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Though the phenomenon of young adults moving in with their parents is not a new one, it is one that has certainly become more common in recent decades. A new life stage of 'emerging adulthood' has become the norm, in which young adults delay marriage and career jobs in order to pursue other goals. This stage is, in part, marked by fluidity in residence. Yet even as a growing number of 'boomerang kids' move back in with their parents, there is a gap in the research regarding this phenomenon's effect on various parts of the family system. This study set out to address this gap by comparing separate interviews from young adult boomerangs and their parents. Findings suggest a disparity between parental and young adult opinions on a variety of topics, most notably: expected household responsibility, parent/child closeness, loss of autonomy, and appreciation. However, similarities emerged regarding the parental home as a safe haven, the arrangement as providing financial security, and the fact that all adult children reported being ready to move out. Ideally, the findings presented here will help illuminate both the similarities and disparities in the experiences of parents and their young adult children who return after launch, in order to increase empathy and promote a healthy family system. / Master of Science

During the transition to college, emerging adults are expected to develop independence and increase individual responsibility as they live away from home for the first time. Modern electronic communication has enabled emerging adults to maintain frequent, daily contact with the parent, a pattern of communication Hofer refers to as an “electronic tether.” This study examined the link between parenting style and the development of independence of first year, first semester college students. Although these students were in frequent contact with their designated parent, no correlation between frequency of communication and parenting style or independence was found. Both authoritative and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted attitudinal independence. However, permissive parenting functioned as a significant negative predictor. Authoritarian, permissive, and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted conflictual independence. However, authoritative parenting functioned as a significant negative predictor. Both authoritative and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted emotional and functional independence.

The effects of parent-child relationship quality and racial socialization on reports of racial discrimination to parents are examined in an African American emerging adult population. The effects of parent-child relationship quality and racial socialization on reports of racial discrimination to parents are also considered. The influences of demographic characteristics on reports of racial discrimination are also assessed. The purpose of this study is to examine if there are relationships between cultural origin, gender, socio-economic status and reports of racial discrimination to parents. The study also aims to determine if parent-child relationship quality has an effect on whether or not black youth report experiences of racial discrimination to their parents. The study included 133 emerging adult participants between the ages of 18-25, and 33 didactic pairs of parents and their emerging adult children. Via electronic surveys, young adults answered questions about their relationships with their parents, while the parents answered questions about their racial socialization strategies. The results indicated that cultural origin, gender, and SES did not have a relationship with reports of racial discrimination to parents. However, analyses suggested that having a low or working SES has a relationship with reporting racial discrimination to parents. Findings also showed that racial socialization along with parent-child relationship quality had an effect on reports of discrimination. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.

Successful formation of a self-chosen, purposeful identity in personal, social, educational and vocational areas is a primary task for emerging adults, with failure to do so often resulting in cycles of substance use, unemployment, and delinquent/criminal behavior. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine relationships between vocational identity, substance use, and criminal thinking within the population of emerging adults. The expectancy value theory of motivation, which states that identity may be a motivational construct between self-efficacy and subjective self-values, provided the foundation for the study. The online inventory platform PsychData was used to garner data from a sample of 78 emerging adults measuring vocational identity (using the Vocational Identity Status Assessment [VISA]), substance use (using the CAGE-AID questionnaire), and criminal thinking (using the General Criminal Thinking-GCT scale of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles). A bivariate correlational analysis using SPSS allowed for comparison of the 6 vocational identity statuses of Achieved, Searching Moratorium, Moratorium, Foreclosed, Diffused, and Undifferentiated, against the CAGE-AID scores and the GCT scores for possible relationships. The study did not result in significant correlations between variables; however, poststudy analysis revealed that the Diffused level of vocational identity, which is generally associated with the most negative life patterns, was strongly reflected in the responses of 25-year-old participants. Further research on the significance of vocational identity among older emerging adults may serve both the individual and society through encouraging successful transition to stable and healthy adult roles.

This dissertation investigated online aggression in emerging adults to understand the contextual power of anonymity and social modeling. Emerging adults are characterized as undergoing a period of identity exploration, instability, self-focus, transition, and possibility (Arnett, 2004). Given the importance of identity development at this stage of the lifespan, this research explored religiosity/spirituality and political ideology; two pivotal belief systems that are introspectively evaluated and molded in emerging adults as they separate their identities from their world views (Barry & Nelson, 2004). Furthermore, this dissertation sought to apply religiosity/spirituality and political ideology to the previously established link of anonymity and social modeling and their joined impact on online aggression (Zimmerman & Ybarra, 2016). Behavioral temptation to aggress and participant responses following interaction on a mock blog was recorded and analyzed in situations of anonymity and positive or neutral social models. Aggressive social modeling influenced blog posts and behavioral temptation to aggress. Religiosity/spirituality and political attitudes moderated aggression in blog posts.

Using Krumboltz's (2009) Happenstance Learning Theory as a theoretical framework, the three constructs of human agency, hardiness, and proactive personality were identified for their effectiveness in facilitating proaction and resilience during transitional and stressful circumstances. The purpose of this study was to explore whether human agency, hardiness, and proactive personality predict a successful college-to-career transition, measured by the confidence and readiness factors on the Career Transition Inventory (Heppner, 1991; Heppner, Multon, & Johnston, 1994). Linear regression analyses found that each of the study's independent variables predicted both the confidence and readiness factors. In addition, a stepwise regression analysis selected proactive personality as the strongest predictor of readiness. With proactive personality in the model, the stepwise analysis chose hardiness as the next strongest predictor of readiness. Proactive personality and hardiness together explained 38.2% of the variance for readiness. When a stepwise analysis was run with the three independent variables and confidence as the dependent variable, hardiness was selected as the strongest predictor of confidence. With hardiness in the model, the stepwise analysis chose general self-efficacy as the next strongest predictor of readiness. Hardiness and general self-efficacy together explained 28.1% of the variance for confidence.

College students and emerging adults have been found to be at risk for smoking cigarettes, drinking to excess, using illicit drugs, driving dangerously, and engaging in risky sexual and delinquent behaviour. Psychosocial correlates (Sensation Seeking, peer behaviour, parent behaviour, and peer and parent anti-substance use messages) from three domains of influence (personality, parent, and peer) were examined together to provide a greater context for the occurrence of such health-risk behaviours. The strongest predictor(s) of each behaviour were identified to better inform intervention practices. Three groups were compared— 1) those who never tried substances, 2) those who tried substances in the past, and 3) those who continue to use substances at present, in a population of emerging adults. Self-report data was gathered from 203 Collèges d'Enseignement Général Et Professionnel (CEGEP) students in the Montreal region. Measures included: Reckless Behaviour Questionnaire, Reckless Driving Measure, Health Behaviour Survey, Sensation Seeking Scale—Form V, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results revealed that peer behaviour was the most significant predictor of substance use in emerging adults, whereas parent behaviour was only a significant predictor of reckless driving. Sensation Seeking, specifically Disinhibition, was found to predict more global reckless behaviours, including illegal activities, such as stealing or using marijuana (p < .01). Neither peer nor parent anti-substance messages were significantly related to any of the health-risk behaviours measured in this study. It would appear that health-risk behaviours tend to be related to the same underlying factors but to varying degrees. Intervention implications are discussed.