PRYDE goes to the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood in Toronto

Human Development Ph.D. student Kaylin Ratner (pictured right) and PRYDE Scholar graduate Carúmey Stevens.

Every year, an international group of scholars gathers to share findings relevant to the period known as emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood describes those between the ages of 18-29 years old, and is characterized by the sense that one both is and is not yet an adult (Arnett, 2000, 2015). In other words, people in emerging adulthood report feeling “in between” adolescence and full-fledged adulthood. The defining features of emerging adulthood include instability in several domains, and the strengthening of important developmental milestones such as identity and self-direction. While not all individuals will traverse an extended period of self-exploration like emerging adulthood, few would argue that the transition to adulthood marks a critical period in the life course. For example, emerging adulthood sets the stage for adult mental health and well-being (Schulenberg, Sameroff, & Cicchetti, 2004), and it is during this period that people begin shifting from education- and peer-related goals toward aspirations that feature work, long-term health, and family (Salmela-Aro, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2007). As such, studying the bridge that connects youth to adulthood is worthwhile insofar as we are concerned about fostering healthy development that will last a lifetime.

The 2019 meeting of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA) was held in Toronto, Ontario from October 10-12th. The theme of the conference was “Understanding emerging adulthood in cultural and socio-political contexts.” Two PRYDE affiliates, Carúmey Stevens and Kaylin Ratner, attended this year’s meeting and presented research. Their work focused on factors that shape psychological health during the first year of college for students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups.

Carúmey graduated as part of the 2019 PRYDE Scholars cohort. She is currently a research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health where she contributes to research exploring novel treatments and therapies for children with anxiety and related mood disorders. During her time at Cornell, she worked with Drs. Anthony Burrow and Jane Mendle. With their guidance and support, Carúmey completed her senior honors thesis which explored ethnic identity and its interactive effect on the mental health of first year students, specifically those of racial and ethnic minorities, with symptoms of social anxiety. She presented her poster on this study during the SSEA conference, entitled “Exploring ethnic identity as a psychological resource for first year students with social anxiety.” This cross sectional study of 176 first year students at Cornell revealed that Asian Americans report significantly higher levels of social anxiety symptoms compared to African Americans and Latinos only on the subscale related to “assertive expression of annoyance, disgust, or displeasure” possibly due to sociocultural factors. Interestingly, a significant difference in social anxiety symptoms was found between European Americans and Blacks and Latinos. Moreover, ethnic identity was only negatively associated with social anxiety on the subscale of “assertive expression of annoyance, disgust, or displeasure” for Blacks and Latinos. These finds may also be rooted in sociocultural and political contextual factors related to marginalized identities history of social exclusion and oppression in America. This study sheds light on a gap in present research related to studying more diverse ethnic groups in relation to social anxiety as well as ethnic identity as a psychological resource for emerging adults with social anxiety. The process of completing and presenting original research like her thesis has confirmed a career in research and clinical practice is Carumey’s aspiration. Upon completion of her fellowship, Carúmey plans to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical child psychology with a focus on marginalized identities and health disparities.

Kaylin is a 5th year Ph.D. student at Cornell working under the supervision of PRYDE faculty, Drs. Anthony Burrow and Jane Mendle. She has been involved with PRYDE for the last three years. Kaylin presented a poster during the SSEA opening reception entitled, “Trajectories of depressive symptoms and derailment among first-year racial minority and non-minority students.” Her work is based on a larger longitudinal study, where she surveyed nearly 1000 Cornell students over the course of the 2016-2017 academic year. Her findings suggested that racial minority students entered college with greater depressive symptoms, experienced a greater total increase in depressive symptoms, and had more variability in depressive symptoms relative to racial non-minority students over the first year of college. However, she failed to find evidence that trajectories of derailment (i.e., the sense one has gotten “off course” in life; Burrow et al., 2018) between these groups differed. Furthermore, at any given observation, students who reported greater depressive symptoms also tended to report greater derailment. In most cases, this was true for both racial minority and non-minority students, but there was no evidence to suggest that the association between depression and derailment differed between groups. The study suggests that although racial minority students face greater distress during the first year of college, they may maintain an adaptive sense of self-stability on par with that of racial non-minority students. Toward improving the college experience and smoothing the transition to adulthood for everyone, future studies can identify the mechanisms underlying these patterns. For example, researchers may look to organizations on campus that foster belongingness for marginalized students: perhaps these communities promote a sense of connection to the past. For this work, Kaylin won the inaugural “Best Student Poster” award and 2 years of SSEA membership. Kaylin will be graduating in summer 2020 and is currently in the process of applying for her next position.

During their visit, Carúmey and Kaylin also had a little time to explore Toronto. They enjoyed the diverse food the city has to offer, and visited top destinations including the CN Tower (which held the world record for tallest free-standing structure from 1975 to 2007) and Ripley’s Aquarium Canada. Kaylin reports that her favorite Toronto experience was trying Matcha Green Tea Crepe Cake from Millie Patisserie (not pictured because it was eaten too quickly), and Carúmey’s was seeing Toronto from a bird’s eye view at the top of the CN Tower (a 1,815 feet high view)!

Traveling to SSEA allowed two students to have an invaluable experience. Carúmey and Kaylin were able to share their work and network with leaders in the field from across the globe. Not only did Carúmey and Kaylin learn about new methodologies and areas of study, but attending this conference means the work they produced could inform the domestic and international study of emerging adulthood. The youth research that stands at the cornerstone of PRYDE’s mission is necessary, but only the first step toward sketching a lifespan perspective of healthy development. Carúmey and Kaylin’s research on emerging adulthood extends PRYDE’s mission by taking a closer look at what awaits youth just on the other side of adolescence. In this way, PRYDE has now supported work that goes beyond its objectives, and moves us closer to a more holistic understanding of human development.

Further Reading

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.55.5.469

Arnett, J. J. (2015). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from late teens through the twenties (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Burrow, A. L., Hill, P. L., Ratner, K., & Fuller-Rowell, T. E. (2018). Derailment: Conceptualization, measurement, and adjustment correlates of perceived change in self and direction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000209 

Salmela-Aro, K., Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2007). Personal goals during emerging adulthood: A 10-year follow up. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22(6), 690–715. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558407303978 

Schulenberg, J. E., Sameroff, A. J., & Cicchetti, D. (2004). The transition to adulthood as a critical juncture in the course of psychopathology and mental health. Development and Psychopathology, 16(4), 799–806. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579404040015