Human Development and Its Theories
Mohamed Ahmed Abd El-Hay in Understanding Psychology for Medicine and Nursing, 2019
On one’s 18th birthday, one becomes an adult according to the law. However, there is no clear-cut mark that defines the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In some cultures there are some rituals that mark the transition from adolescence to adulthood, but in most countries it is not so clear what defines adulthood. A lot of occasions may be supposed as the start of adulthood: graduation from high school, starting a real job, marriage. Arnett (e.g., Arnett, 2007) suggests that the late teens to mid-twenties should be viewed as a period of emerging adulthood, where people are negotiating the transition to adulthood. According to Arnett (2011), emerging adulthood exists only in cultures in which adult responsibilities and roles are postponed until the twenties. This pattern occurs most typically in industrialized or post-industrialized countries. Even in industrialized countries, emerging adulthood may not characterize the developmental trajectory of all young adults, e.g., members of minority groups, immigrants, and young adults who enter directly into the workforce rather than seeking college or university education are less likely to experience emerging adulthood as a distinct period of exploration and change.
HBCUs and Sexual Health: The Importance of Culture and Context
Naomi M. Hall in Sexual Health and Black College Students, 2022
The sexual milieu, or environment, of Black college students, is an area where more culturally and ecologically relevant, and responsive, research is necessary. College is not only an educational transitional period but also a cultural, social, and ecological transition. Bronfenbrenner (1979) defines an ecological transition as “occurring whenever a person's position in the ecological environment is altered as a result of a change in role, setting, or both” (p. 26). The period from entering as a freshman to graduate, typically, is the developmental period (18–29 years) called emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). The sexual and reproductive health of students cannot be understood outside of the cultural context of the HBCUs they attend. For many students, the college environment provides a sense of newfound freedom, self-determination, and peer pressure to engage in risky behavior, including sexual risk behavior. During this time, individual experiences increase vulnerability to poorer sexual decision-making and overall sexual health outcomes. The changes, both developmentally and ecologically, begin to happen as soon as students step onto the college campus. Students are met with new people, new rules, new expectations, and new opportunities. How one decides who? what? when? where? why? and how? becomes more important as one acclimate to a new culture. These critical shifts can have profound short- and long-term consequences on an individual's psychological, emotional, and physical well-being.
The Most Difficult Lesson
Meidan Turel, Michael Siglag, Alexander Grinshpoon in Clinical Psychology in the Mental Health Inpatient Setting, 2019
The psychology internship year is a time to solidify interns’ learning experiences in order to prepare them for entry into the profession. Although experiences vary based on the internship site, psychiatric inpatient settings may expose trainees to more situations that bring to light life’s precariousness than what they might experience in other settings (Farberow, 1981; Gibson & Taylor, 2003). Approximately 4–7% of suicides occur within hospital settings (Wolfersdorf, 2000) and 11% of mental health trainees experience a patient suicide during their training years (Kleespies, Penk, & Forsyth, 1993). More specifically, one in six psychology interns experiences a patient’s suicide during training (Kleespies, Smith, & Becker, 1990). Suicide among young adults is the leading cause of death (Heron, 2013). There are a myriad of hypotheses about the prevalence of suicide among young adults. Young adulthood is a time of significant transition and identity exploration. Key decisions about relationships, future careers, and political views become intensified in this period coined as “emerging adulthood” (Arnett, 2000). The Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas, has a specifically dedicated unit for young adults to help address the issues pertinent to this significant developmental stage. Psychology interns are core members of the multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) team that provides treatment.
Development of a University Campus Healthy Sleep Promotion Program
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2018
Brian E. McCabe, Adam S. Troy, Hersila H. Patel, Valerie Halstead, Mayra Arana
Sleep is vital for learning, growth and development, cognitive functions, and physical and mental health (Lund, Reider, Whiting, & Prichard, 2010). College students often have poor sleep for a number of reasons, including erratic schedules, minimal supervision, and use of alcohol and marijuana (Buboltz, Brown, & Soper, 2001; Dahl & Lewin, 2002; Jean-Louis, Von Gizycki, Zizi, & Nunes, 1998; Pilcher & Waters, 1997). Emerging adulthood is a life stage between adolescence and adulthood, usually between ages 18 and 25 years (Arnett, 2007). This developmental stage is characterized by five core features: (a) identity exploration, (b) instability, (c) focus on the self, (d) feeling in-between, and (e) possibilities (Arnett, 2005). College students typify many of the ideas of emerging adulthood, including living on/near campus, exploring a range of identities, expecting frequent mobility and change (Arnett, 2004). The characteristics of emerging adulthood described briefly below have positive and negative aspects, but may be associated difficulties with maintaining regular sleep patterns due to their transitory nature.
Intergenerational Continuity of Child Sexual Abuse: Comparison of Mother and Emerging Adult Dyads
Published in Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 2023
Carley Marshall, Mylène Fernet, Rachel Langevin
The current study is based on dyadic data of mothers and their emerging adult children between the ages of 18 and 25. Emerging adulthood is characterized as a distinct developmental period marked by identity explorations, instability, feelings of being “in-between,” self-focus, and exploring possibilities and different directions in life (e.g., work, relationships, education; Arnett, 2004). This period has not received great attention in the context of CSA continuity despite the fact that the impacts of CSA may extend into adulthood (Noll, 2021). Furthermore, including a sample of emerging adults allows for documenting experiences of CSA between the ages of 0 and 18, reducing the risk of false negatives. It also reduces the risk of recall bias, as individuals are closer to their childhood and adolescence at the time of study participation.
Risk for dating violence and sexual assault over time: The role of college and prior experiences with violence
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2023
Leila Wood, Elizabeth Baumler, Jenny K. Rinehart, Jeff R. Temple
Emerging adulthood (ages 18–25) is characterized by increased identity exploration, self-focus, and role transitions.1 It is also a time of increased risk,2 including interpersonal violence victimization3 such as dating violence and sexual assault. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) estimates that, for women, nearly 79% of first sexual assaults and 71% of dating violence victimization occur before the age of 25. For men, 58.2% of first instances of dating violence victimization occur before the age of 25.4 The vast majority of victimization research on emerging adulthood has focused on college-attending populations,3 who account for only 40% of emerging adult population nationwide.5 Further, most of our understanding of emerging adulthood comes specifically from four-year college populations, which have more white and female students than two-year colleges.1,5 Despite the increased risk for dating violence and sexual assault in emerging adulthood, little is known about the role of college attendance in risk for victimization.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Adolescence
- Comorbidity
- Developmental Psychology
- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Puberty
- Young Adult
- Sexually Transmitted Infection
- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
- Substance Use Disorder
- Social Anxiety Disorder