Abstract
As the Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA) was developed to assess features of emerging adulthood, international differences have been observed between emerging adults over the world. To assess the IDEA’s applicability to emerging adults in Flanders, a Dutch translation was administered to 489 participants between 17 and 26 years old, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Important latent factors in the version used in the United States of America, such as focus on others, were not observed. Four subscales were created to reflect psychological features of our sample, combining elements of both Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood and neo-Eriksonian theories of identity development. A new subscale, reflecting commitment and responsibility, was more present in older participants and employed participants, and associated with well-being. Finally, results suggested that employment, as well as place of residency, and romantic relationships significantly influence psychological development during young adulthood.
Highlights
Assessing features of emerging adulthood Arnett (2000) has described psychological features of individuals between 18 and 25 years old in a developmental phase that he named emerging adulthood
The main goal of this study is to describe psychological features of emerging adults in Flanders starting from Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood, as operationalized in the Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA)
We evaluated the IDEA in a Flemish sample, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis
Summary
Assessing features of emerging adulthood Arnett (2000) has described psychological features of individuals between 18 and 25 years old in a developmental phase that he named emerging adulthood. Arnett (2000) describes emerging adulthood in terms of five core features: individuals are focused on themselves (self-focus), as they are not tied to the routine of school and not constrained by marriage, children, or a career yet. They explore who they are (identity exploration), are optimistic about, and experiment with possibilities they have for their futures (experimentation/possibilities).
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