Prior research has indicated that family experiences, including parental divorce, interparental conflict, and the parent-child relationship, play an important role in adult childrens romantic relationships (e.g., Wallerstein & Lewis, 1998; Mahl, 2001; Harvey & Fine, 2004). Research on how these variables may work in combination and on how these family experiences affect romantic relationships during the developmental period of emerging adulthood is lacking. The current study investigated the impact that family divorce has on features of emerging adults romantic relationships. It also examined whether these relationships are mediated by parent-child relationship, are moderated by interparental conflict, and vary with gender and age at the time of divorce.<p>A total of 310 students between the ages of 18-25 from University of Saskatchewan participated in this study. Contrary to the hypothesis, the findings showed that in their romantic relationships emerging adults from divorced families, compared to emerging adults from intact families, had a higher degree of three romantic features: care, commitment, and maintenance. Partly in line with the hypothesis, only retrospective interparental conflict moderated the link between family structure and romantic conflict. Finally, differences, regardless of family structure, were found between males and females, where females indicated having higher levels of intimacy and males indicated having higher levels of coercion in their romantic relationships. Possible explanations for the findings and implications for future research are discussed.

Den industrialiserade världen har de senaste årtiondena genomgått förändringar vilket har bidragit till att en ny tidsperiod uppkommit. Tidsperioden benämns enligt forskaren Arnett (2007) som Emerging Adulthood och har den svenska översättningen vuxenblivande. Perioden sträcker sig mellan åren 18-25. Stress är en känsla av press som för stunden inte är hanterbar och stressnivån har under de senaste åren ökat markant hos gymnasieelever. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om vuxenblivande samt stress skiljer hos elever som läser ett yrkesförberedande respektive ett högskoleförberedande program. Studien syftar också till att undersöka om stress är signifikant relaterat till vuxenblivande. I studien deltog 173 gymnasieelever som gick tredje året på gymnasieskolor i Örebro och Västerås. Deltagarna svarade på en enkät om vuxenblivande och upplevd stress. Resultatet i studien visade att de yrkesförberedande eleverna upplevde en högre grad av fokus på andra och att de högskoleförberedande eleverna upplevde en högre nivå av instabilitet och stress. / The industrialized world has changed in recent decades, which have contributed to a new period in life. The time period is, according to researcher Arnett (2007), called Emerging Adulthood. The period is ranging between ages 18-25. Stress is a feeling of pressure that the individual for the moment can’t handle and stress level has in recent years increased among high school students. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether adulthood and stress differ among students who read a vocational or a university-preparing program. The study also aims to investigate whether stress is significantly related to emerging adulthood. The study involved 173 Swedish high school students from Örebro and Västerås. The participants answered a questionnaire about emerging adulthood and perceived stress. The results of the study showed that the vocational students experienced a greater degree of focus on others and that the university-preparing students experienced a greater level of instability and stress.

Literature suggests that consumers perceive collective symbolic meaning in a set of products and brands and they associate this meaning with social roles or lifestyles that form consumption constellations. Such constellations exist as cognitive associative frameworks in consumers’ minds, which possess varying levels of accessibility. This thesis uses a multi-method approach to investigate how consumer perception and accessibility of consumption constellations is shaped by the psychosocial development that occurs during the transitional period of emerging adulthood. More specifically, two studies examine the role of the key drivers of psychosocial development at this stage: ego identity exploration and commitment. Study 1 employs a long interview methodology to provide insight into the dynamic nature of identity development during the period of emerging adulthood and its influence on perceptions of social roles and associated products and brands that comprise consumption constellations. Study 2 uses a response latency methodology to examine how emerging adults’ accessibility of consumption constellations is impacted by identity exploration and commitment, with hypotheses being partially supported. For aspirational constellations, high identity commitment participants displayed greater accessibility, with no significant differences based upon identity exploration as hypothesized.

The present study evaluated the relations among positive parenting practices, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and positive and negative psychological adjustment among Chinese and Canadian emerging adults. Emotion regulation was hypothesized to mediate the relations between positive parenting and psychological adjustment. Participants included 75 international Chinese students and 120 Canadian students between the ages of 18 to 25 enrolled at the University of Victoria. Participants completed multiple-choice questionnaires assessing perceptions of their mothers’ and fathers’ positive parenting practices (i.e., warmth, volitional autonomy support and parent as teacher), their use of positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and their levels of positive psychological adjustment (i.e., happiness, life satisfaction and academic satisfaction) and negative psychological adjustment (i.e., depression, anxiety and loneliness). Emotion regulation partially mediated the relations between perceptions of fathers’ parenting and positive and negative psychological adjustment for Chinese and Canadian students, and for Canadian students’ perceptions of mothers’ parenting. Few group differences emerged in the relations among parenting, emotion regulation and adjustment; greater positive parenting was associated with students’ use of more positive emotion regulation strategies and fewer negative strategies, and with higher levels of positive adjustment and lower levels of negative adjustment. In contrast to the overall similarity observed in terms of relations among the constructs, an exception to this pattern was the lack of relations between parenting and emotion regulation for Chinese students. Mean differences between Chinese and Canadian students in emotion regulation and psychological adjustment were found. Chinese students used all of the assessed emotion regulation strategies more often than Canadian students, and had higher levels of negative adjustment and lower levels of positive adjustment as compared with Canadian students. Clinical implications in terms of how parents, mental health professionals and post-secondary institutions can help bolster the positive adjustment of emerging adults cross-culturally are discussed, along with the strengths and limitations of the current study and directions for future research. / Graduate / 0622 / 0620

Prevailing theories of emotion regulation (ER) focus on the role of various aspects of cognition for successful regulation of one’s emotions. In particular, research suggests that executive functions (EF) may play an important role in contributing to successful ER. Emerging adulthood can be a time of high levels of perceived stress associated with changing developmental roles, which can be a risk factor for psychopathology (e.g., depression, anxiety). Emerging adulthood is also a time during which EF comes to maturation both behaviorally and biologically. This prolonged period of development associated with EF and ER maturity may represent an increased period of vulnerability in young adults, and deficits in EF may pose a significant risk for emotion dysregulation and future psychopathology. This study aimed to investigate whether EFs played a role in ER for emerging adults. More specifically, this study examined whether EFs (including, working memory, attentional control, and inhibitory control) moderated the indirect effect of ER in the relationship between stress and psychopathology in the context of emerging adulthood. A sample of 75 undergraduate students at the University of Victoria was recruited. Participants self reported perceived levels of stress and psychopathology symptoms. Participants also completed a computerized ER task where they viewed aversive pictures and sentences on a computer screen and explicitly applied an ER strategy to reduce their negative emotions when viewing the stimuli. Tests of EF including the Go/No-Go, Number-Letter and N-Back task were also completed. Results revealed that moderated mediation did not hold for this sample. However, working memory, attentional control, and inhibitory control moderated the relationship between ER and psychopathology. Specifically, low working memory and attentional control, and high inhibitory control moderated the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and psychopathology. For this same relationship of cognitive reappraisal to psychopathology, faster engagement in response inhibition (i.e., faster reaction times) was trending toward significant levels of psychopathology symptoms. For expressive suppression, the relationship to psychopathology was moderated by inhibitory control. ER did not mediate the relationship between stress and psychopathology symptoms across the entire sample. The results illuminate the ways in which EFs contribute to ER in the context of emerging adulthood. Implications for promoting successful ER and informing therapeutic techniques used with this critical population are discussed. / Graduate / 0622 / 0347 / 0317 / mcochran@uvic.ca

abstract: The adaptation and integration of the mainstream and ethnic culture are important processes to understand as they have been associated with immigrant and minority youth's adjustment and family dynamics. However, few studies focusing on youth's cultural experiences have explored youth's active role in their own cultural development, and even less have explored youth's role in influencing parents' cultural development. In the current dissertation, two studies addressed these issues by using a within-family longitudinal design to explore 246 Mexican American youth's role in their own and their families' cultural development. The first study examined the reciprocal associations in parents' and two offspring's cultural values to examine developmental differences in parent-youth socialization processes. Overall, the importance of mothers' values was highlighted as a significant predictor of increases in youths' values, five years later. In addition, Study 1 highlighted situations where youth play an active role in their parents' cultural development as youths' lower endorsement of respect for elders values was associated with increases in fathers' value endorsement, five years later. The second study explored the associations between youth's imitation and de-identification from parents and parent-youth incongruence in Mexican and Anglo cultural orientations. Youths' active role in their cultural development was underscored, as youths' reports of de-identifying from parents were linked to more incongruence in parent-youth Anglo orientations. Further, important family characteristics (i.e., parent-youth warmth and demographic similarities) were shown to predict youths' more imitation and less de-identification from parents. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2012

Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to accurately predict and reason about the mental states and beliefs of others, has yet to be explored in Emerging Adulthood, the 18-25 age range characterized by variability and developing a flexible worldview. The current study attempts to predict accuracy and response time on two ToM tasks, The Mind in the Eyes task (MiE), and the Empathetic Accuracy Paradigm (EAP) task by acting experience (whether the participant has acted in a live theater performance) and college experience (freshmen, sophomore, etc.) in 116 college participants. It was hypothesized that regression models including acting experience and college experience will account for more variance than models including only demographic variables and that the models including acting and college experience will significantly predict accuracy and response time on all ToM tasks. All such models predicting accuracy were significant, while only a model predicting response time on the EAP task was significantly predictive. It was hypothesized that acting experience will enable participants to use Theory of Mind skills faster and more accurately (Goldstein & Winner, 2012). Multiple regression analyses confirmed that acting experience is a significant predictor in all models predicting accuracy on Theory of Mind tasks, however response time was a significant predictor in only one of two tasks. It was also hypothesized that college experience will result in a more flexible worldview, open to multiple viewpoints and opinions, significantly influencing response time and accuracy. Multiple regression analyses revealed college experience approached significance in a model predicting accuracy on the MiE task, but no other significant contributions. Implications for the benefits of acting and college experience, the study of Theory of Mind in Emerging Adulthood, and practical applications of the findings in academia and therapeutic settings are discussed.

Theory of Mind (ToM) is often defined as “the ability to reason about mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and intentions, and to understand how mental states feature in everyday explanations and predictions of people’s behavior” (Apperly, 2012, p. 825). Recent research has introduced questions about performance on ToM tasks in emerging adulthood, a developmental period (ages 18-27) where exploration and identity formation occurs. The current study examined group differences between college students with acting experience, a population hypothesized to excel in ToM and empathy, and students without acting experience on cognitive and affective measures of ToM and empathy. The current study (N=162) used multiple tasks to measure ToM the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RME), Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC), Faux Pas task (detection and belief subscales). All four subscales (perspective taking, fantasizing, empathic concern, personal distress) of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) was used to measure empathy. It was hypothesized that students with acting experience would perform significantly better than those without acting experience on all measures of ToM and empathy. It was also hypothesized that the way emerging adults process identity relevant information, as assessed by the Identity Style Inventory (ISI), would be related to ToM and empathy. Students with acting experience performed significantly better on the RME task and the belief subscale of the Faux Pas task. Better performance on the RME task and the belief subscale of the Faux pas task suggest advantages in emotion processing and belief reasoning for students with acting experience. No group differences were observed on the IRI. Informational processing style was positively related to all measures of ToM and all empathy measures except the personal distress subscale of the IRI. Normative and diffuse-avoidant identity processing style was negatively related to all measures of ToM and the personal distress subscale of the IRI. Normative identity processing style was negatively related to the fantasizing subscale of the IRI. The current study supports a relationship between identity processing style in emerging adulthood and measures of ToM and empathy. A factor analysis was conducted to examine relationships between ToM and empathy, finding no distinctions between affective and cognitive dimensions but a clear difference between ToM and empathy. Students with acting experience performed significantly better on the ToM factor but no other factors, supporting the previous analyses. Implications for further research, therapeutic interventions, and occupational training integrating acting experience are discussed.

Ethnic identity is an important aspect of individuals’ sense of self. For individuals identified as ethnic minorities, ethnic identity has been found to be a potential protective factor for overall well-being. Multiracials (i.e., individuals identified with two or more races) are one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States. Limited research examining multiracials’ ethnic identity development currently exists. Furthermore, there is a paucity of ethnic identity literature examining longitudinal ethnic identity growth from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Ethnic minority adolescents, such as multiracials, and emerging adults are often at higher risk for lower psychological well-being and higher substance use. Therefore, understanding developmental trajectories and factors that contribute to ethnic identity development allows for clinicians to work with ethnic minority individuals in ways that are empowering and facilitate success. The current study utilizes Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to examine longitudinal growth trajectories of ethnic identity among multiracial and monoracial groups (White, Black, Latino/a, and Other [includes Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, and Other]). HLM was also used to examine the relationships between social factors (i.e., experiences of discrimination, teasing by peers, and bullying) and school contextual factors (i.e., school climate, school safety, and perception of teachers) factors in the development of ethnic identity over time. The present study drew from an ethnically diverse sample of individuals living in the Pacific Northwest who were assessed each year from grade 6 to 9 and once during emerging adulthood (N = 593). Results indicated small linear increases of ethnic identity over time. In general, ethnic identity increased from Grades 6 through 8, decreased from Grade 8 to 9, and increased again from Grade 9 to emerging adulthood. Multiracials’ ethnic identity growth, however, did not differ from the identity growth of individuals within monoracial groups. Negative peer interactions significantly contributed to decreases in ethnic identity scores for individuals from Grade 8 to 9. School context did not significantly contribute to changes in ethnic identity growth. Findings suggest that individuals’ ethnic identity changes over time, and is significantly impacted by peer interactions.

Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Bronwyn S. Fees / Research conducted since 1990 suggests that young adults over 18 but under 29 years of age feel as though they are neither an adult nor an adolescent but somewhere between. This blur of boundaries between adolescence and adulthood can lead to the question, if a male does not yet think he is an adult, does he also not yet think he is a man? Guided by Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood, the purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to identify the inter-individual differences in characterizing masculinity and the factors that may contribute to the development of these definitions. Males (n = 20) from a public Midwestern university, ages 18-23 (x̄ = 19.7 years) participated in individual interviews addressing their perceptions and definitions of masculinity. Three dominant themes about masculinity emerged including physical, emotional and behavioral characteristics, with behavioral characteristics containing 11 dominant and 4 lesser themes. While participants’ ideas about the extrinsic or visible characteristics of men and masculinity were similar to that of their peers in this study, the intrinsic or ideological characteristics of men were more closely aligned with that of their families. The majority of participants identified as not being men but stated that they are in the process of achieving manhood. Thus the development of a man may be separate from but similar to that of the development of an adult. Implications of this study include the practitioner response to influences responsible for differing masculine characteristics and the behaviors that result. Drinking alcohol has strong peer and media influences, as does disrespect toward women, both of which could have an impact on the individual. Also, the stress associated with various conflicting messages from family, peers, media, and their own opinions may be problematic for many youth.