Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted emerging adults’ daily routines due to social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and public and educational facilities’ closure. This article uses longitudinal panel data from Germany ( N = 625) to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affects emerging adults’ mental health and life satisfaction. Specifically, we investigate risk and protective factors for within-person changes in life satisfaction and mental health using change score models. Our analysis reveals three main findings. First, we find a significant decline in emerging adults’ life satisfaction and mental health compared to pre-pandemic levels. Second, results show heterogeneity in life satisfaction and mental health trajectories. Third, limited peer contacts, financial strain, and returning to the parental home act as risk factors for longitudinal changes. Social integration, having an intimate partner, and self-efficacy act as protective factors. We discuss the implications of our findings for the consequences of the pandemic for emerging adults.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily life routines around the world, resulting in decreasing individuals’ wellbeing and mental health
While the physical health effects of COVID-19 on emerging adults are less severe compared to older adults, several population-based studies consistently reveal that emerging adults experience higher increases in depression, anxiety, and decreasing life satisfaction than any other age cohort (Daly et al, 2020; Gambin et al, 2021; Huang & Zhao, 2020; Kuhn et al, 2020; Pierce et al, 2020)
We introduced the independent variables with a stepwise approach, adding risk and protective factors separately to test their explanatory potential for changes in life satisfaction and mental health problems
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily life routines around the world, resulting in decreasing individuals’ wellbeing and mental health. While the physical health effects of COVID-19 on emerging adults are less severe compared to older adults, several population-based studies consistently reveal that emerging adults experience higher increases in depression, anxiety, and decreasing life satisfaction than any other age cohort (Daly et al, 2020; Gambin et al, 2021; Huang & Zhao, 2020; Kuhn et al, 2020; Pierce et al, 2020). The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic may hurt emerging adult’s educational and occupational opportunities. These economic disruptions may lead to longer periods of unemployment and low income, resulting in to roll back the process of independence when young people are forced to move back to their parental home.
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