Full Adulthood Research Articles

Attachment Style, Interpersonal Dependency and Quality of Life Among Emerging Adult

An emerging adult typically is in a transitional phase from adolescence to full adulthood. Interpersonal dependency refers to a psychological state in which an individual relies heavily on others for emotional support, validation, and decision-making. Quality of life means an individual’s overall well-being and satisfaction with various aspects of their life. This study examines the connection between attachment style, interpersonal dependency and quality of life. 200 emerging adults of age 18-24 made up the sample, which include both males and females were collected from various colleges of Ernakulam and Kottayam district. Adult attachment style scale, Interpersonal dependency Inventory and WHO Quality of life brief scale were the instruments employed. The data was examined using the Spearman's correlation test, using SPSS version 28. In this present study there is a partial relationship between the subscales of attachment style, interpersonal dependency and quality of life. Some of the subscales of these variables are correlated and other subscales are non-correlated. There exists a positive correlation between some of the subscales of attachment style, interpersonal dependency and quality of life and the other subscales of attachment style, interpersonal dependency and quality of life was negatively correlated among emerging adults.

Expandable endoprostheses in skeletally immature patients: Where we are

Approximately 45 percent of malignant bone tumors are seen under the age of 16 and one of the important results of growth plate sacrification in patients with immature skeletons is limb inequality. Until the early 1990s, the treatment options for these patients were rotationplasty or amputation. Multimodal approaches that combine imaging, chemotherapy, and surgical techniques have enabled the development of limb-preserving methods with satisfactory results. In order to overcome inequality problems, expandable prostheses have been developed in the 1980s. Extendable endoprosthesis replacements have been improved over the years and are now an established and safe alternative. Noninvasive prostheses appear to be advantageous compared to minimally invasive expandable prostheses that require multiple surgical procedures, but the complication rate remains high. Therefore, although expandable prostheses are not the definitive answer to the treatment of bone sarcomas in skeletally immature children, they are still a suitable interim choice until full adulthood is achieved. Due to reported high complication rates, the procedures require significant experience and are recommended for use only in specialized cancer centers.

A cretaceous frog with eggs from northwestern China provides fossil evidence for sexual maturity preceding skeletal maturity in anurans.

Mesozoic fossils of frogs are rare in the palaeontological record, particularly those exhibiting soft tissues that offer limited insights into early life-history characteristics. Here we report on a skeletally immature frog from the Lower Cretaceous of northwest China, with egg masses in the body and eggs in the oviduct, indicative of a gravid female. CT reconstruction of the specimen allows referral to Gansubatrachus qilianensis and we assign it as a paratype complementing the diagnosis of the type species. The new fossil, which might represent a younger individual than the holotype of Gansubatrachus, shows that sexual maturation occurred before full adulthood in this frog and provides evidence of death linked to mating behaviour. We also discuss other potential sources of variation and life-history traits of Gansubatrachus. The new finding represents the oldest Early Cretaceous frog preserving in situ eggs and provides a glimpse into ancient anuran development during Mesozoic times.

Adults Together

Americans who spend time with common mammalian companion animals do not typically spend much time around reproductively mature animals, as laws and cultures support the widespread spaying and neutering of pets (with some significant exceptions). However, one important population of humans and animals does not entirely match this trend: horse people. While male companion horses are very commonly castrated, or “gelded,” female horses are almost universally allowed to mature into fully reproductive individuals. For many animal enthusiasts, mares are the only reproductively mature mammals other than humans that they ever spend time with. This lack of experience with full animal maturity, in its physical and behavioral senses, has shaped human paradigms for relating to mares. The female body of the companion horse, then, because it is at once fully chaste and also fully sexualized unlike any other nonhuman body most humans are exposed to, is both a body to be managed and a uniquely effective screen on which to project complex cultural values and gendered anxieties. Starting with an interdisciplinary examination of the veterinary practice of pharmaceutically regulating mares’ hormones, followed by analysis of public discourses in art, literature, and social media that interpellate relationships between mares and women, this essay argues that contemporary techniques of disciplining the sexual maturity of mares have deep historical and cultural roots. This essay also expands a growing body of work that includes material multispecies relationships within sexuality studies. By attending to the strategies through which full adulthood and maturity are not afforded to companion animals, we can see how stubborn patriarchal patterns become persistently embedded in familial multispecies relationships.

Eternal Urban Youth? Waithood and Agency in Ethiopian and South African settlements


 
 
 It is often reported that young people in Africa, the Middle East and North African regions are stuck in situations of ‘waithood’, unable to progress to full adulthood. Utilising a series of innovative research methodologies that included life history interviews, surveys, media training and qualitative interviews, the research project’s aim was the co-production of data, in order to delve into the housing and work nexus in two non-central locations in Ethiopia and South Africa. The variety of mixed methods that were used yielded a depth of engagement and allowed the researchers to deepen and nuance ideas of waithood and stuckness. The rich and varied data showed how young people move through moments of stuckness and moments of movement, and that some movement is possible even when faced with difficult and sometimes overwhelming structural challenges. It also demonstrated how co-produced research can assist young people in moving forward and countering the experience of stuckness and waithood.
 
 

The one-sided view of VaTsonga marital endurance, Vukati VA Kandza hi Mbilu: A challenge to pastoral care

Vukati VA Kandza hi Mbilu is a Xitsonga idiomatic expression implying that the road to marital success is for a wife to endure hardships. This idiomatic expression is firmly embedded in patriarchal beliefs, as it is only applicable to wives and not husbands. From time immemorial, the VaTsonga people have been aware of the complexities of marriage. Although they regard it as being a vital step towards full adulthood and maturity, they have several sayings which point out that marriage is not an easy undertaking, such as the well-known saying, Vukati VA Kandza hi Mbilu. The purpose of this article was to examine the VaTsonga idiomatic expression Vukati VA Kandza hi Mbilu, as well as its impact on VaTsonga marriages and patriarchy in VaTsonga marriages. Furthermore, the study provided recommendations to pastoral caregivers to promote gender equality and discourage the abuse of women in Tsonga marriages. A literature review methodological approach was adopted in this research to indicate that the idiomatic expression Vukati VA Kandza hi Mbilu chimes well with the patriarchal mindset of VaTsonga people with regards to marriage in general. Culture is patriarchal and this is general knowledge; therefore, this article argued that women are told and taught to accept male patriarchal rule along with the injustice and hardships that it causes them. Hence, this article challenged practical theology to play a role in fighting against this Tsonga patriarchal rule of marriage.Contribution: In the light of the above-named challenges, the one-sided view of VaTsonga marriage endurance and its patriarchal nature was discussed. Practical theology was called to respond to these issues, as it can play a significant role in challenging pastoral care to respond to such patriarchal VaTsonga idioms.

Cranial Irradiation for Childhood Cancers and Adult Risk of Meningioma

Introduction: Following cranial irradiation, there is an increased risk of developing secondary neoplasms, especially meningiomas. Despite childhood cancer survivors who have undergone cranial irradiation having an increased risk of acquiring radiation-induced meningioma (RIM), there is no widely used standard guideline for meningioma screening. Methods: At a single institution, we reviewed three adult survivors of childhood cancer who were treated for RIM between 2010 and 2020. We recorded age at diagnosis for the primary lesion, the radiation dose, age at RIM diagnosis, and tumor characteristics including treatment, pathology, and outcome. Two had had T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia and one a rhabdomyosarcoma. The age of diagnosis of the RIM ranged from 20 to 40 years, with latencies ranging from 18 to 33 years. All lesions were classified as WHO Grade I meningiomas, and only 1 patient had a subsequent recurrence. A literature search identified articles that address RIM: a total of 684 cases were identified in 36 publications. Results: Mean radiation doses ranged from 1.4 gray to 70 gray. Mean age of diagnosis for secondary meningioma ranged from 8 to 53.4 years old, with latency periods ranging from 2.8 to 44 years. Given variability in the way that investigators have published their results, it is difficult to make a single recommendation for RIM screening. Using our experience and the literature, we devised two different screening protocols and calculated their expense. Conclusions: We recommend that data be standardized in a registry to provide greater insight into the clinical and resource allocation questions, especially as long-term survival of children with pediatric cancer into full adulthood becomes more commonplace worldwide.

The role of symptoms of psychopathy in persistent violence over the criminal career into full adulthood

Purpose: The extant criminal career literature supports the assertion that risk factors for violent and non-violent offending are the same. However, such studies have not examined the role of psychopathic personality disturbance (PPD) in the development of persistent violence across the life course. A situational action theory perspective was used to help illustrate the utility of PPD in explaining persistent violent offending. Methods: Convictions for violent offense and non-violent offenses were measured for Canadian male (n = 262) and female (n = 64) offenders at each year between ages 12 and 28. Semi-parametric group-based modeling was used to identify joint trajectories of violent and non-violent offending. Symptoms of adolescent PPD and other criminogenic risk factors were also measured. Results: Through the joint trajectory model, five violent and five non-violent trajectories were identified. PPD emerged as a strong predictor of membership in the trajectory associated with chronic violent offending but lower levels of non-violent offending. Conclusions: Contrary to earlier criminal career research, the most persistent violent offenders were not also involved in the highest rate of general offending. Theories that help explain why individuals are involved in persistent violence are needed. Incorporating PPD into such a theoretical framework appears necessary.

COHERENCE OF PUBLIC POLICIES IN POLAND IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PROCESS ON REACHING COMPLETED ADULTHOOD

The issue of transition into adulthood, treated as a complex, multi-dimensional and multi-stage social process, is not explicitly an object of interest to public policies, including social policy. The context of the life course policy mentioned in the analyzes is justified by the institutionalization of tasks related to functioning in society typical of completed adulthood: completing education, taking up employment, setting up your own household and family. The so-called delayed transition into adulthood means an increasingly later implementation of these tasks. The barriers to reaching completed adulthood discussed in the article mean that this process becomes a social problem that should be prevented by public activities. The article synthetically summarizes the results of the research “Public policies for full adulthood in Poland” (National Science Center No. 2014/15/B/HS5/03284). The aim of the considerations is to indicate the level of coherence and coordination in the creation and implementation of political and institutional instruments that would support young adult Poles in the process of reaching full adulthood in the above-mentioned dimensions. The conclusions from the research prove the need to separate the transition to adulthood regime in Polish social policy (public policies).

Growth acceleration results in faster telomere shortening later in life.

There is a wealth of evidence for a lifespan penalty when environmental conditions influence an individual's growth trajectory, such that growth rate is accelerated to attain a target size within a limited time period. Given this empirically demonstrated relationship between accelerated growth and lifespan, and the links between lifespan and telomere dynamics, increased telomere loss could underpin this growth-lifespan trade. We experimentally modified the growth trajectory of nestling zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), inducing a group of nestlings to accelerate their growth between 7 and 15 days of age, the main phase of body growth. We then sequentially measured their telomere length in red blood cells at various time points from 7 days to full adulthood (120 days). Accelerated growth between 7 and 15 days was not associated with a detectable increase in telomere shortening during this period compared with controls. However, only in the treatment group induced to show growth acceleration was the rate of growth during the experimental period positively related to the amount of telomere shortening between 15 and 120 days. Our findings provide evidence of a long-term influence of growth rate on later-life telomere shortening, but only when individuals have accelerated growth in response to environmental circumstances.

Study, truth, and personal formation: Reflections on John Paul II’s Pastores dabo vobis

Although John Paul II published “Pastores dabo vobis” specifically for the formation of seminarians for Catholic priesthood, it nonetheless contains much wisdom regarding the formation of any young person on the cusp of full adulthood. John Paul outlines a framework of personal formation according to its human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions. I articulate those dimensions through the lens of a fourfold causal analysis, attending especially to the intellectual dimension and its proper activity, study. My thesis is that study—that is, the serious and diligent exercise of our innate capacity for truth—is the primary driver of successful personal formation.

Increased performance in juvenile baboons is consistent with ontogenetic changes in morphology.

In many primates, the greater proportion of climbing and suspensory behaviors in the juvenile repertoire likely necessitates good grasping capacities. Here, we tested whether very young individuals show near-maximal levels of grasping strength, and whether such an early onset of grasping performance could be explained by ontogenetic variability in the morphology of the limbs in baboons. We quantified a performance trait, hand pull strength, at the juvenile and adult stages in a cross-sectional sample of 15 olive baboons (Papio anubis). We also quantified bone dimensions (i.e., lengths, widths, and heights) of the fore- (n = 25) and hind limb (n = 21) elements based on osteological collections covering the whole development of olive baboons. One-year old individuals demonstrated very high pull strengths (i.e., 200% of the adult performance, relative to body mass), that are consistent with relatively wider phalanges and digit joints in juveniles. The mature proportions and shape of the forelimb elements appeared only at full adulthood (i.e., ≥4.5 years), whereas the mature hind limb proportions and shape were observed much earlier during development. These changes in limb performance and morphology across ontogeny may be explained with regard to behavioral transitions that olive baboons experience during their development. Our findings highlight the effect of infant clinging to mother, an often-neglected feature when discussing the origins of grasping in primates. The differences in growth patterns, we found between the forelimb and the hind limb further illustrate their different functional roles, having likely evolved under different ecological pressures (manipulation and locomotion, respectively).

Reduced Midbrain Dopamine Neuron Number in the Adult Non-human Primate Brain after Fetal Radiation Exposure

Early gestation is a neurodevelopmental period that is especially vulnerable to environmental insult and one in which neurogenesis features prominently. Prenatal perturbation during early gestation has been linked to neuropsychiatric illnesses such as autism and schizophrenia, and severe environmental insult during this period can result in profound mental impairment. Midbrain dopamine neurons are generated during early gestation and play a key role in the motor, cognitive and reward circuitries implicated in neuropsychiatric disease and addiction. This study examined the impact of curtailing neurogenesis in early gestation on neuron number in the midbrain dopamine group, i.e., the substantia nigra and contiguous ventral tegmental area. Rhesus macaque monkeys were exposed in utero on embryonic days 39–41 to x-irradiation (3–4 exposures of 50 cGy over 3–7 days totalling <200 cGy) and allowed to mature to full adulthood. Stereologic cell counts of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the midbrain dopamine group were performed in adult monkeys, as were measurements of somal size. Mean total neuron number in the irradiated monkeys was significantly reduced on average by 33% compared to that of the control group. Somal size did not differ between the groups, suggesting that the integrity of survivor populations was not impacted. Reduced midbrain dopamine neuron number in fetally irradiated, adult monkeys indicates that radiation exposure during the critical period of neurogenesis results in an enduring reduction of this population and underscores the susceptibility of early neurodevelopmental processes to irreversible damage from environmental exposures.

Adaptive reshaping of the hormonal phenotype after social niche transition in adulthood

Phenotypic plasticity allows individuals to adjust traits to the environment. Whether long-term adjustments of the phenotype occur during later life stages is largely unknown. To address this question, we examined whether hormonal phenotypes that are shaped by the environment during adolescence can still be reshaped in full adulthood. For this, guinea pig males were either housed in mixed-sex colonies or in heterosexual pairs. In adulthood, males were individually transferred to pair housing with a female. This way, a social niche transition was induced in colony-housed males, but not in pair-housed males. Before transfer, corresponding to findings in adolescence, adult colony-housed males showed significantly higher baseline testosterone levels and lower cortisol responsiveness than pair-housed males. One month after transfer, the hormonal phenotype of colony-housed males was changed towards that of pair-housed males: animals showed comparable baseline testosterone levels and cortisol responsiveness was significantly increased in colony-housed males. This endocrine readjustment builds the basis for an adaptive behavioural tactic in the new social situation. Thus, an adaptive change of the behavioural phenotype may still occur in adulthood via modification of underlying mechanisms. This suggests a greater role for developmental plasticity in later life stages than is commonly presumed.

AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AMONG SCHOOL GOING LATE ADOLESCENTS

Background: Adolescence is ideally a healthy period, having the lowest mortality and morbidity compared with other population age groups. Adolescence is the transitional stage of development between childhood and full adulthood, representing the period of time during which a person is biologically adult but emotionally not at full maturity. Puberty is a unique and distinctive period and is characterized by certain developmental changes that occur in no other time in life span. During adolescence, puberty can occur at anytime between ages thirteen to nineteen year.&#x0D; Aim: To study the awareness and perception of reproductive health among school going late adolescents (class 11th and 12th) and factors associated with it.&#x0D; Methods: It was a Community based cross sectional study. The study was carried out at senior secondary Govt. and private school (students from class 11th to 12th) of Jaipur city. All the school going students of class 11th and 12th (late adolescents) of selected schools of Jaipur city were selected as participants. The proposed study duration was 6 months with effect from 1st July 2019 to 10th December 2019. Sample size of 800 was calculated at 95% confidence interval and α error of 0.05 assuming willingness for better perception of reproductive health among school going late adolescent level 76.3%.&#x0D; Results: Result showed that highest participants (34.3%) were 17 year of age. The majority was of female respondents (51.6%) and remaining (48.4%) were males. Out of the population, 22.8% belonged to lower middle class, 22.0% belonged to lower class, 19.5% belonged to upper middle, 19.1% belonged to upper class and 16.6% belonged to upper lower class. Majority of the males (50.9%) feel that female conceives when male and female do intercourse. On the other hand, majority of the females (50.6%) feel that female conceives when sperms of male enter into ovum of female. Highest number of males (17.6%) shares their private talks with cousins whereas highest number of females (20.1%) shares with their father. Highest number of male participants (22%) watches adult movies, whereas, highest number of female participants (21.5%) refer magazines to gain reproduction and sex education.&#x0D; Conclusion: The present study revealed that the majority of the adolescents have correct knowledge about puberty, pregnancy and childbirth, family planning methods, STDs, and request for treatment. Moreover, adolescents had correct knowledge about the appropriate age for marriage and HIV than other STDs. Regarding the hygiene practices, most students had correct practices with respect to menstruation, while a few had incorrect practices. The majority had positive attitudes regarding RH, while a few had negative attitudes. The main reason behind high awareness and knowledge among adolescents about reproductive health is due to change in educational system and easy access to internet. Improved education status of parents also plays an important contribution towards this.

Instrumentalizacja i kapitalizacja edukacji w postawach wielkomiejskich młodych dorosłych

Artykuł prezentuje wnioski z badań jakościowych dotyczących edukacyjnych uwarunkowań osiągania pełnej dorosłości przez młodych dorosłych Polaków. U jego podstaw leży założenie, że w trakcie procesu wchodzenia w dorosłość edukacja odgrywa kluczową rolę w usamodzielnianiu się jednostek w stosunku do innych sfer życia – przede wszystkim zawodowej, ale i rodzinnej czy mieszkaniowej. Zwłaszcza wykształcenie jest często postrzegane jako warunek osiągnięcia sukcesu na rynku pracy, co z kolei warunkuje wybór odpowiedniej ścieżki edukacyjnej. Celem artykułu jest ustalenie miejsca edukacji w strategiach życiowych współczesnych młodych dorosłych. Jakie są postawy młodych wobec edukacji? Czy rzeczywiście ich wybory edukacyjne podyktowane są jedynie wymogami rynku pracy? Prezentowane wyniki badań opierają się na serii wywiadów pogłębionych z młodymi Polakami w wieku 25–34 lata z dużego polskiego miasta oraz zogniskowanych wywiadach grupowych (fokusach) z przedstawicielami otoczenia instytucjonalnego – lokalnej administracji publicznej i instytucji polityki społecznej.

Od redaktorki: Osiąganie dorosłości i młodzi dorośli jako kategorie analiz socjologicznych

Przebieg życia obejmujący trzy podstawowe fazy – młodość, dorosłość, starość – wyraźnie komplikuje się w społeczeństwie ponowoczesnym, szczególnie w okresie tranzycji z młodości do dorosłości. Niepokojąco wydłuża się proces stawania się dorosłym. Młodzi ludzie coraz później osiągają pełną dorosłość obejmującą niezależność ekonomiczną poprzez stałą pracę, niezależność społeczną w rozumieniu samodzielnego zamieszkania i prowadzenia gospodarstwa domowego oraz założenia rodziny. Zawarte w tomie teksty prezentują rezultaty badań socjologicznych dotyczących tego złożonego zjawiska, które jest skutkiem oddziaływania globalnych procesów, strukturalnych uwarunkowań funkcjonowania młodych ludzi i ich indywidualnych wyborów.

Why are undergraduate emerging adults anxious and avoidant in their romantic relationships? The role of family relationships.

The exploration of and search for romantic relationships is one of the developmental tasks that characterise emerging adulthood, a new developmental phase halfway between adolescence and full adulthood. This study aims to explore, in a Mediterranean country, the existing relationships between the subjective perception of some parental behaviour and the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment during emerging adulthood. To do so, 1,502 university students (903 women and 599 men) aged between 18 and 29 (M = 20.32 and SD = 2.13) completed a self-report questionnaire. The results revealed that perceived family support and perceived parental warmth were negatively associated with the avoidance and anxiety dimensions. In contrast, perceived parental control (both behavioural and psychological) was found to be positively associated with both attachment dimensions. Perceived behavioural control was also found to play a moderator role between perceived parental warmth and romantic attachment anxiety. Only in cases in which emerging adults of our sample perceived low levels of behavioural control was warmth found to be negatively associated with anxiety. The main conclusion of this work is the negative impact that parental control seems to have on romantic attachment during emerging adulthood. The results are discussed with a focus on the continuing importance of the family context in relation to the completion of developmental tasks, even during emerging adulthood.

Identity Exploration or Labor Market Reaction: Social Class Differences in College Student Participation in Peace Corps, Teach for America, and Other Service Programs

Service programs and other short-term work experiences have become much more common for young adults after college graduation. Emerging adulthood has become a widespread explanation for this phenomenon, namely that a new life stage has arisen between adolescence and young adulthood in which emerging adults prioritize identity exploration. However, using in-depth interviews with juniors and seniors at an elite university, I find that this explanation overlooks two critical social constraints that young adults face during this time period that are shaped by their social class: work values and labor market conditions. Rather than all students seeking to participate in service programs in order to engage in identity exploration, I find four orientations towards service programs, shaped by social class background, current sense of financial stability, and work values: 1) participating as a backup plan to boost resumes, 2) seeking meaningful short-term work during an unsettled stage of life, 3) seeking opportunities to enact identity projects around helping others, and 4) using the programs to facilitate long-term career entry. Thus, I argue that the rise of short-term work experiences after college graduation should not be viewed as young adults engaging in a distinct life course phase prior to entry into full adulthood. Instead, the rise of these programs should be seen as a response to students’ social class backgrounds and the various labor market constraints each group faces.

Perinatal diazinon exposure compromises the development of acetylcholine and serotonin systems

Organophosphate pesticides are developmental neurotoxicants. We gave diazinon via osmotic minipumps implanted into dams prior to conception, with exposure continued into the second postnatal week, at doses (0.5 or 1 mg/kg/day) that did not produce detectable brain cholinesterase inhibition. We evaluated the impact on acetylcholine (ACh) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) systems in brain regions from adolescence through full adulthood. Diazinon produced deficits in presynaptic ACh activity with regional and sex selectivity: cerebrocortical regions and the hippocampus were affected to a greater extent than were the striatum, midbrain or brainstem, and females were more sensitive than males. Diazinon also reduced nicotinic ACh receptors and 5HT1A receptors, with the same regional and sex preferences. These patterns were similar to those of diazinon given in a much more restricted period (postnatal day 1–4) but were of greater magnitude and consistency; this suggests that the brain is vulnerable to diazinon over a wide developmental window. Diazinon’s effects differed from those of the related organophosphate, chlorpyrifos, with regard to regional and sex selectivity, and more importantly, to the effects on receptors: chlorpyrifos upregulates nicotinic ACh receptors and 5HT receptors, effects that compensate for the presynaptic ACh deficits. Diazinon can thus be expected to have worse neurodevelopmental outcomes than chlorpyrifos. Further, the disparities between diazinon and chlorpyrifos indicate the problems of predicting the developmental neurotoxicity of organophosphates based on a single compound, and emphasize the inadequacy of cholinesterase inhibition as an index of safety.