Through a two-wave panel study of emerging adults, the authors examine how living situation, work and school roles, and experiences in those roles affect psychosocial functioning following the transition from high school. Enrollment in college programs and fulltime work are associated with lower levels of depressed mood and more positive quality…

Little is known of smoking trajectories or of the correlates of smoking trajectories among African American youth. Ninth-grade African American adolescents (n = 566) were interviewed in Year 1 and then were subsequently interviewed annually for 3 additional years. Five trajectories of cigarette smokers were identified: abstainers,…

Although previous findings indicate that frequent television viewing is associated with holding more stereotypical attitudes about gender, no studies have examined this connection among Latino youth, who are frequent viewers of both English- and Spanish-language programming. The present study attempted to rectify this situation by examining…

This study investigated changes over time in adolescents' and parents' memories for how they felt when they learned of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Adolescents recalled having felt less negative emotion than parents did both 3 months and 8 months after the attacks. Moreover, the intensity of negative emotion recalled decreased over…

This study explores perceptions about intimate relationships including perspectives of pressure and sexual coercion as experienced by unmarried Filipino adolescent males and females aged 15 to 19 years. The study design included an initial qualitative phase containing focus group discussions with adults and adolescents and key informant interviews…

This article presents a qualitative study of Jewish identity in emerging adults between ages 18 and 27, drawn from across the mainstream British Jewish community. Eighteen in-depth interviews were conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The interviews covered three main areas, focusing on the participants' developmental history…

In this study, 116 emerging adults and adolescents completed questionnaires and were interviewed about their relationship with a sibling. Respondents' siblings and their mothers also rated the quality of the sibling relationship. Emerging adults were found to spend less time and to be less involved in joint activities with their siblings than…

This study explored how psychosocial and cultural factors influenced expectations of menarche among 476 Chinese premenarcheal teenage girls. Results showed that participants' expectations of menarche were largely negative and heavily influenced by cultural beliefs about menstruation. Findings of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that…

Emerging adulthood involves a number of developmental changes, including in the areas of interpersonal relations, religious views, and sexuality. The current study examined individuals' perceptions of changes in these areas as a result of the transition to university. Participants (N = 205, 61% female, age range 18 to 25) responded to open-ended…

This study examines the way in which young people from diverse American ethnic backgrounds express autonomy and relatedness in their responses to disagreements with parents and the factors that influence their responses. Adolescents and emerging adults (N = 240) aged 14 to 22 years from four ethnic groups (European American, Mexican American,…

Although music videos feature prominently in the media diets of many adolescents, little is known of their impact on viewers' conceptions of femininity and masculinity. Accordingly, this study examines the impact of both regular and experimental music video exposure on adolescent viewers' conceptions about gender. Across two testing sessions, 152…

This longitudinal school-based study examined school connection and family support as protective factors for adolescent mental health in the context of exposure to violence. After controlling for seventh grade functioning, recent exposure to violence uniquely predicted worsening of functioning from seventh to eighth grade across multiple self- and…

Researchers have suggested that experimentation may be a necessary, constructive component of identity formation. However, these researchers have also noted the paradox of risk taking; an individual may experience both positive and negative precursors and consequences of risk taking. The present investigation used qualitative methods to explore…

Research reveals that most 18- to 25-year-old individuals do not consider themselves to be adults. This time period between adolescence and adulthood has been newly defined as emerging adulthood. The purpose of this study was to (a) attempt to identify perceived adults and (b) explore whether differences in adulthood criteria, achievement of those…

Girls often idolize male celebrities, but this phenomenon has been studied little. The authors therefore assessed celebrity idolization among 142 junior high school girls and found that girls who strongly idolized a male celebrity had more experience dating, reported secure and preoccupied attachments to same-age boys, and were rated higher in…