Changing demographics in rural states have been on the forefront of policymakers' minds. Trends such as high median age, low birth rates, and pronounced youth outmigration compound larger challenges of workforce and community development. Many rural states are promoting recreational and natural amenities as an attraction, hoping to lure established adult newcomers or returnees to resettle. However, it is unclear precisely how rural stakeholders perceive recreation to be an effective tool in attracting and retaining youth and young adults, beyond official branding strategies and campaigns. This study sought to identify macrosystem-level messaging circulating in stories told by stakeholders in education, workforce, and quality of life domains about how recreation relates to youth future orientation and decision making. Thirty-two data collection events (interviews or focus groups) with leaders in the policymaking, state administration, and youth-serving program areas in New Hampshire (NH) were conducted in 2020-2021. Themes were achieved using a story-based methodological approach guided by a master narrative conceptual framework, which states that macrosystem-level messaging impacts individual agency and decision-making. Four themes surrounding recreation emerged: 1) recreational opportunities are storied as less impactful on youth future orientation than educational and employment opportunities; 2) statewide branding focusing on outdoor recreational amenities and experiences may not be accessible or appealing to youth; 3) youth lack meaningful community engagement and leadership opportunities, resulting in low youth voice in community development initiatives; and 4) there is an assumption that youth will ultimately leave rural areas for educational, employment, and recreational opportunities elsewhere and return later as established adults. We make recommendations for recreation providers and stakeholders, including: 1) growing youth community attachment through recreation spaces and places in rural areas, 2) providing more inclusive forms of youth-focused state and community branding, 3) advocating for youth-focused recreation and civic engagement policy/programming, and 4) developing messaging resisting narratives insinuating recreation is unimportant in youth decision making and future orientation. Rural communities following these recommendations may enhance youth quality of life and contribute to a demographically diverse and thriving population.

This study examined the cultural messages informing postsecondary decision-making processes surrounding emerging adult migration from/to a predominately rural state in the northeastern U.S. Utilizing an ecological approach to sampling, this study used 27 interviews and 5 focus groups of stakeholders working in educational, employment, and quality of life sectors. Narrative analysis yielded evidence of a predominant master narrative of migration as a developmental requirement during emerging adulthood. Stakeholders spoke of normative and prescriptive expectations that emerging adults particularly in rural areas orient their plans and decision-making around, including leaving their home communities for developmental reasons. Implications for emerging adult development and migration and future research on identity formation vis-a-vis master narratives are discussed.

Young adults thrust into the role of caregiving for parents with young-onset dementia (YOD) face unique challenges during their formative years. While existing research acknowledges the crucial role of young adult caregivers, a gap persists in understanding how this group experiences and redefines their identity amidst these circumstances, along with the psychological and societal challenges encountered. This knowledge deficit hinders the identification of suitable social support, adversely affecting the personal growth and well-being of these young adult caregivers. In this single-case study, we used a combination of a semi-structured interview and photovoice to explore the journey of a 19-year-old caregiver, Alice, whose mother had been diagnosed with dementia in the preceding 3 years. Through this unique perspective, we aimed to illuminate how caregiving for a mother with YOD may profoundly redefine familial roles and relationships. Over 3 months, Alice captured significant life moments through photography, selecting meaningful images for bi-weekly meetings. These images served as pivotal themes, triggering in-depth conversations during subsequent interviews to provide nuanced insights into her life experiences. Findings reveal four major themes faced by a young caregiver: (1) challenges adapting to an unexpected role, (2) navigating the complex emotional terrain of losing a loved one to YOD, (3) prioritizing the well-being of the healthy parent, and (4) expressing a profound desire for both informal and formal support. These results underscore the intricate identity and emotional challenges faced by young adult caregivers, emphasizing the urgency of addressing their unique needs through family-centered systemic support services.

This study examined the normative messages that inform youth postsecondary decision making in a predominantly rural state in the northeastern U.S., focusing on the institutionalization and circulation of identity master narratives. Using a multi-level, ecological approach to sampling, the study interviewed 33 key informants in positions of influence in educational, workforce, and quality of life domains. Narrative analysis yielded evidence of a predominant master narrative – College for All – that participants described as a prescriptive expectation that youth and families orient their postsecondary planning toward four-year, residential baccalaureate degree programs. Both general and domain-specific aspects of this master narrative are elaborated, as well as findings indicating that the College for All ideology appears to both obscure and stigmatize the development and institutionalization of alternative postsecondary pathways. Implications for rural communities, rural mobility, and future research on narratives informing postsecondary options for youth are discussed.

Leisure figures prominently in adolescent identity work. This paper tested the psychometric properties and validity of a new measure, Parental Support of Leisure Exploration (PSLE). We used three distinct samples: college undergraduates (n = 409, M age 19.4), high school students (n = 70, M age 16.8), and middle school students (n = 126, M age 14.05). Factor analysis indicated two factors: encouragement of autonomous exploration and parental control and intrusion. The PSLE autonomous exploration scale was correlated with developmental measures in the expected directions; however, the control and intrusion scale was not consistently correlated with these measures. In the high school sample, PSLE correlated with established measures of parenting, and after controlling for more general parenting, the PSLE scales explained additional, unique variance in identity. Results suggest that promoting parenting behaviors that encourage identity exploration through leisure experiences could be a promising avenue for fostering identity development.

Adolescents’ future aspirations and expectations influence the decisions they make as they transition into adulthood. However, less is known about how specific sociocultural factors interact with the formation of future aspirations and expectations and their association with goal attainment in emerging adulthood. The present study begins to fill this gap by using person-centered analysis with high school students (N = 517; 53% female; 92% white) from a rural county undergoing significant economic transition. Its aim was to identify future orientation profiles based on adolescent-reported future aspirations and expectations for success in both education and career. Four latent profiles were identified and labeled: universally high aspirations and expectations; low college aspirations and expectations; lower aspirations than expectations; and universally low aspirations and expectations. Significant gender differences were found. High school males were less likely to be in the universally high profile and more likely to be in the universally low and low college aspirations and expectations profiles. Future orientation profile placement was associated with differences in adolescent experiences in family, school, and community contexts as well as their work and education status and future residential aspirations in emerging adulthood. The findings inform future research and applied efforts focused on rural youth’s preparation for adult roles, and on retaining rural youth, a necessity for the vitality of rural communities.

Outdoor recreation and leisure are being promoted in some rural communities as an economic revitalization strategy and an arena for youth development. This research brief reports on a study analyzing a five-wave longitudinal dataset that examined the influence of outdoor activity involvement on postsecondary educational status in a sample of emerging adults from a large, rural county in the northeastern U.S. (N=114). Differences in educational predictors were found between individuals participating in different outdoor activity types and at different levels throughout adolescence. Multinomial regression found the degree of outdoor activity involvement and parental education levels to predict postsecondary enrollment status two years after high school. Additionally, postsecondary enrollment was associated with living outside the area after high school. Results illustrate the importance of considering the relationship between leisure activities, education, and residential decision making when conducting research on youth and community development in rural areas.

This study examined how emerging adults' perpetration of aggression toward a sibling closest in age was longitudinally associated with their sibling relationship quality. Emerging adults (N = 143; M-age = 19.62; 70% female) completed surveys online or by mail at two time points, 4 years apart. Of emerging adults, 25% perpetrated aggression against their closest-in-age sibling. Perpetration of sibling aggression was predictive 4 years later of less sibling warmth, involvement, and emotional help. None of the interactions with gender and sibling gender was significant. This study's findings demonstrate the importance of examining the consequences of perpetration of aggressive behavior toward a sibling for sibling relationship quality in emerging adulthood.

We assessed the relationship between household chaos at grade 10 and adolescent well-being (depression, problematic substance use, and physical health) two years later in a sample of rural youth living in economically-vulnerable communities. Also, we evaluated whether household chaos moderated the effect of hostile parenting on adolescent the mental, physical, and behavioral health. Adolescents (N = 238; M age = 15.59; 55% female) completed questionnaires at school in grade 10 and again two years later. Adolescents' perceptions of household chaos at grade 10 were associated with increased problematic substance use (B = .23, p < .05) and worse physical health (B = .17, p < .05) two years later. Household chaos moderated the effect of hostile parenting (B = .13, p < .05), such that the effect of hostile parenting on adolescents' depression two years later was exacerbated in highly chaotic households. Reduction in household chaos through routine, stability and organization along with a focus on warm and supportive parenting are important for healthy adolescent mental, physical and behavioral health.

Future advances in identity research will depend on integration across major theoretical traditions. Developmental-contextualism has established essential criteria to guide this effort, including specifying the context of identity development, its timing over the life course, and its content. This article assesses 4 major traditions of identity research-identity status, eudaimonic identity, sociocultural theory, and narrative identity-in light of these criteria, and describes the contribution of each tradition to the broader enterprise of developmental-contextual research. This article proposes dialectical integration of the 4 traditions, for the purpose of generating new questions when the tensions and contradictions among theoretical traditions are acknowledged. We provide examples from existing literature of the kinds of research that could address these questions and consider ways of addressing the validity issues involved in developmental-contextual identity research. (PsycINFO Database Record

This chapter explores if changes in unemployment during this period coincided with changes in substance misuse among rural emerging adults nationally and locally. It seeks to add to a growing literature on uniquely rural patterns of substance misuse, with an emphasis on rural American youth in transition to adulthood between 2009 and 2014. The chapter uses both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the possible link between unemployment and substance misuse nationwide and in New Hampshire, an isolated rural county with a history of economic instability. Prior research on the 'gendered' patterns of substance misuse has revealed fewer sex differences in substance misuse in rural compared to non-rural contexts. The Great Recession has since been linked to changes in US substance use patterns, heavy alcohol consumption and substance use disorder, especially among young adult men. Among participants who indicated that substance misuse was a problem in their communities, some perceived alcohol-related problems to be more serious than other drug-related problems.

This article examines whether adolescents' experience of household chaos is related to their future beliefs (i.e. mastery of the future, future obstacles, stress about transition to emerging adulthood, parents' ability to 'let go', and likelihood of having a successful career). It also explores whether adolescents' relationships with their mothers and fathers (i.e. warmth, hostility) moderate the link between household chaos and adolescents' future beliefs. Adolescents (N=325; 52% female) in the tenth grade completed an in-school questionnaire. At the bivariate level, it was found that household chaos was linked to adolescents' future beliefs. Household chaos predicted adolescents' less positive beliefs about mastery, future obstacles, and having a successful career. Mothers' hostility exacerbated adolescents' beliefs about future obstacles and stress about the transition to emerging adulthood in chaotic households. Clinical and programmatic strategies could be developed to address household chaos as a risk factor for adolescents' negative beliefs about their futures.

Late in first decade of the 2000s, the closing of pulp and paper mills in the rural northeastern United States contributed to economic decline in the region and to rising concerns about population decline due to out-migration among local emerging adults in search of occupational or educational opportunities. In this context, and drawing on a life-course framework, the present study used four waves of panel data from the population of 7th- and 11th-grade public school students in a rural northeastern U.S. county to explore whether the county unemployment rate was related to perceived local job prospects; school connectedness was related to subsequent perceived job prospects; and the effects of county unemployment and school connectedness on perceived local job prospects varied by age cohort. Initially, changes in respondents’ perceptions about local job prospects paralleled shifts in local unemployment similarly for both cohorts; yet after the older cohort respondents had completed high school, their perceived local job prospects fell sharply, while perceptions among the younger cohort respondents, who were still in high school, remained stable. Among the older cohort respondents only, school connectedness was associated with subsequent positive perceptions about local job prospects net of relevant controls. Same-age cohort comparisons, evaluated when each cohort was in 12th-grade, showed no differences in the short-term effects of school connectedness on perceived local job prospects, despite variations in the age-linked timing of the most dramatic rise in unemployment during the study. The results highlight the lasting importance of school connectedness for teens raised in struggling rural economies.

Discretionary time outside of school offers a distinct context that can promote adolescent development; however, potential for growth depends in part on how this time is used. In this study, person-centered analyses were used to examine patterns of breadth of participation in both organized and unstructured leisure activities among rural adolescents ( N = 276, 49 % female) across grades 7, 8, and 10. Adjusting for self-selection factors, the study associated these patterns with 10th grade outcomes. Three profiles of participation emerged: consistently low breadth, consistently average breadth, and consistently high breadth of involvement in both organized and unstructured leisure activities over time. The most popular activity types across profile groups were hanging out with friends, team sports, and outdoor activities. Adolescents involved in a greater breadth of organized activities reported the greatest breadth of involvement in unstructured leisure and the best functioning. Adolescents with low breadth of involvement in both organized and unstructured leisure activities consistently showed poorer outcomes. Adolescents in the high breadth of involvement profile were engaged in all activity types at higher rates than adolescents in the average and low breadth of involvement profiles. We advocate for continued efforts to increase adolescent participation in a variety of different types of out-of-school activities.

Work is an integral part of life in the United States and balancing work and family life can be a difficult task for many families made even harder to accomplish when a mother is low-income, living in a rural area, and working non-standard hours. Non-standard work hours include weekends, nights, rotating shifts, or split shifts. Using qualitative data from the longitudinal Rural Families Speak research project, this paper explored how rural low-income mothers who work non-standard schedules access and manage resources to try to balance the demands of work and family life. Interpreted through a family resource management lens, the results illuminate critical resources that allow families to manage work and family life while highlighting the demands the families often faced. Critical resources included accessing informal social support, managing work and family time, and seeking employment that supports work and family balance. Demands that threatened work and family balance included lack of flexibility in available resources and employment which make it difficult to balance work and family. Findings suggest the importance of developing community based programs to support both work and family as well educating employers on ways to support their employees.

ABSTRACT We describe adolescents' perpetration of sibling aggression and its link to physical health two years later. In‐school surveys at Time 1 ( N = 331) and Time 2 (two‐years later, N = 283) were administered to adolescents (at Time 1, M age = 15.71 years, SD = .63; 52% female) living in the United States querying about perpetration of aggression toward a sibling closest in age and perceived physical health. The majority of adolescents perpetrated aggression towards their sibling (74%). Adolescents who were part of brother–brother pairs reported the most aggression. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that perpetrating sibling aggression more often at Time 1 was predictive of lower physical health at Time 2 controlling for Time 1 physical health and demographic characteristics. Perpetration of aggression toward a sibling is common and has negative health consequences in late adolescence suggesting this issue should be targeted to improve adolescents' sibling dynamics and physical health.

We examine how aspects of community context (i.e., social and familial attachments, attachment to place, and economic environment) are linked to rural emerging adults' educational and occupational experiences and aspirations. We use a year of qualitative interview data and 2 years of longitudinal survey data to explore how community context may shape two groups of rural emerging adults' aspirations for those who remain in their rural home community posthigh school graduation and those who leave after high school to seek opportunities elsewhere. We found that the declining economic context of these rural communities shaped educational and occupational aspirations of both groups toward practically focused occupations. Interviewees struggled to balance their positive community attachments with the area's lack of occupational opportunities. Our work uniquely underscores that analysis of community context may be a key to understanding emerging adults' educational and occupational pathways and aspirations in economically strained rural environments.