Emerging Adulthood Paper PDF

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Around mid-semester, the class will develop a questionnaire about the experiences of emerging adults. Questions will be based on class readings on topics such as relationships with parents, friends and romantic partners, career goals and aspirations, and values. I will place the survey on surveymonk...

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RUNNING HEAD: RELATIONSHIPS AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR Rawan Baalbaki Dr. Holmes PSY344_01 May 2nd, 2019 An Emerging Adulthood Survey was distributed online, whereby 256 participants completed the survey. The survey was distributed with the hopes of The majority of the participants consisted of 20-21 year old females, where 55% of participants ranged from 20-21 years old and 68% of the participants identified as female. Being that a majority of the participants were SUNY New Paltz students, it is expected that the majority of them are women. Moreover, 77% of participants identified as straight, while only 4% identified as gay/lesbian and 3% asexual. In all, 91 questions were asked pertaining to demographics, mental health, relationships, self-esteem, risky behaviors, and so on (Emerging Adulthood Survey, 2019). Along with emerging adulthood comes the influence of many factors, whether it be familial pressures, external forces, or intrinsic motives. These influences have both a significant and lingering effect on decision making in young teens and emerging adults. Aspects dealing with home and living environment/conditions, school experience, location, and rooted traits can have either positive or negative affects on an individuals childhood and upbringing. Moreover, these influences have an affect on the decisions made by young adults, thus shaping the rest of their emerging adulthood. With these decisions comes risky behaviors such as binge-drinking, substance abuse, unprotected sex, and so on. However, these actions and their outcomes have been dismissed by society because of the frequency in behavioral trends in emerging adults. Within “Intoxication’s Fake Feeling of Happiness,” McKnight stated that “78% of emerging adults drink; 47% binge drink; 10% drink 5x a week or more; and 20% use illicit

RUNNING HEAD: RELATIONSHIPS AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR drugs.” This article delved into the different kinds of users there are and why. For instance, 22% adults surveyed for this particular article were nonusers for religious, health, or personal reasons while 25% were occasional substance users, users who seek to balance fun and responsibility while denouncing hard core drugs. Those who were considered partiers (22%) drank and binge drank often with the intention of unwinding after stressful times, relieving the blues, or just as a result of boredom. The remaining 21% consisted of recovering partiers which tends to be older emerging adults who have learned to stray away from the partiers. This can be the result of an individual who realized how wreckless their partying behavior was or want to live a more responsible life. Moreover, McKnight emphasized the fact that “alcohol consumption is a leading cause of death among youth, particularly teenagers, and contributes substantially to adolescent motor-vehicle crashes, other traumatic injuries, suicide, date rape, and family and school problems.” Society has heavily emphasized this notion that along with transitioning into adulthood comes the opportunity to have fun or unwind through risky behaviors. In fact, it is expected of young adults to engage in such behaviors, as it has become the cultural epitome of adulthood. A common theme seen among individuals who participate in risky behavior, such as alcohol and substance abuse, is the desire to fill a void, subside any underlying mental health issues, or even just to ‘fit in’. These risk behaviors, along with the presence of deviant peers, have been associated with romantic relationships that develop early in adolescence, associations with older peers or permissive peer groups, romantic or sexual relationships with older partners, lax adult supervision (Holmes, Powerpoint, Risk-Taking). Thus, one question asked in the survey distributed was entailed how often the participant engaged in binge-drinking (4 or more drinks in

RUNNING HEAD: RELATIONSHIPS AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR two hours for females, 5 or more in two hours for males). About 73% of participants responded by disagreeing, while only about 21% agreed they binge drink. Another question asked in the survey measured how many participants drank alcohol because they cannot have fun in social situations without it. About 80% of individuals responded by disagreeing, while approximately 12% agreed to the statement. These responses emphasize that this particular population of students appeared to be responsible drinkers during their emerging adulthood (Emerging Adulthood Survey, 2019). According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2007-2017), teens were seen as heading in the right direction due to the fact that merely 14% used illicit drugs and 1.5% injected illegal drugs, numbers that have decreased significantly since 2011. Moreover, these findings contribute to the debunking of this idea that all emerging adults engage in and become heavily reliant on risk taking behaviors involving binge drinking and substance abuse. Risk-taking behaviors during adolescence and adulthood is widely related to a variety of negative outcomes, including sexual risk behavior and experience of violence. Although certain risk behaviors may lead to risky sexual behavior, not all teens and young adults engage in such relations. It is commonly known and stigmatized that younger generations are more involved in shorter, less romantic relationships and in “hooking up” and less involved in long-term, more romantic relationships. However, data collected via the Emerging Adulthood Survey 2019, as well as other sources, offer a different perspective. For instance, a question regarding participants’ relationship status was asked, whereby participants chose from one of the following: I am in a 1) committed relationship, 2) causal relationship with one person, 3) causal relationship with more than one person, 4) no kind of relationship, and 5) none of the above. In response, approximately 51% of individuals stated that they are in a committed monogamous

RUNNING HEAD: RELATIONSHIPS AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR relationship, while about 34% stated they aren’t in any kind of relationship. Additionally, participants were asked what percentage of people between the ages of 18 and 25 do you believe have engaged in casual sexual relationships (i.e., outside of a committed relationship)? Approximately 97% of participants believed that 21%+ of people between those ages were engaging in casual relationships. It is important to note that although this number of participants believed this, the survey shows that about only 14% were actually engaging in some sort of casual sexual relationship. Moreover, in terms of sexual partners, about 57% of participants had 1-5 individuals they had been sexually active with, while only 9% had above 16 sexual partners. Essentially, it is evident that not as many emerging adults engage in as many casual sexual encounters and relationships as often as society deems. Within the article, “Casual Sexual Relationships and Experience in Emerging Adulthood,” Claxton et. al. examines both the differences and the outcomes of partaking in casual sexual relationships and experiences or CSREs. Claxton et. al. discovered that individuals are getting married in later stages of life and choose to do so because of the need to find stability in their own right financially and in the work field. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2007-2017), the percentage of teenagers who’ve ever had sex declined from 47.8% in 2007 to 39.5% in 2017. Additionally, teens who’ve had for or more lifetime sexual partners decreased from 14.9% to 9.7% in the same time frame. This emphasizes this notion that not all teens engage in what is stereotypically expected of them in terms of casual relationships and sexual partners. Although interaction between age, romantic involvement, and substance abuse/externalizing behavior/internalizing behavior plays a role in the increase of substance abuse and more depression in younger adolescents, it is clear that these factors do not always

RUNNING HEAD: RELATIONSHIPS AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR leave a lingering effect on sexual behavior in emerging adulthood (Holmes, Powerpoint, Romantic Relationships). I believe that emerging adulthood is a time in an individual’s life whereby self-discovery is the most vital role. Although self-discovery is an essential part of every stage of life, I find it particularly key to this transition in life for various reasons. Emerging adulthood comes with the process of peeling back all the layers society has covered one in, and getting to know the person underneath it all. Part of this is messing up time and time again, just to get back up and keep trying to figure out who one is in the midst of all things “adulting.” However, despite the constant setbacks, emerging adulthood is a time where one has the opportunity to use all the motivation and drive they have to set up a foundation for themselves. For instance, despite all the financial and personal stress that comes with it, about 58% of participants in the Emerging Adulthood Survey agreed that post-secondary education is critical to one’s development. Although young adults struggle in countless ways in order to fulfill this desire/need, they continue to get back up, complete and value the ability to learn, self-discover and contribute to their foundation. Further, about 63% of participants in the study agreed that they have a pretty clear idea of what makes them them . This emphasizes the role emerging adulthood can play on individuals, just simply in terms of getting to know themselves more and establishing their identities as a whole. Although there were many questions that were helpful throughout the survey, there were some limitations in what the data told us regarding emerging adults. For instance, the questions regarding hooking up and maintaining friends with benefits sort of relationships could have been more clearly defined in order to have participants answer the questions under one meaning. One

RUNNING HEAD: RELATIONSHIPS AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR term or phrase in a question that is misleading to participants may alter results in many ways, as participants may define terms such as casual relationships, hooking up, etc differently. One way to resolve this in future studies is to initially have participants define these terms or having a specific definition of these terms presented to the participant may allow for and assist in acquiring information that is more clear and consistent. Another limitation in the study was another misleading word within the questions pertaining to success and what a successful career truly entails. For instance, in question 36, the survey asked the participant how confident they are that they will have a successful career. In this case, success can mean anything, ranging from financial stability to levels of general happiness. Having participants define what exactly success means to them prior to asking how confident they are about attaining a successful career in the future would serve helpful in understanding what exactly success means to them. Essentially, the survey was able to provide some information on how college students views themselves as emerging adults and insight on how they view themselves in the world as a result....