The following is a quantitative study, with a convenience sample of 117 adults, ranging in age from 18-73, to gather information about the public’s perspective towards extended foster care (EFC) and emerging adulthood. Topics varied from when foster youth should emancipate to when emerging adult children should move out of their parents’ homes. There is very little literature regarding the topic of EFC, which could impact the sustainability of this program as its objective is to help emerging adults transition more successfully into adulthood and out of the child welfare system. An online survey was created through Qualtrics with 25 questions. The link to the survey was distributed through text message and the social media website, Facebook. The results showed that the participants appear to believe that foster youth should stop receiving services at the age of 18 and emancipate out of care at the age of 21while also suggesting that emerging adults, not in foster care, should be self-sufficient and moved out of their parents’ home by the age of 23. These views could be due to the lack of awareness of the general population regarding the reality of the impact abuse, neglect, and life in the child welfare system can have on a developing child. Furthermore, the implication for the future of EFC is that foster youth may need continued assistance until the age of 23, perhaps in the form of housing vouchers as opposed to financial assistance.

Sense of community, social capital, and emerging adulthood are all topics of increasing interest in multiple fields over the past three decades. Both sense of community and social capital are predictors of overall well-being for individuals and communities. As emerging adults begin to establish a sense of person and place, many have begun to look to young professionals groups as an outlet for networking and identity exploration. There is limited research on the impact of these organizations related to sense of community and social capital. This case study is meant to be a starting point to expand the research on this topic. A survey of 97 members of the Young Professionals Networking Group in San Luis Obispo assessed level of participation within the group as well as sense of community utilizing the Sense of Community Index (SCI-2). A one-way ANOVA compared mean differences between established participation levels (low, medium, high). It was determined the more active a member is within the YPNG, the higher sense of community they displayed. Six active members were then recruited to participate in a focus group to discover if active participation in YPNG impacts one’s sense of perceived social capital. Open and axial coding of the focus group data indicated that membership within YPNG increases relational qualities that are consistent with the literature on social capital. The results from this case study indicate that active membership in networking groups may lead to a higher sense of community and enhanced perceptions of social capital. More research is necessary to determine how one’s sense of community and social capital are impacted before and after joining such groups.

The developmental period of adolescence typically refers to the years between 13 and 19, and is associated with developmental tasks that help youth become young adults. The transition to adulthood is typically recognized by common adulthood benchmarks such as leaving home, finishing school, marriage, financial independence and having children. However, many young men and women attending college remain financially and emotionally dependent on their parents, as they have not entered the professional work ranks and are faced with the challenges of college. Increasingly, colleges and universities are becoming places to help teach young people to become prepared for the professional ranks and engaged with the world that surrounds them. However, very little research in higher education is focused on the developmental benefits associated with the college experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of developmental supports for self-determination and initiative in a student leadership program. Throughout the youth development literature, self-determination and initiative are recognized as important internal capacities that aid young people as they transition to adulthood. These concepts provide the theoretical lens for a qualitative case study of a college leadership group. Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews, observations, a year end focus group, and supplemented by a review of the organizational instruments and tools they develop. Findings from this study confirm past studies of youth development organizations and extend this work by applying it to the developmental period of emerging adulthood. For the leadership group under investigation, initiative and self-determination were supported primarily through the actions of peers within the group. The experience of student leaders often shaped how the group was led, and these leaders became an important source of support for the basic needs of relatedness, competence, and autonomy within the group. The study covers a three-year period, and contrasts how peer leadership changed and impacted group functioning and performance over time. Practical implications of the study relate to the important role of faculty and graduate student advisors in training and monitoring student leaders before these individuals take a formal leadership role for these groups.

Although childhood maltreatment has been established as a risk factor for the development of problematic gambling, there are significant omissions in the literature regarding the investigation of mediating mechanisms underlying this etiological relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine altered self-capacities (i.e., relationship difficulties, identity disturbances, and affect dysregulation) and gambling motives as mediating mechanisms underlying the link between childhood maltreatment and gambling, in a sample of emerging adults recruited from the community. It was hypothesized that childhood maltreatment would lead to impairments in the aforementioned self-capacities, which would subsequently predict greater endorsement of gambling motives. In turn, gambling motives were hypothesized to predict increased gambling frequency and gambling problems. The results revealed a pattern wherein altered self-capacities mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and gambling motives. However, gambling motives were not observed to mediate the relationship between altered self-capacities and gambling frequency or gambling problems.

Although childhood maltreatment has been established as a risk factor for the development of problematic gambling, there are significant omissions in the literature regarding the investigation of mediating mechanisms underlying this etiological relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine altered self-capacities (i.e., relationship difficulties, identity disturbances, and affect dysregulation) and gambling motives as mediating mechanisms underlying the link between childhood maltreatment and gambling, in a sample of emerging adults recruited from the community. It was hypothesized that childhood maltreatment would lead to impairments in the aforementioned self-capacities, which would subsequently predict greater endorsement of gambling motives. In turn, gambling motives were hypothesized to predict increased gambling frequency and gambling problems. The results revealed a pattern wherein altered self-capacities mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and gambling motives. However, gambling motives were not observed to mediate the relationship between altered self-capacities and gambling frequency or gambling problems.

Recent literature has suggested that global identity and world citizenship are relevant capacities in an increasingly globalizing world. However, these concepts remain understudied. The current study aimed to explore qualities of these concepts with emerging adults and to examine their views of humanity and how these influence their decision-making. Interviews with 20 participants between the ages of 19-25 and a thematic analysis resulted in the identification of a number of themes. Global identity and citizenship, universally intrinsic, implicate global belongingness and stand as opposites to adversarial constructs. Humans, linked as one species sharing common skills, were recognized as essentially interdependent. Participants also depicted a sense of global responsibility and role unawareness in relation to humanity. The findings may serve as a springboard for a future scale development to measure these concepts.

The developmental period of adolescence typically refers to the years between 13 and 19, and is associated with developmental tasks that help youth become young adults. The transition to adulthood is typically recognized by common adulthood benchmarks such as leaving home, finishing school, marriage, financial independence and having children. However, many young men and women attending college remain financially and emotionally dependent on their parents, as they have not entered the professional work ranks and are faced with the challenges of college. Increasingly, colleges and universities are becoming places to help teach young people to become prepared for the professional ranks and engaged with the world that surrounds them. However, very little research in higher education is focused on the developmental benefits associated with the college experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of developmental supports for self-determination and initiative in a student leadership program. Throughout the youth development literature, self-determination and initiative are recognized as important internal capacities that aid young people as they transition to adulthood. These concepts provide the theoretical lens for a qualitative case study of a college leadership group. Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews, observations, a year end focus group, and supplemented by a review of the organizational instruments and tools they develop. Findings from this study confirm past studies of youth development organizations and extend this work by applying it to the developmental period of emerging adulthood. For the leadership group under investigation, initiative and self-determination were supported primarily through the actions of peers within the group. The experience of student leaders often shaped how the group was led, and these leaders became an important source of support for the basic needs of relatedness, competence, and autonomy within the group. The study covers a three-year period, and contrasts how peer leadership changed and impacted group functioning and performance over time. Practical implications of the study relate to the important role of faculty and graduate student advisors in training and monitoring student leaders before these individuals take a formal leadership role for these groups.

abstract: ABSTRACT This study explored the functions of dialogue in emerging adults' moral turning points. Through purposive sampling, the researcher interviewed 10 emerging adults between 25 and 30 years old about experiences of turning point conversations during the years of 18 and 25. This study employed constant comparative and grounded theory methodologies to analyze messages reported in memorable conversations during this period. Results indicated that dialogue functioned to educate, disturb, and maintain emerging adults' moral perception during this period of moral reorientation. Subcategories under each included dialogue that functioned to explain, invite, warn, direct or instruct, challenge, persuade, agitate, expose, inquire, legitimize, co-reflect, redefine, and affirm or reinforce. This report cites passages from interview data to highlight how dialogic themes informed or shaped changes in moral perception. In each participant's self-reported turning point conversations there was an admixture of dialogic functions at work. Notably, participants' experience of moral turning (degree and trajectory) varied despite there being similarity in intended functions of dialogue. / Dissertation/Thesis / IRB Approval Form / M.A. Communication Studies 2010

Emerging adulthood is the developmental period between adolescence and adulthood spanning ages 18-25. A central task of emerging adulthood is autonomy development, including forming stable romantic partnerships and peer support networks that will facilitate autonomy from parents. While emerging adulthood is a time of exploration and growth, this period is also associated with risk behavior including most types of substance use, risky sexual behavior and reckless driving. Research has shown strong links between earlier parenting and emerging adults’ peer and romantic relationships and problem behavior. A dearth of research has examined the impact of parenting during emerging adulthood on emerging adult outcomes. The present study drew from an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of emerging adults (ages 19-20) and their parents (n = 209) from the Pacific Northwest region to examine how parenting behaviors during emerging adulthood impact low- and high-quality peer and romantic relationships, alcohol use and delinquent behavior. This study utilized observational and parent-report data to capture positive and negative parenting behaviors. Path modeling was conducted to examine associations between parenting predictors and relational and risk outcomes. Results indicated that observed parental hostility and criticism predicted emerging adult externalizing behaviors, and this relationship was partially mediated by affiliation with delinquent peers. Findings suggest that parenting may significantly contribute to youth development beyond the childhood adolescent years, and hostile and critical parenting during emerging adulthood may incur risk for emerging adult engagement with delinquent peers and delinquent behavior. This study is the first to observationally assess parenting during emerging adulthood with a population of young adults that are drawn from a representative community sample.

abstract: The primary goal of this study was to investigate whether youth from an affluent community showed elevated rates of substance use and associated problems in young adulthood relative to national norms. The secondary goal was to determine if parents’ “containment,” or stringent disciplinary action, of adolescent substance use as measured in Grade 12 could help predict substance use in senior year of college, over and above other parenting factors. The final goal was to assess trends of substance use over time for stability based on categories of participants’ overall levels of use in Grade 12, (low, medium, high). Results indicated that substance use remained elevated into young adulthood, relative to national norms, consistent with extant research involving upper middle class youth. In regression analyses, high parents’ containment was associated with low substance use in senior year of college; however, the inclusion of Grade12 use as a covariate reduced this association with containment such that it was no longer statistically significant. Such results suggest a mediated effect, with Grade 12 substance use mediating the effects of Grade 12 Containment on college senior year substance use. Finally, upper middle class youth were found to remain in their relative substance use group (low, medium, high) as determined at Grade 12 through all four years of college. Taken together, these results emphasized the importance of high school substance use behaviors as a notable risk factor for problematic substance use over time. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015