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Research shows corporal punishment is associated with negative outcomes in offspring. These negative outcomes can present themselves during childhood and emerging adulthood. One negative consequence can be alcohol abuse. The consequences of alcohol abuse in emerging adults are reasons to research corporal punishment’s effects to support positive parental discipline. The current study examined the relationship between past-year corporal punishment and alcohol abuse in the emerging adulthood population. Results of the current study showed corporal punishment was correlated positively with alcohol use, externalizing problems, and authoritarian parenting style, and negatively correlated with maternal authoritative parenting style and permissive parenting style. Males reported higher amounts of paternal corporal punishment and higher amounts of alcohol consumption. Finally, it was determined that risk factors for alcohol abuse included male gender, Caucasian ethnicity, and positive history of family alcohol abuse, and that psychopathology mediated the relationship between corporal punishment and alcohol use and abuse.

Parents influence their children’s religiosity through many factors including parenting practices, parental religiosity, and parental psychopathology. Little research, however, has been conducted on how different parental psychopathologies, such as anxiety, depressive, and antisocial problems, affect the transmission of religiosity from parent to child. Participants reported the psychopathological behaviors of their parents via the Adult Behavior Checklist as well as personal and parental religiosity using a new religious scale. Structural equation modeling was used to measure whether parental psychopathology, parent gender, and participant gender would moderate the relationship between perceived parental and emerging adult religiosity. Results indicated that maternal interactions were significant for depressive and antisocial problems but gender analyses revealed that the interactions were significant only for females; similarly although no overall interaction occurred, the maternal interaction was significant for anxiety problems only for females when gender analyses were conducted. The results did not suggest a 3-way interaction among variables.

Parental discipline behaviors and trait impulsivity are related to the development of psychological problems in children. Less research has examined these relations during emerging adulthood, despite the continued importance of parenting and increases in impulsivity during this time. Thus, the current study examined the association of impulsivity with current parental discipline practices and psychological problems as reported by college-attending emerging adults. Specifically, paternal and maternal discipline practices were examined as moderators between impulsivity and psychological problems with gender as an additional moderator. Participants (N = 911, 38.2% women, 78.0% White, aged 18 to 25) completed self-report measures on current discipline behaviors by parents, the five facets of trait impulsivity, and internalizing and externalizing psychological problems. Path analysis revealed that impulsivity facets (sensation seeking and positive urgency) and parental discipline behaviors were associated with reported internalizing problems particularly in emerging adult college-attending women. Gender moderated the relation between sensation and internalizing problems, with men reporting less problems in the context of high sensation seeking. Women reported more internalizing problems compared to men in the context of low positive urgency and low perceived positive paternal discipline. Results imply that contextual factors (e.g., positive college experience expectancies and gender role belief) may relate to less psychological problems in men, and disappointment and lack of approval from fathers may relate to emotion regulation problems and more internalizing problems in women. Interventions aimed at providing parents education on emerging adults’ mental health factors and improving parent-child communication during this period may improve emerging adults’ psychological well-being.

Given that more and more young people are living at home well into their twenties, and parents no longer see their children as adults until well into their mid to late twenties (Nelson, Walker, Carroll, Madsen, Barry, & Badger, 2006), parents may continue to "parent" for much longer than we have typically believed. Although parenting may still play an important role, little research has been done examining parenting in emerging adulthood, including its correlates and outcomes. As such, there is a need for a measure of parenting that is appropriate for use in emerging adulthood. The current study attempted to develop a measure that identifies and assesses behaviors that reflect various styles of parenting during emerging adulthood including authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting. Specifically, the purposes of this study were: 1) to examine whether or not authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles could be identified in parents of emerging adults and 2) to assess the validity and reliability of the parenting measure that emerges from the factor analysis for both parents' self reports and spouse reports. Based on the factor analyses of items in the parenting scale, it appears that authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting can be identified as distinct and separate parenting styles in parents of emerging adults. The results of the study further suggest that the parenting measure is a reliable and valid measure for use with parents of emerging adults.

Recent studies indicate that financial independence is important to the transition to adulthood. This study, grounded in a marital horizon theory of emerging adulthood, examines the role of emerging adult and parent financial patterns on emerging adults' marital horizons. Correlations, stepwise-regressions and a MANOVA were conducted using a sample of 403 emerging adults and 326 parents that were recruited from five college sites across the United States. Results demonstrated that significant differences existed between finances and emerging adults' marital horizons. Specifically, emerging adults with higher financial criteria and who received more parental financial assistance were more likely to report not being ready for marriage. These findings support the notion that finances significantly influence an emerging adult's marital horizon.

Relationship initiation is an integral part of romantic relationship development and a key developmental task of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2004). In addition, relationship initiation practices (such as dating) have the capacity to impact the fluctuating levels of attachment insecurity (whether anxiety or avoidance) that an individual experiences over the course of emerging adulthood (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). In the present study, I utilized latent growth curve modeling to examine whether certain dating variables (first dates, second or more dates, relationship breakups, dateless weeks) compiled over a 32 week dating history, as well as age and gender could predict change in attachment anxiety and avoidance over four time points in a sample of 309 Latter-day Saint (LDS) emerging adults. Results indicate that dateless weeks and second or more dates predicted the rate of change (i.e. slope) of attachment anxiety and that the overarching model accounted for 25% of the variance in the slope of anxiety. Findings also showed that age predicted initial levels (i.e. intercept) of attachment anxiety and that gender predicted initial levels of attachment avoidance. Findings were discussed in terms of theoretical significance and clinical application.

Psychopathy research continues to study the adaptability of psychopathic characteristics and differentiate between functional and dysfunctional features. The current study identified latent profiles in emerging adults and compared them across behavioral/cognitive correlates, functional outcomes, aggression types, and also examined gender differences. Results demonstrated that men scored higher across cold-heartedness and fearless dominance profiles, but not self-centered impulsivity. The low psychopathy group had lower proactive aggression than the high psychopathy group; no other differences were observed. Additionally, men and women in the high psychopathy group did not significantly differ regarding experienced outcomes. Lastly, higher psychopathy was not associated with higher proactive aggression when functioning was high, whereas it was associated when functioning was low; no other interactions were observed. Continuing to research how functional and dysfunctional characteristics differ between men and women and detecting these characteristics early to provide intervention could help ameliorate maladaptive traits, which could lead to better outcomes.

The Circumplex Model of family functioning posits that balanced levels of cohesion and adaptability are associated with positive familial outcomes, whereas extremely high or low levels of these factors are associated with deleterious outcomes. Despite the popularity and utility of this model in Western cultures, there is a dearth of empirical data supporting its use in less Western or more culturally diverse cultures. The current study assessed the Circumplex Model of family functioning, cultural factors, and emerging adult outcomes (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behavior, emotional problems, prosocial behavior) across 18 U.S. sites, China, Nigeria, Switzerland, Iran, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Participants were N = 3593 emerging adults, the majority of which were women (71.3%) and White (59.1%). Collaborators were participants in Psi Chi's Network for International Collaborative Exchange (NICE) and administered measures of family dynamics, cultural orientation, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and mental health outcomes to participants in a random order. The Circumplex Model of Family Functioning did not fit cross-culturally. A global six-factor model was created through factor analytic techniques that was invariant across samples and between genders. Culture significantly moderated the relation between family model variables and emerging adult outcomes. The current study suggests the cultural context in which family dynamics occur should be taken into consideration when evaluating behavioral outcomes. The best strategies for promoting positive outcomes in emerging adults may depend on the family's cultural orientation and may require adaptation in intervention.

Anxiety is a prevalent health concern for emerging adults and the top concern for those seeking mental health treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the features of emerging adulthood (i.e., identity exploration, feelings of optimism about possibilities, instability, selfocus, and feeling in-between), which may be predictive of anxiety symptoms, as well as explore factors (i.e., differentiation of self and social comparison orientation using social media), which may intensify or lessen the anxiety symptoms. The study sample included 598 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25. The results of this study suggested that identity exploration, instability, and feeling in-between contribute to higher anxiety symptoms. While higher differentiation of self can be a strength in emerging adulthood, and is associated with lower anxiety, higher social comparison orientation may serve as a risk factor, as it is associated with higher anxiety symptoms. Social comparison orientation using social media was also found to moderate the relationship between optimism about possibilities and anxiety. Specifically, at higher levels of social comparison orientation using social media, increased optimism about possibilities predicted higher anxiety. At lower levels of social comparison orientation using social media, increased optimism about possibilities predicted lower anxiety. These findings have implications for clinicians and educational professionals working with the emerging adult population.