Adjustment In Young Adulthood Research Articles

Co-occurrence of conduct problems and depressive symptoms in early adolescent boys: III. Prediction to young-adult adjustment.

The prediction of young-adult adjustment from early adolescent conduct problems and depressive symptoms was examined for an at-risk sample of approximately 200 males. Conduct problems and depressive symptoms were expected to show stability to young adulthood. It was predicted that early adolescent conduct problems would be associated with a broad range of adjustment problems in young adulthood due to cumulative adjustment failures. Early adolescent depressive symptoms were expected particularly to predict poor relationships with parents and peers. Additive and interactive effects of the two predictors were examined. Conduct problems and depressive symptoms showed significant stability to young adulthood. Conduct problems were associated with a broad range of adjustment problems including continuing problems in peer associations, substance use, self-esteem, relationships with parents, and new problems in noncompletion of education, unemployment, driver's license suspensions, and causing pregnancies. Depressive symptoms predicted particularly to problems in social relationships. Higher levels of both conduct problems and depressive symptoms in early adolescence did not predict to increased difficulties for any one outcome over either problem alone, either due to main or interaction effects. Such co-occurrence, however, did result in problem outcomes in multiple areas, thus, the poorest adjustment overall.

Psychosocial integration of adolescents and young adults with thalassemia major.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of thalassemia major on the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents and young adults. unmarried adolescent and young adult patients were asked to fill in an ad hoc questionnaire; a semi-structured interview exploring marriage and family life was done with married patients. group A: 90 unmarried patients, 50% females and 50% males, aged 14-22 years. The control group was formed by 100 matched subjects; group B: 19 thalassemic married subjects, 6 males and 13 females, aged 28-45 years, 7 patients had children and 12 did not. group A: subjects with thalassemia had normal psychological and social development and scored better than their normal peers in tests investigating social adjustment, self-esteem and self-description. Moreover the family relationships of adolescents with thalassemia appeared to be stronger than those reported by normal controls; group B: the behavior of thalassemic couples did not differ from the one observed in non-thalassemic couples in the course of previous investigations. Our data shows that neither thalassemic adolescents nor thalassemic married, well-treated, young adults differ significantly from the healthy young people in their ability to cope with life's difficulties both in adolescence and marital life.

Exposure to Interparental Violence in Childhood and Psychosocial Adjustment in Young Adulthood

Objective: To study the relationships between retrospective reports of exposure to interparental violence in childhood and rates of psychosocial adjustment problems in young adulthood in a birth cohort of New Zealand subjects. Method: Data were gathered during the course of an 18 year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand children. At age 18 retrospective reports of exposure to interparental violence were obtained. At this time the cohort was also assessed on measures of psychosocial adjustment including mental health problems, substance abuse behaviors, and criminal offending. Results: Young people reporting high levels of exposure to interparental violence had elevated rates of adjustment problems at age 18. These problems included mental health problems, substance abuse behaviors and criminal offending. Analyses using multiple logistic regression showed that much of this elevated risk was explained by social and contextual factors associated with exposure to interparental violence. However, even after adjustment for confounding factors, exposure to father initiated violence was associated with increased risks of anxiety, conduct disorder and property crime, while exposure to mother initiated violence was associated only with increased risks of later alcohol abuse/dependence. Conclusion: Children exposed to high levels of interparental violence are an at risk population for psychosocial adjustment problems in young adulthood. Much of the elevated risk of these children arises from the social context within which interparental violence occurs. Nonetheless, exposure to interparental violence, and particularly father initiated violence, may be associated with later increased risks of anxiety, conduct disorder, problems with alcohol, and criminal offending.

Parental divorce during early adolescence in Caucasian families: the role of family process variables in predicting the long-term consequences for early adult psychosocial adjustment.

The relationship between parental divorce occurring during adolescence and young adult psychosocial adjustment was examined, as was the role of family process variables in clarifying this relationship. Participants were young Caucasian adults from divorced (n = 119) and married (n = 123) families. Assessments were conducted during adolescence and 6 years later during early adulthood. Young adults from married families reported more secure romantic attachments than those from divorced families; however, differences were not evident in other domains of psychosocial adjustment after demographic variables were controlled. Three family process variables (parent-adolescent relationship, interparental conflict, and maternal depressive symptoms) were examined as potential mediators and moderators of the association between parental divorce and young adult adjustment. No evidence supporting mediation or moderation was found; however, the parent-adolescent and parent-young adult relationships, particularly when the identified parent was the father, emerged as significant predictors of young adult psychosocial adjustment.

Physical punishment/maltreatment during childhood and adjustment in young adulthood

Objective: To study the relationships between retrospective reports of physical punishment/maltreatment and rates of adjustment difficulties at age 18 in a birth cohort of New Zealand subjects. Method: Data were gathered over the course of an 18 year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand born children. At age 18 retrospective reports of exposure to physical punishment/maltreatment were obtained. At this time the cohort was also assessed on measures of psychosocial adjustment including juvenile offending, substance abuse behaviors, and psychiatric disorder. Results: Young people reporting exposure to harsh or abusive treatment during childhood had elevated rates of juvenile offending, substance abuse, and mental health problems. However, subsequent analysis using logistic regression methods showed that much of the elevated risk shown by this group was explained by social and contextual factors that were associated with patterns of childhood punishment/maltreatment. Nonetheless, even after control for confounding factors those reporting harsh or abusive childhood experiences were at increased risks of violent offending, suicide attempts, being a victim of violence, and alcohol abuse. Conclusion: This study leads to three major conclusions: (1) Those exposed to harsh or abusive treatment during childhood are an at-risk population for juvenile offending, substance abuse, and mental health problems; (2) Much of this elevated risk arises from the social context within which harsh or abusive treatment occurs; (3) Nonetheless, exposure to abuse appears to increase risks of involvement in violent behavior and alcohol abuse.

Early onset cannabis use and psychosocial adjustment in young adults

The relationships between early onset (prior to 16 years) cannabis use and later psychosocial adjustment was examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to age 18 years. Early onset users had significantly higher rates of later substance use, juvenile offending, mental health problems, unemployment and school dropout. The linkages between early onset cannabis use and later outcomes were largely explained by two routes that linked cannabis use to later adjustment. First, those electing to use cannabis were a high risk population characterized by social disadvantage, childhood adversity, early onset behavioural difficulties and adverse peer affiliations. Secondly, early onset cannabis use was associated with subsequent affiliations with delinquent and substance using peers, moving away from home and dropping out of education with these factors in turn, being associated with increased psychosocial risk. The implications of these results are examined.

Early onset cannabis use and psychosocial adjustment in young adults

Early onset cannabis use and psychosocial adjustment in young adults

Psychosocial resources, adolescent risk behaviour and young adult adjustment: is risk taking more dangerous for some than others?

Longitudinal analyses examined the extent to which adolescent alcohol use, illegal drug use, and antisocial behaviour predicted adjustment and risk behaviour during young adulthood, and whether psychosocial resources buffered any impact of risk-taking. American adolescents completed questionnaires in Grade 12 and 2 years later ( n=694). Personal and social resources predicted success in occupational, relational, and health domains. High school risk behaviours predicted decreased success in relational domains, and alcohol use predicted higher educational attainment, independent of the relations with psychosocial resources. Interactions of resources with risk behaviours predicting adjustment were inconsistent, but resources predicted decreased risk behaviours in young adulthood among adolescent risk-takers. Discussion focuses on the value of, and challenges to, research on consequences of adolescent risk taking.

Illness uncertainty, attributional style, and psychological adjustment in older adolescents and young adults with asthma.

Examined psychological adjustment in a college sample of older adolescents and young adults (n = 49) with histories of childhood asthma. A substantial number of subjects evidenced clinically significant levels of overall distress. In addition, greater perceived asthma uncertainty and increased stable attributions for negative events were significantly associated with poorer psychological adjustment after controlling for demographic and disease variables. Further analyses revealed a moderating influence of uncertainty on attribution-adjustment relationships. These findings provide initial support for a cognitive diathesis-stress view of adjustment in long-standing asthma. Results also support a growing body of evidence suggesting that the focus of efforts to enhance adjustment to asthma need to be expanded beyond childhood and early adolescence.

Pain in young adults--III: Relationships of three pain-coping measures to pain and activity interference.

The study had two purposes: (a) to examine the relationships among coping strategies measured by the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) (1), the Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory (VPMI) (2), and the Ways of Coping Inventory (WOC) (3) and identify the higher-order composite factors representing these relationships; and (b) to determine the degree to which individual coping scale scores and composite coping factor scores could explain variability in the pain intensity and pain-related activity interference reported by young adults. Measures of pain coping were collected from 206 young adults using the CSQ, VPMI, and WOC, along with measures of pain intensity, pain location, and the extent to which pain interfered with daily activities. Results indicated considerable variability in the reported frequency of use of pain-coping strategies and in pain intensity, location, and activity interference. Principal components factor analysis identified three higher-order coping factors (Emotional and Other-Directed Coping, Active Cognitive Coping, and Self-Efficacy for Pain Control) that explained 87% of the variance in individual coping scale scores. The degree to which individual scale scores and composite factor scores explained variability in pain intensity and activity interference variables was determined through a series of multiple regression analyses. The results revealed that individual scale scores, particularly the CSQ scales of catastrophizing and praying or hoping, were best able to explain the variance in measures of pain and activity interference. Taken together, these findings provide further support for the importance of coping variables in explaining the experience of pain and adjustment in young adults.

The Influence of Expressed Emotion, Family Dynamics, and Symptom Type on the Social Adjustment of Schizophrenic Young Adults

The goal of this study was to test a path analytic model that reflects the hypothesis that family cohesion and family adaptability underlie family members' expressed emotion (critical comments and emotional overinvolvement), that these family variables underlie the preponderance of positive symptoms in a patient with schizophrenia 9 months after relatives are interviewed, and that all of these variables influence the patient's social adjustment at follow-up. The subjects were 69 patients who met the DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia and 108 of their relatives. Relatives were assessed with the Camberwell Family Interview and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales III. Patients were interviewed 9 months later with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale II. Significant amounts of variance were explained by the model for three of the five social adjustment components. Neither family cohesion nor adaptability was associated with either critical comments or emotional overinvolvement. Family cohesion was negatively associated and emotional overinvolvement was positively associated with a preponderance of positive symptoms. Greater family adaptability was associated with lower social adjustment scores, and greater emotional overinvolvement was associated with higher social adjustment. Cohesion had a significant positive indirect effect on social adjustment through its association with symptom type. Critics of expressed emotion will be pleased to see that one component of high expressed emotion (emotional overinvolvement) is actually associated with a better social outcome in patients. Proponents of the expressed emotion concept will be pleased to see the applicability of expressed emotion to other facets of schizophrenic outcome. The results highlight the importance of using the expressed emotion scales in their continuous rather than dichotomized state and of analyzing critical comments and emotional overinvolvement separately.

Mental Health Outcomes Following Recent Parental Divorce

The role of parental divorce in young adult adjustment has been overlooked in the divorce and developmental literature. This study addresses the association between recent parental divorce and mental health outcomes in young adults aged 18 to 23. Divorce decrees and driver's license registries in a single state were used to draw a sample of 485 White young adults, half of whom had experienced parental divorce within 15 months of the interview and the other half whose parents were still married. Comparison of the two groups indicated that at the bivariate level, parental divorce was associated with poorer mental health outcomes, but only among females. Furthermore, multivariate models estimating depression levels among these youth indicated that the significant effect of parental divorce on females was eliminated once parents' past marital quality was considered. Finally, the analyses indicated that dissatisfaction with current friendships or intimate relationships was predictive of greater depression in both sexes.

Psychological adjustment and adaptive impairments in young adults with ADHD

The present study compared a group of 25 young adults with ADHD to 23 young adults drawn from the community equated for age (Mean = 25 yrs.) and educational level (Mean 13 yrs.) using a structured psychiatric interview (non-blinded), self-report ratings of psychological distress, and psychological tests of inattention, impulsive responding, working memory, verbal fluency, sense of time, and creativity. Most measures of prior educational and occupational adjustment did not differentiate the young adults with ADHD from the control group. However, those with ADHD reported having experienced more symptoms of both ADHD and opposition al defiant disorder on their jobs as well as in college than control subjects. ADHD adults also were found to have had shorter durations of employment in their full-time jobs than adults in the control group. The young adults with ADHD rated themselves as having greater psychological distress and maladjustment on all scales of the SCL-90-R and reported committing more antisocial acts, particularly involving thefts and disorderly conduct, than the control group. As a result they had been arrested more often than young adults in the control group. The groups did not differ, however, in other types of criminal activity nor in the types and frequency of legal and illegal substances they used. On psychological testing, the ADHD group had significantly poorer response inhibition and sustained attention on a continuous performance test. They were also poorer on tasks of verbal and nonverbal working memory. No significant group differences were found, however, in accuracy of time estimations or productions, verbal fluency, or creativity. It appears that the psychiatric and psychological difficulties found in young adults with ADHD are qualitatively similar to those seen in children with the disorder.

Childhood and Adulthood Influences on the Adjustment of Young Adults with and Without Parents with Drinking Problems

Results are reported of an interview study of 216 young adults (16-35 years) of whom two-thirds had been brought up by at least one parent with a drinking problem. The paper focuses upon the possible determinants of two dimensions of adulthood adjustment: positive mental health versus demoralisation, and conformity versus deviance. Results are analysed separately for men and women using simple correlations, path analyses, and analyses of sub-groups with and without cohabiting partners and paid employment. The results support the expectation that proximal influences in the form of marital satisfaction, satisfaction with social life, and satisfaction with work or alternative activity (men only) are important for adulthood mental health. Childhood influences in the form of freedom from childhood emotional problems and harmony in the family of origin were related to positive mental health for women, and freedom from childhood conduct problems was related to conformity in adulthood for men. There was no suppor...

Social adjustment in young adults with absence epilepsies.

A long-term follow-up of 58 young adults, aged 18-27 years, with persisting absence epilepsies since childhood or early adolescence, was performed to assess psychosocial outcome and the patients' own concept of their epilepsy. They were well adjusted in the areas of family status and employment, but had more unqualified jobs as compared with a reference group. They were also inclined to lead very regular lives in a way that led to social isolation. At least one of the following factors was considered by 74% of the group to have been affected by their epilepsy: schooling, occupation, routines of daily life, relations with friends, leisure time activities, and housing, this was independent of whether or not they had achieved seizure control. In treating absence epilepsies, it is important that one considers psychosocial aspects, even if a medically satisfying result with seizure control is obtained.

When emotionally troubled children grow up: adjustment in young adults who attended a psycho-educational treatment center.

This study examined post treatment outcomes of 88 young adults who attended a psycho-educational center for moderately to seriously emotionally troubled children. Over 60% made positive adjustment to adult life; the remainder were marginally functioning. Most subjects did not continue after high school with post-secondary education or vocational training nor did they or their parents receive individual and family therapy or supports from social services. Academic skills and parents' involvement in psycho-therapy were predictors of positive adjustment; child abuse was negatively correlated with adjustment.

Temperament and adjustment in young adulthood: a 15-year longitudinal analysis.

The relationship between easy/difficult temperament and adjustment from middle adolescence to young adulthood was examined. Cluster analysis revealed four groups of individuals via composite temperament scores over three points of measurement. Multivariate analyses indicated that extremely difficult temperament was associated with poorer psychosocial functioning in childhood and young adulthood.

Vocational Adjustment and General Well-Being of Young Adults With IDDM

The vocational experiences and general well-being of 58 young adult subjects (mean age 24.3 yr) with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) diagnosed during their adolescence were compared with that of 55 healthy matched control subjects with linear logistic discriminant function analyses. Assessment measures included the Rand General Well-Being Scale and the Rand Functional Limitations and Physical Abilities Batteries. Diabetic subjects, on average, reported significantly lower general well-being than control subjects, particularly in terms of health-related fears and feelings of depression. However, diabetic subjects did not report a pervasive functional deficit relative to control subjects and experienced similar employment rates and problems in the workplace. These results suggest that this group of young adult diabetic subjects has adjusted well to the demands of the workplace despite lower reports of general well-being. The results are discussed in light of relevant sampling issues.

Longitudinal substance use and adult adjustment

Relationships among long-term use patterns of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other substances from late childhood to young adulthood and adjustment in young adulthood were examined. The sample consisted of 133 participants from the New York Longitudinal Study. Cluster analysis revealed four groups of individuals for each of the substance categories, as well as for use of multiple substances, over the five points of measurement. Cluster membership was related to adjustment differences in young adulthood. Results from a series of ANOVAs indicated that individuals consistently using the highest amounts of alcohol and other drugs exhibited the highest levels of psychiatric symptoms. Follow-up analyses indicated that negative emotional-behavioral states in middle childhood precede problematic patterns of substance use. Implications for intervention in childhood are discussed.

The relation between sexual activity among children during preadolescence and/or early adolescence and sexual behavior and sexual adjustment in young adulthood

This study examined whether current sexual behavior and sexual adjustment in a sample of 433 college students differed as a function of having engaged in sexual activity with other children during preadolescence (prior to age 13) and/or early adolescence (ages 13-15). Four groups were compared: subjects who only had an early adolescent sexual experience; subjects who had both preadolescent and early adolescent experiences; subjects who had no sexual experience with another child during either preadolescence or early adolescence. There were no significant differences between these groups on measures of incidence of premarital intercourse, age at first intercourse, number of different intercourse partners, sexual satisfaction, sexual arousal, or sexual dysfunctions. It was concluded that in general the simple occurrence or nonoccurrence of sexual activity among children during these developmental periods has little impact, either positive or negative, on later sexual adjustment during young adulthood. Some expections, depending on the specific types of childhood sexual activity involved, were noted.