13: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

Emerging adulthood

the transition from adolescence to adulthood

• occurs from approximately 18-25 years of age

• characterized by experimentation and exploration

key features:

• identity exploration, especially in love and work

• Instability

• Self-focus

• Feeling in-between

• The age of possibilities, a time when individuals have an opportunity to transform their lives

Parents can play an important role in guiding and preparing adolescents for emerging adulthood

• Provide them with opportunities to be contributors

• Give candid, constructive, and quality feedback to adolescents

• Create positive adult connections, helping them learn to handle autonomy maturely

• Challenge adolescents to become more competent.

Markers of becoming an adult

• Holding a full-time job

• Economic independence

• Taking responsibility for oneself

The top-dog phenomenon replays after high school and movement to a larger, more impersonal school structure

• Interaction with peers from more diverse geographical and ethnic backgrounds

• An increased focus on achievement and its assessment

Positive features include intellectual challenges, time with peers, different lifestyles, and greater independence.

Negative features include higher levels of stress and depression.

Peak physical performance typically occurs before the age of 30

• Often between 19 and 26

• Different types of athletes reach their peak at different ages

Muscle tone and strength usually begin to decline around the age of 30, and sagging chins and protruding abdomens begin to appear

Emerging adults have more than twice the mortality rate of adolescents

• More chronic health problems

• Engage in more health-compromising behaviors

• More likely to be obese

• More likely to have a mental disorder than adolescent

Obesity

• linked to increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease

• associated w/ mental health problems, ex. depression

Factors involved in obesity

• heredity

• environmental factors

The most effective programs include exercise

• Higher levels of physical activity, especially endurance training, are linked to weight loss maintenance

• Diet-plus-exercise programs produce greater weight loss than diet-only programs

• Exercise, planning meals, and daily weigh-ins are successful strategies.

Binge eating disorder (BED)

frequent binge eating but without compensatory behavior like the purging that characterizes

individual with BED are frequently overweight

biological and psychological factors:

• genes

• neurotransmitter dopamine

• families with ineffective emotional involvement

cognitive behavior therapy and pharmacological treatments have been successful

Aerobic exercise

sustained exercise that stimulates heart and lung activity

Exercise benefits both physical and mental health (for example, anxiety and depression)

Strategies

• Reduce screen time; replace some of it with exercise

• Chart your progress

• Get rid of excuses

• Imagine the alternative—if you were to lose your health.

Addiction

the overwhelming involvement with using a drug and a preoccupation with securing its supply

Alcohol addiction

• Binge drinking: having 5 or more drinks in a row at least once in the last 2 week

• Extreme binge drinking: having 10 to 15 or more drinks in a row in the last two weeks

• Pregaming: getting drunk before going out and socializing

• Alcoholism: long-term, repeated, uncontrolled, compulsive, and excessive alcohol use impairing the user’s health and relationships.

Cigarette smoking and nicotine

Smoking is linked to cancer deaths, heart disease deaths, and chronic pulmonary disease deaths.

As with adolescents, there has been a recent increase in the use of e-cigarettes among individuals in early adulthood.

Though most adult smokers would like to quit, addiction to nicotine makes quitting challenging

• Nicotine stimulates neurotransmitters, especially dopamine, that have a calming or pain-reducing effect.

Marijuana

• Marijuana use among college students has increased dramatically in recent years

• Vaping of marijuana is also rapidly increasing among college students.

At the beginning of emerging adulthood, slightly more than 60 percent have experienced sexual intercourse.

By the end of emerging adulthood (age 25), most have had sexual intercourse. Casual sex is more common in emerging adulthood

• “Hooking up”: nonrelationship sex, from kissing to intercourse

• “Friends-with-benefits (FWB)”: a casual sex relationship that integrates friendship and sexual intimacy without an explicit commitment.

Predictors of risky heterosexual behavior, such as engaging in casual and unprotected sex

• Males engage in more risk factors than females, with females being more selective in their choice of partner

• Individuals who became sexually active in adolescence engage in more risky sexual behaviors in emerging adulthood

• Those without a high school diploma have more casual sex partners than those in college or who have graduated from college

• Alcohol makes casual sex more likely; and alcohol decreases the likelihood that partners will discuss possible risks.

Men have slightly more sexual experience and more permissive attitudes than women for most aspects of sexuality

Black American males have more permissive sexual attitudes than non–Latino White, Latino, and Asian males

• No ethnic differences were found among females.

Although sexual risk taking is important to consider, it is also important to understand that research strongly supports the role of sexual activity in well-being.

Sources of sexual orientation

• In a recent national survey, 3.8 percent of U.S. adults report being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transsexual

• Sexual orientation is generally seen as a continuum from exclusive heterosexual relations to exclusive same-sex relations

• Some people are bisexual, with evidence supporting bisexuality as a stable orientation

• Sexual orientation is most likely determined by a combination of genetic, hormonal, cognitive, and environmental factors

• Whether heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual, a person cannot be talked out of their sexual orientation

Attitudes and behavior of lesbians and gays

• Many gender differences that appear in heterosexual relationships also occur in same-sex relationships

• Lesbians have fewer sexual partners and less permissive attitudes about casual sex than gay men

• Hate crimes and stigma-related experiences are a special concern.

Sexually transmitted infections (STI’s)

diseases primarily spread through sexual contact

• Among the most prevalent bacterial infections: gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia

• Among the most prevalent caused by viruses: genital herpes, genital warts, and human immunodeficiency virus (HI)V).

The HIV destroys the body’s immune system, leading to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a disease of devastating global reach

• In the United States, 1.2 million people were living with HIV in 2019

• Deaths due to AIDS have begun to decline in the United States.

Gonorrhea

Commonly called the “drip” or “clap.” Caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Spread by contact between infected moist membranes (genital, oral-genital, or anal-genital) of two individuals. Characterized by discharge from penis or vagina and painful urination. Can lead to infertility.

• 500,000 cases annually in the United States

• Penicillin, other antibiotics

syphilis

Caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. Characterized by the appearance of a sore where syphilis entered the body. The sore can be on the external genitals, vagina, or anus. Later, a skin rash breaks out on palms of hands and bottom of feet. If not treated, can eventually lead to paralysis or even death.

• 100,000 cases annually in the US

• penicillin

Chlamydia

A common STI named for the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, an organism that spreads by sexual contact and infects the genital organs of both sexes. A special concern is that females with chlamydia may become infertile. It is recommended that adolescent and young adult females have an annual screening for this STI.

• About 3 million people in the United States annually

• antibiotics

genital herpes

Caused by a family of viruses with different strains. Involves an eruption of sores and blisters. Spread by sexual contact.

• one of five US adults

• no known cure, but antiviral medications can shorten outbreaks

AIDS

Caused by a virus, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which destroys the body’s immune system. Semen and blood are the main vehicles of transmission. Common symptoms include fevers, night sweats, weight loss, chronic fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes.

• More than 300,000 cumulative cases of HIV virus in the USA. 25- to 34-yearolds; epidemic incidence in subSaharan countries

• New treatments have slowed the progression from HIV to AIDS; no cure

Genital warts

Caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which does not always produce symptoms. Usually appear as small, hard painless bumps in the vaginal area, or around the anus. Very contagious. Certain high-risk types of this virus cause cervical cancer and other genital cancers. May recur despite treatment. A new HPV preventive vaccine, Gardasil, has been approved for girls and women 9 to 26 years of age.

• About 5.5 million new cases annually; considered the most common STI in the USA.

• A topical drug, freezing, or surgery

Rape

forcible sexual intercourse with a person, female or male, who does not give consent.

• 60% of rape victims, especially college students, do not acknowledge it

• Nearly 200,000 rapes are reported per year in the United States.

among the likely causes:

• Males are socialized to be sexually aggressive, to regard women as inferior, and to consider their pleasure first

• Male characteristics include aggression enhancing their sense of power, general anger toward women, a desire to hurt and humiliate, and high sexual narcissism

• Rape is more likely when alcohol is involved

Date or acquaintance rape

coercive sexual activity directed at someone with whom the perpetrator is at least casually acquainted

• Two-thirds of female college freshmen report having been date raped or having experienced attempted date rape

• About two-thirds of college men admit to fondling women against their will; half to forcing sexual activity

In Piaget’s view, formal operational thought is the final stage in cognitive development, and it characterizes adults as well as adolescents

• Young adults are more quantitatively advanced, in that they have more knowledge than adolescents

• Adults especially increase their knowledge in a specific area.

Postformal thought

• a proposed 5th, postformal stage

• Reflective, relativistic, and contextual

• Provisional

• Realistic

• Recognized as being influenced by emotion

Wisdom and meaning are important developments

self-efficacy

the belief one can master a situation to potentially produce favorable outcomes

mindset

the cognitive view individuals develop for themselves

• growth mindset: people can improve through effort; linked to success and achievement

• fixed mindset: qualities are carved in stone

delay of gratification

engaging in self-control by waiting until late to obtain something more valuable rather than immediately seeking satisfaction with something less valuable

Grit

passion and persistence in achieving long-term goals

Unemployment or underemployment produces stress.

• Physical problems, such as heart attack and stroke

• Substance abuse

• Emotional problems, such as depression and anxiety

• Marital difficulties

• Homicide.

Dual-earner couples may face special challenges in balancing work and family life

As U.S. women took jobs outside the home, the division of responsibility for work and family did change

• Men did more for maintaining the home

• Women took more responsibility for breadwinning

• Men showed greater interest in the family and parenting

Women still earn less in the same jobs, however; and this can influence gender inequalities in the home