Emerging Adulthood

transition from adolescence to adulthood 18 - 25 characterized by experimentation and exploration

Features

Identity exploration, especially in love and work Instability: Residential changes peak during early adulthood, a time during which there also is often instability in love, work, and education. Self-focused: emerging adults “are self focused in the sense that they have little in theway of social obligations, little in the way of duties and commitments to others, which leaves them with a great deal of autonomy in running their own lives.” Feeling in-between: Many emerging adults don’t consider themselves adolescents or full-fledged adults.

Criteria for Adulthood

• economic independence
• taking responsibility for consequences of one’s actions

Physical Development

• Peak physical health - 19 to 26 slowdown in physical performance
• emerging adults have 2x mortality rate of adolescents

most bad health habits engaged in during adolescence increased in emerging adulthood (Harris & others, 2006).

Substance Abuse

Sexual Development

Most individuals are sexually active and become married engage in sexual intercourse more than young adults casual sex in more common than in young adulthood

Sexual Orientation Sexually Transmitted Infections