Associations Between Shyness and Internalizing Behaviors,Externalizing Behaviors,and Relationships during Emerging Adulthood

Many studies have documented the ways in which shyness can be a barrier to personal well-being and social adjustment throughout childhood and adolescence; however, less is known regarding shyness in emerging adulthood. Shyness as experienced during emerging adulthood may continue to be a risk factor for successful development. The purpose of this study was to compare shy emerging adults with their non-shy peers in (a) internalizing behaviors, (b) externalizing behaviors, and (c) close relationships. Participants included 813 undergraduate students (500 women, 313 men) from a number of locations across the United States. Results showed that relatively shy emerging adults, both men and women, had more internalizing problems (e.g., anxious, depressed, low self-perceptions in multiple domains), engaged in fewer externalizing behaviors (e.g., less frequent drinking), and experienced poorer relationship quality with parents, best friends, and romantic partners than did their non-shy peers.

The Role of Religion in the Transition to Adulthood for Young Emerging Adults

Recent research has highlighted the role of culture in emerging adulthood (age between 18 and 25 years). However, most studies have examined majority cultures (e.g., China) as well as subcultures (e.g., American ethnic minorities). Thus, work on other aspects of culture such as religion is needed given the emerging evidence that it may have an impact on development. This study explored the role of religious culture in the emerging adulthood of college students. Participants were 445 undergraduates (ages 18–20 years) from institutions that were Catholic (31 males, 89 females), Mormon (48 males, 200 females), and public (21 males, 56 females). Results found religious differences in (a) the criteria young people deemed necessary for adulthood, (b) the extent to which emerging adults felt they had achieved these criteria, (c) various aspects of spirituality including practices and beliefs, and (d) the behaviors in which emerging adults engage.Portions of this study were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Adolescence, Baltimore, Maryland, in March 2004.Assistant Professor of Psychology at Loyola College in Maryland. She received her PhD in 2001 from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her major research interests are in social-and self-development during adolescence and emerging adulthood.Assistant Professor of Marriage, Family, and Human Development in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. He received his PhD in 2000 from the University of Maryland, College Park. His major research interests are in social-and self-development during early childhood and emerging adulthood.     

Continuity and Change from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Adolescence-limited vs. Life-course-persistent Profound Ego Development Arrests

Participants (n = 36) with consistent Pre-conformist ego development levels during multiple adolescent assessments were studied to determine whether and how their ego levels had changed at age 25. Those (n = 12) whose ego levels remained at the Pre-conformist level were assigned to a life-course-persistent profound ego development arrest trajectory group; those (n = 24) whose ego levels reached the Conformist or Post-conformist level at age 25 were assigned to an adolescence-limited profound ego development arrest trajectory group. Analysis of predictors and age 25 correlates of group membership revealed that selected age 14 family interaction behaviors differentiated the two groups. At age 25, members of the adolescence-limited group showed superior performance on several measures of interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning.

Distinctiveness of Adolescent and Emerging Adult Romantic Relationship Features in Predicting Externalizing Behavior Problems

Romantic relationship involvement has repeatedly been associated with the incidence of externalizing behavior problems, but little is known about the nature and developmental significance of this relation. The current study extends previous research by investigating whether and through what processes romantic relationships distinctively predict externalizing behavior problems during adolescence compared to emerging adulthood. Data came from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. As predicted, higher levels of romantic relationship security at 16 years were associated with lower levels of externalizing behavior problems during both adolescence and emerging adulthood, but this inverse relation was stronger for emerging adults than for adolescents. This relation was not attributable either to earlier quality of family and peer relationships or emerging adulthood competence. Thus, security of romantic relationships may become increasingly predictive of individual differences in externalizing behavior problems as individuals move from adolescence to emerging adulthood.

The Impact of Immigration on the Internal Processes and Developmental Tasks of Emerging Adulthood

This study examines the experience of emerging adult immigrants, a group simultaneously attempting to navigate the developmental period of exploration and experimentation of emerging adulthood, together with the need for re-organization of the self, following immigration. In this study, in-depth interviews were conducted, with 41 emerging adult immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel and 42 non-immigrant Israeli emerging adults (all in the age group 21–25), on the subjects of sense of self, family relations, and age-appropriate tasks of emerging adulthood. Results showed that while immigrant emerging adults had a more disorganized sense of self, they also showed higher levels of both autonomy and relatedness in the relationship with their parents. Immigrant emerging adults had fewer social networks, yet more intimate relationships. Emerging adult immigrants' story was one of “relatedness” where level of self-organization was related to closeness, caring, and identification with parents, and closeness in both social and intimate relationships. In contrast, the non-immigrant emerging adults told about a process of “autonomy seeking” where a consolidated sense of self was related to more independent decision-making, emotional independence, and assertiveness in the relationship with parents. The findings of this study point to the complex and unique process that emerging adult immigrants undergo while coping with developmental tasks in their new environment. Received Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. Current research interests in emerging adulthood and immigration. Main foci of research are developmental processes and adaptation in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Received Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. Current research interests concern emerging adulthood and adaptation. Received Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. Current research interests in emerging adulthood and schizophrenia.     

Living in Partner-violent Families: Developmental Links to Antisocial Behavior and Relationship Violence

Links between living in a partner-violent home and subsequent aggressive and antisocial behavior are suggested by the “cycle of violence” hypothesis derived from social learning theory. Although there is some empirical support, to date, findings have been generally limited to cross-sectional studies predominantly of young children, or retrospective studies of adults. We address this issue with prospective data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS), an ongoing longitudinal investigation of the development of antisocial behavior in a community sample of 1,000 urban youth followed from age 14 to adulthood. The original panel included 68% African American, 17% Hispanic, and 15% White participants, and was 72.9% male, and 27.1% female. Measures come from a combination of sources including interviews with parents, interviews with youth, and official records. We test the general hypothesis that there is a relationship between living in partner-violent homes during adolescence, and later antisocial behavior and relationship violence. Employing logistic regression and controlling for related covariates, including child physical abuse, we find a significant relationship between exposure to parental violence and adolescent conduct problems. The relationship between exposure to parental violence and measures of antisocial behavior and relationship aggression dissipates in early adulthood, however, exposure to severe parental violence is significantly related to early adulthood violent crime, and intimate partner violence. Our results suggest that exposure to severe parental violence during adolescence is indeed consequential for violent interactions in adulthood.

The Utility of Forms and Functions of Aggression in Emerging Adulthood: Association with Personality Disorder Symptomatology

A sample of 679 (341 women) emerging adults (M = 18.90 years; SD = 1.11; range = 18.00–22.92) participated in a study on the utility of forms (i.e., physical and relational) and functions (i.e., proactive and reactive) of aggression. We examined the link between these four subtypes of aggression and personality pathology (i.e., psychopathic features, borderline personality disorder features, and antisocial personality disorder features). The study supports the psychometric properties (i.e., test–retest reliability, internal consistency, discriminant validity) of a recently introduced measure of forms and functions of aggression during emerging adulthood. Aggression subtypes were uniquely associated with indices of personality pathology. For example, proactive (i.e., planned, instrumental or goal-oriented) and reactive (i.e., impulsive, hostile or retaliatory) functions of relational aggression were uniquely associated with borderline personality disorder features even after controlling for functions of physical aggression and gender. The results highlight the differential associations between forms and functions of aggression and indices of personality pathology in typically developing emerging adults.

The Relation of Antisocial Behavior Patterns and Changes in Internalizing Symptoms for a Sample of Inner-city Youth: Comorbidity within a Developmental Framework

Research examining the relationship between internalizing symptoms and antisocial behaviors has generally been cross-sectional in design. Thus, although extant data have substantiated a strong correlation between internalizing symptoms and antisocial behaviors, few studies have focused on describing the nature of the co-occurrence over time. This study examined the relation between growth in internalizing symptoms and longitudinal patterns of antisocial behavior in a sample of 283 inner-city males and their caregivers assessed as part of a longitudinal developmental risk study. Participants were assessed annually in four waves. Non-offenders and escalating offenders had lower levels of internalizing problems at wave 1 than did chronic minor and serious-chronic-violent offenders. Results revealed a developmental trend of decreasing internalizing problems across study years for most participants, as would be expected, with adolescents participating in serious, chronic, and violent patterns of antisocial behavior displaying greater internalizing problems than those participating in stable patterns of less serious or no antisocial behavior. Further, when there was escalation of seriousness and frequency of antisocial behavior, there also was increased internalizing problems relative to non-escalating juveniles. Results are discussed in the context of developmental psychopathology.