Exploring the Experiences of Emerging Adulthood Among Rural Appalachian Students

Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage that has risen out of a need to recontextualize the lives of individuals aged 18-29 years old in modern times. Sometimes described as a prolonged period of adolescence, emerging adulthood presents unique challenges and opportunities as individuals launch from adolescence and begin to assume more adult roles. Early research on this developmental period details five themes that commonly prevail the lives of emerging adults: identity exploration, feeling in-between, being self-focused, exploring possibilities, andinstability (Arnett, 2000). Though previous studies suggest that these themes remain fairly consistent despite the heterogeneity of the emerging adult population (Arnett et al., 2014; Baggio et al., 2017), there is a call for greater exploration of these themes and how they present based upon different demographic variables. To date, the experiences of rural Appalachian emerging adults have not been examined through the context of these themes. This gap presents an opportunity to explore the rich nuances of Appalachian culture, including its focus on social support and its impact on student success (Hand & Payne, 2008) and emotional well-being (Gottron, 2020). Participants of this study were college students (N = 296, mean age = 20.13) in northeast Tennessee. Participants answered a series of standard questionnaires and several open-ended questions about transitioning to adulthood. The present study examines the written responses to two open-ended questions: What have you most enjoyed about becoming an adult? and What is most stressful about becoming an adult? Two raters coded these responses based on their applicability to the aforementioned themes of emerging adulthood. Chi square analyses examined the presence of these themes in relation to geographic region (rural, urban, suburban). Positive endorsement of being self-focused differed by the area in which one grew up, X2(2, 277) = 13.34, p = .001. Post-hoc analyses with a Bonferonni-corrected alpha (p = .008) examined group differences. Individuals from rural areas reported being self-focused more positively compared to students from suburban or urban areas (p = .002). Due to the strong family commitments often associated with rural culture (Hand & Payne, 2008), rural emerging adults may perceive the ability to focus on their own priorities and goals, rather than that of their family members, as the most salient benefit of growing older. Additionally, these findings suggest that future discussions surrounding Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood requires further nuance when considering region-specific cultural differences. Understanding where and why the experiences of individuals from rural areas may be different is key as educators and faculty continue to find ways to support the success of their students

Implicit Theories of Emotion and Disruptive Behaviors in Adolescence: Pathways Through Emotion Dysregulation

Disruptive behavior, such as aggression and rule-breaking, tend to increase in adolescence and are linked to negative academic outcomes and psychosocial difficulties. Emotion dysregulation also increases from childhood to adolescence. An individual’s implicit beliefs about their emotions, such as whether they view emotions as changeable versus fixed, may relate to how they regulate their emotions. Adolescents who view emotions as fixed may be less likely to use adaptive emotion regulation strategies and experience emotion dysregulation. Viewing one’s anger as fixed may lead to more emotion dysregulation which may then contribute to aggression and violence towards others. Neurological studies show that emotion dysregulation and disruptive behavior activate similar brain structures, providing support that emotion dysregulation may be a possible pathway to disruptive behavior. There is evidence for implicit emotion theories impact on depression symptoms through emotion dysregulation, with little research on how it might impact disruptive behavior disorder symptoms. Therefore, we hypothesized that a fixed mindset towards emotions would relate to increased disruptive behavior symptoms, and this effect would be mediated by emotion dysregulation. Participants were 165 adolescents (M = 14.56 years; 33.7% female; 73.5% European American) and their parents, both of whom completed questionnaires via Qualtrics online platform. Adolescents reported on their implicit theories of emotion and emotion dysregulation. Parents reported on their adolescent’s disruptive behaviors, such as conduct problems and oppositionality. We tested the mediation models in SPSS using the Process macro v.4.2. There were no significant indirect effects of a fixed mindset on oppositionality. However, a fixed mindset had an indirect relation to conduct problems. There was a direct effect of a fixed mindset on conduct problems, which was no longer significant once emotion dysregulation was entered into the model. These results show that emotion dysregulation mediates the link between implicit emotion theories and conduct problems, but not oppositionality, in adolescence. There may have been no association with oppositionality behaviors because they typically occur at a younger age than conduct problems. Adolescents who view emotions as unchangeable may not attempt emotion regulation strategies as often, which leads to more conduct problems. In clinical settings, it might be advantageous to assess and address how youth view their emotions and support emotion regulation strategies. Although this study relied on cross-sectional self-report data, it provides an important first step to exploring risk factors and pathways for disruptive behaviors. Future research may benefit from experimental and longitudinal designs to investigate causality

Co-rumination With Parents and Friends: Gender-Specific Links to Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms

Co-rumination is a nuanced emotion socialization process that occurs with parents and friends during adolescence. Although co-ruminating builds closeness with others, it corresponds to increased internalizing symptoms, particularly for adolescent girls. The present study explored how specific features of co-rumination vary by relational context (parents, friends) and adolescent gender. These features were also examined in relation to adolescent internalizing symptoms, with adolescent gender as a potential moderator. Thirty adolescents (13–18 years old; 60% female, 40% male) participated in separate discourse tasks with their parent and their same-gender close friend. Co-rumination was observed during these conversations, and adolescents reported their internalizing symptoms. Features of co-rumination varied by relational context and adolescent gender, with unique links to adolescent internalizing symptoms. This study extends prior research by providing a fine-grained analysis of how co-rumination corresponds to internalizing symptoms across two relational contexts

Emotion Socialization by Parents and Friends: Links With Adolescent Emotional Adjustment

Emotion socialization influences adolescent emotional adjustment. Friendships provide a venue for emotion socialization, yet little research has compared emotion socialization processes with parents versus friends and how they correspond to adolescent outcomes. The present study examined parent and friend socialization of negative emotions in relation to adolescents\u27 emotional coherence, emotion regulation, and internalizing symptoms. Thirty parent-adolescent-friend triads (13–18 years old; 60% female, 40% male) from the community participated. Study variables were measured with a multi-method approach, including observational data, heart rate variability, and self-report. Parents and friends evidenced disparate patterns of socialization responses and unique ties to adolescent outcomes, which has important clinical applications. Friends, as well as parents, are important and distinct socialization agents within the developmental context of adolescence