and middle-aged adults but may be less reliable in older adults. These findings suggest exploring alternative measures to better capture cognitive and physiological responses to mental fatigue in older populations.
Consumption guilt is a negative feeling commonly experienced by college students in consumption situations and potentially exerts a detrimental impact on their mental health. However, the causes of consumption guilt in this population remain unclear. Given that Chinese college students’ consumption is primarily funded by their families, the dynamics within the family, particularly the parent-child communication, may play an important role in college students’ consumption guilt. This study aimed to examine the relationship between parent-child communication and consumption guilt among college students in the Chinese context, and to explore the mediating role of self-differentiation and the moderating role of socioeconomic status (SES) in this relationship. A total of 460 Chinese college students were recruited and they completed online measures of parent-child communication, anticipatory and reactive consumption guilt, self-differentiation, and SES. Results showed that (1) conformity orientation in parent-child communication was positively associated with both anticipatory and reactive consumption guilt among college students; (2) self-differentiation mediated the relationship between conformity orientation and different types of consumption guilt; and (3) for college students with lower SES, the positive association between conformity orientation and reactive consumption guilt was markedly stronger. Overall, our findings suggest that parent-child conformity communication contributes to consumption guilt among college students via self-differentiation. Additionally, students’ SES attenuates the above relation.
Adults between the ages of 40 and 60 years old are an understudied population undergoing many sensitive transitions. Middle-aged women, especially mothers of emerging adults, may experience difficulties in their personal lives during these transitions, including challenges in romantic relationships. These challenges may be even more prominent for those with histories of child maltreatment (CM). Studies focusing on the romantic satisfaction, intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, and psychological distress of these women is of particular interest to support them during the major life transitions they are facing. As such, the aim of this study was to examine how maternal histories of CM are sequentially associated with IPV victimization (by type), psychological distress, and romantic satisfaction in mothers of emerging adults. The full sample included 253 mothers (Mage = 50.40, SD = 6.25) of emerging adults (18–25 years old), who were currently in a romantic relationship. Mediation models were run using SPSS PROCESS on 205 participants with complete data for all variables of interest. The association between histories of CM and romantic satisfaction was significant, and physical and sexual IPV and psychological distress were significant sequential mediators in this association. Histories of CM were associated with higher levels of IPV victimization, that were in turn related to higher psychological distress; psychological distress was associated with less romantic satisfaction. Practitioners working with these mothers may wish to focus on helping them process their experiences of CM and IPV to promote safe and satisfying romantic relationships and psychological well-being.
Since emerging adulthood was first developed, research has grown exponentially, mainly on parent–child relations; however, the parental perspective remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to explore how parents perceive their children’s emerging adulthood and their views on the functional dimension of intergenerational solidarity. Open-ended interviews were administered to 88 Spanish and Portuguese parents (64.8
Agency and communion are two core motivational themes in narrative identity, reflecting drives for independent control and relatedness, respectively. Despite significant attention to the salience of these narrative themes, no previous research has examined thematic change or associations with well-being and developmental outcomes in late midlife. In a diverse sample of 128 adults transitioning from middle to later adulthood, life story interviews were conducted at three time points (ages 55, 60, and 65, approximately). Five autobiographical scenes from each participant per wave were coded for agency and communion, for a total of 1,913 scenes. At the between-person level, adults who were highly generative and reported greater ego integrity at age 65 tended to tell life stories marked by fulfilled agency and communion. Higher levels of these themes across the three waves were also linked to greater well-being and life satisfaction at age 65. There was no significant within-person change in agency or communion across the three waves of this longitudinal study, and the small changes that did occur did not predict well-being or developmental outcomes assessed at age 65. Taken together, the findings suggest that fulfilled agency and communion function as enduring markers of narrative identity that significantly relate to adjustment in late midlife.
Parenting stress has become an increasingly critical issue in adult development. In this context, the present study investigated the association between ambivalent sexism and parenting stress, as well as the mediating role of the parent-grandparent coparenting relationship. A questionnaire containing validated scales measuring ambivalent sexism, parent-grandparent coparenting relationship, and parenting stress, was administered to 236 pairs of dual-earner couples. Data were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model. The results indicated that husbands scored significantly higher than wives on hostile sexism, while no gender differences were found in benevolent sexism, coparenting relationship, or parenting stress. The actor-partner interdependence mediation model demonstrated good model fit and revealed significant actor effects for both spouses, whereas partner effects were only for husbands. The parent-grandparent coparenting relationship served as a significant mediator in these associations. The current study contributes to theoretical studies on ambivalent sexism and parenting stress while also offering important practical implications for encouraging fertility and reducing parenting stress.
Emerging adulthood, characterized by identity exploration and the transition from adolescence to adulthood, often involves instability and uncertainty. The quarter-life crisis, a developmental crisis during emerging adulthood, reflects struggles in career, relationships, and personal identity. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, we examined the manifest and latent content of 91 publicly shared TikTok videos and comments. The findings revealed twelve key themes in the manifest content: transition to adulthood: pendulum swings, financial issues, career-related issues, social and societal issues, journey to self, signs of quarter-life crisis, coping strategies, scrolling through support, “no one warned us,” quarter-life crisis as a common experience, age of crisis, and time flies. The latent content analysis identified additional themes such as artistic narratives of crisis experiences, self-promotion, and validation. Music, visual storytelling, and symbolic representations played a significant role in expressing crisis experiences. TikTok was found to serve as a platform for both emotional release and community support, reflecting the increasing role of social media in shaping young adults’ self-perception and coping mechanisms. Overall, this study highlights the significance of TikTok as a space for young adults to narrate their quarter-life crisis experiences, seek support, and engage in identity exploration.
Emerging adults often experience biological, psychological, and social transitions that lead to diverse health issues. The present study assesses the general trends, themes, and typology of research on emerging adults’ health since the publication of the emerging adulthood theory in 2000. A total of 3,476 articles on health of emerging adulthood were collected from the Web of Science (WoS) during the 2003–2025 period, and analyzed using a bibliometric method. The findings reveal a steady and rapid increasing number of publications, highlighting disciplinary categories, journal output, country-level productivity, and authors’ contributions. Moreover, the analysis identifies four thematic clusters, underscoring the growing research attention to mental health themes in last 20 years. Finally, it also suggests that health research on emerging adulthood has matured and become a global concept. Future studies should focus on various emerging themes (e.g., anxiety, social support) in health research on emerging adults, with a special emphasis on the Global South.
Developmental crisis episodes are common during emerging adulthood. Evidence from existing research suggests that existential concerns about life’s meaning are prominent during crisis episodes in emerging adulthood, but little quantitative research exists on this topic. The current cross-cultural study investigated the relationships between components of developmental crisis (measured using the 3-factor Developmental Crisis Questionnaire), and meaning in life (measured using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, which has two factors: search for and presence of meaning in life). The sample comprised 1967 emerging adults across eight countries (Brazil, Czechia, Greece, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom). Two components of developmental crisis – being in transition/turning point and feeling disconnected/distressed – were positively associated with a search for meaning in life. Feeling disconnected/distress and lacking clarity/control were negatively associated with a presence of meaning in life. The findings emphasize the need for organizations and services that focus on supporting young adults in crisis, and that these should provide help with the often-hidden existential sense that life may be lacking meaning, and the corresponding endeavour to search for meaning.
The transition from university to employment is a multifaceted life event involving adjustments in identity, relationships, lifestyle, and financial independence (Robinson et al. in Journal of Adult Development, 2020). We present qualitative findings on ostracism and identity shifts reported by recent graduates during this transition, drawing on in-depth interviews with 18 recent ethnically diverse UK graduate participants, recruited on the criterion of having above-average levels of self-reported general ostracism. The findings are organized into three meta-themes: life at university, the liminal period of job searching and adjustment, and experiences in the workplace or continued unemployment. Themes of social isolation, and perceived exclusion were prominent themes and were linked to ethnicity, university culture, and peer relationships. During university, participants described heightened mental health struggles, exacerbated by the shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the liminal phase after graduation, participants reported anticipatory stress, financial hardships, and challenges adapting to new identities while navigating exclusion due to language barriers and lack of experience. Experiences in the workplace reflected further struggles, with participants encountering exclusion, limited opportunities for upward mobility, and continued unemployment among the participants. Our findings emphasize the complexity of post-graduation transitions and highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions to support graduates’ mental well-being, promote inclusivity, and facilitate their integration into the workforce. Future research should further explore the role of social and collective identity development in enhancing graduate outcomes.
Goal self-concordance predicts well-being, with ego identity development as a key pathway to enhance it. This study designed a developmental psychological intervention (integrating cognitive self-construction, affective self-discovery, curriculum systematicity, and group counseling interactivity) to explore its effects on university students’ ego identity/goal self-concordance and ego identity’s mediating role. A quasi-experiment included an experimental group (n = 84, 4-week intervention: self/career/interpersonal/love and marriage exploration) and a control group (n = 90, regular activities). Data were analyzed via a 2 × 2 repeated measures MANOVA and PROCESS mediation analysis, using validated Chinese scales (EISMS, EOM-EIS-2, Goal Self-Concordance Scale). The intervention improved ego identity (multivariate Time×Group interaction: Wilks’ λ = 0.893, p < .001 for EISMS; Wilks’ λ = 0.762, p < .001 for EOM-EIS-2), increasing “current ego involvement” (F = 10.170, p = .002), “future ego involvement” (F = 11.555, p = .001), “identity achievement” (F = 26.161, p < .001), “identity moratorium” (F = 23.542, p < .001), and reducing “identity diffusion” (F = 15.707, p < .001). Additionally, ego identity partially mediated the intervention’s effect on goal self-concordance via increased “current ego involvement” (indirect effect = 0.303, 95
