Intergenerational Solidarity During Emerging Adulthood: Associations with Psychological Distress and Satisfaction with Life in Southern Europe.

Background: Intergenerational solidarity between parents and emerging adult offspring requires more substantial attention at the present time. Changing demographic structures and transformations in family dynamics over recent decades have increased both opportunities and the need for parent-child interactions and exchanges of support and affection during emerging adulthood. Purpose: The study had two aims: first, to explore patterns in intergenerational solidarity in accordance with different sociodemographic characteristics of emerging adults; and second, to analyse associations between intergenerational solidarity and emerging adults' psychological distress and satisfaction with life. Methods: Participants were 644 emerging adult university students from Southern Europe (Spain and Portugal), aged between 18 and 29 years, who completed a self-report questionnaire designed to assess variables linked to sociodemographic aspects (gender, country of residence, sexual orientation, living status, family income), intergenerational solidarity, psychological distress and satisfaction with life. Results: The results indicated some differences in intergenerational solidarity patterns in accordance with a range of sociodemographic characteristics. They also revealed significant associations between intergenerational solidarity dimensions and emerging adults' satisfaction with life and psychological distress. Moreover, affective solidarity was found to fully mediate the relationship between associational, functional and normative solidarity and emerging adults' adjustment. In the case of conflictual solidarity, affective solidarity was found to partially mediate the relationship between this dimension of intergenerational solidarity and emerging adults' distress and to fully mediate the relationship between this same dimension and emerging adults' satisfaction with life. Conclusion: The results indicate that it is important to take sociodemographic diversity into account when exploring relationships between emerging adults and their parents. They also suggest that affective solidarity acts as a protective factor in promoting emerging adults' adjustment.

Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Emerging Adult Undergraduates: A Longitudinal and Two-Cohort Study.

Mental disorders constitute one of the population's principal health problems, especially among undergraduates. This quantitative study compared levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of emerging adult university undergraduates from a gender perspective (1) during the initial and intermediate years of emerging adulthood and (2) in two different cohorts. A total of 383 Spanish emerging adult university undergraduates were monitored longitudinally (2015-2018) and two cohorts were compared (2015-2020). Participants completed the validated Spanish version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Mean-level and rank-order stability was found across the two waves of the longitudinal study in relation to levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Significant differences were found between the two cohorts, indicating higher levels of psychological distress in 2020 than in 2015. Women were found to have higher levels of psychological distress, particularly stress, than men in both waves and cohorts. Results are discussed in relation to the negative effects of the COVID-19 health crisis on the emotional health of emerging adults. The present study highlights the need to establish measures designed to improve the mental health of emerging adults, which was more severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis than by the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. It also underscores the need to develop interventions designed to alleviate the greater degree of stress suffered by women.

Emotional autonomy and adjustment among emerging adults: The moderating role of family relationships.

Emerging adults build their personal maturity within the family context; however, few studies focus on the role of emotional autonomy during this stage. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between emotional autonomy and adjustment during emerging adulthood, bearing in mind the possible moderating role of parental support in this relationship. Data were collected from 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students (903 women) aged between 18 and 29. Participants completed measures of emotional autonomy (EAS, Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), family social support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988), psychological well-being (PWBS; Ryff, Lee, Essex & Schmutte, 1995) and psychological distress (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results indicate that emotional autonomy correlates negatively with family support and psychological well-being and positively with psychological distress. However, only when young people perceive a family context with low social support is gaining emotional distance from their parents associated with an increase in their psychological well-being. Our findings highlight the crucial role that the family environment plays in well-being during young adulthood, and reveal that the effect of emotional distancing from parents on adjustment depends on the quality of the family climate. Future research should seek to gain greater insight into emotional autonomy during emerging adulthood, taking into account cross-cultural diversity.

Perceived Parenting Styles and Adjustment during Emerging Adulthood: A Cross-National Perspective.

The aim of the present study is to determine whether the influence of parenting style on children's wellbeing is sustained during emerging adulthood. This is a stage in which young people, despite feeling themselves to be adults, often remain in the family home and continue to be financially dependent on their parents. Moreover, since parents' beliefs, attitudes and behaviors are constructed and interpreted within their cultural milieu, the study also aims to explore the situation in Spain (SP) and Portugal (PT). Those two Southern Europe countries are representative of what is known as the "family welfare regime", in which the family acts as the main provider of care and security not only during childhood, but also during emerging adulthood. Thus, the present study examines, from a cross-cultural perspective, the relationship between perceived parenting styles and psychological adjustment among a sample of 1047 emerging adults from Spain and Portugal. The results reveal that the most beneficial styles during this stage are the authoritative and permissive ones, with the authoritarian style being more closely related to psychological distress. The study highlights intercultural similarities and the positive role played by more symmetrical relationships in the adjustment of emerging adults in both countries.

The Role of Parents in Emerging Adults' Psychological Well-Being: A Person-Oriented Approach.

The purpose of this study was to gain an overview of Spanish emerging adults' family relationships and their link with psychological well-being and psychological distress. The sample comprised 1502 undergraduate students (903 women and 599 men) aged between 18 and 29 (M = 20.32 and SD = 2.13), recruited from two universities in Spain. A cluster analysis identified three groups of families based on the centrality of five family variables: parental involvement, parental support for autonomy, parental warmth, behavioral control, and psychological control. The three groups or clusters were labeled high-quality family relationships (HQ), intermediate-quality family relationships (IQ), and low-quality family relationships (LQ). Women were overrepresented in the HQ cluster, whereas men were overrepresented in the IQ cluster. Moreover, emerging adults who perceived better family relationships (high levels of parental involvement, parental support for autonomy and parental warmth, and low levels of behavioral and psychological control) were found to have a higher level of psychological adjustment. Thus, our results indicate that family plays a key role in the psychological well-being of emerging adults. The discussion focuses on the implications of this finding for the parent-child relationship, and explores how it extends our knowledge about family relationships during emerging adulthood.

El propósito de este estudio fue obtener una visión de conjunto de las relaciones familiares de los adultos emergentes españoles y su vínculo con el bienestar psicológico y el distrés psicológico. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 1502 alumnos universitarios (903 mujeres y 599 hombres) de entre 18 y 29 años (M = 20.32 y SD = 2.13), convocados de dos universidades de España. Un análisis de grupos identificó a tres grupos de familias basándose en la centralidad de cinco variables familiares: participación de los padres, fomento de la autonomía por parte de los padres, calidez de los padres, control del comportamiento y control psicológico. Los tres grupos o agrupaciones se clasificaron como relaciones familiares de alta calidad (AC), relaciones familiares de calidad intermedia (CI) y relaciones familiares de baja calidad (BC). Las mujeres estuvieron sobrerrepresentadas en el grupo de AC, mientras que los hombres estuvieron sobrerrepresentados en el grupo de CI. Además, se descubrió que los adultos emergentes que percibieron mejores relaciones familiares (niveles altos de participación de los padres, fomento de la autonomía por parte de los padres y calidez de los padres, y niveles bajos de control conductual y psicológico) tuvieron un nivel más alto de adaptación psicológica. Por lo tanto, nuestros resultados indican que la familia desempeña un papel clave en el bienestar psicológico de los adultos emergentes. El debate se centra en las consecuencias que tiene este resultado para la relación entre padres e hijos, y analiza cómo amplía nuestro conocimiento acerca de las relaciones familiares durante la adultez emergente.