Chapter 13 Emerging adulthood Sexual maturity arrives during adolescence Cognitive maturity may take longer Legal adulthood 18 years old people can vote and in most states they can marry without their parents permission at 18 21 depending on the state they can enter into binding contracts Based on social logical definitions people may be considered adults when they are self supporting or have chosen a career have married or formed a significant romantic partnership or have started a family Psychological maturity discovering one s identity becoming independent of parents developing a system of values and forming relationships Three criteria define adulthood 1 Accepting responsibility for oneself 2 Making independent decisions 3 Becoming financially independent In modern industrialized countries the achievement of these goals takes longer and follows far more varied routes than in the past Since the 1950s the technological revolution has made higher education or specialized training increasingly essential The ages of marriage and childbirth have shot upwards due to both men and women pursing higher education or vocational opportunities Today adulthood may be marked by multiple milestones o Entering college full or part time o Working full or part time o Moving away from home o Getting married o Having children The order and timing of these milestones may vary Emerging adulthood proposed transitional period between adolescence and adulthood o It is a time to explore time for possibilities an opportunity to try out new and different ways of living a time when young people are no longer adolescents but have not yet settled into adult roles Influences on health o Diet o The saying you are what you eat sums up the importance of nutrition for physical and mental health o What you eat affects how you look feel and how likely you are to get sick and even die o Excessive fat consumption especially of saturated fats increases cardiovascular risks particularly cholesterol levels which are directly related to the risk of death from coronary heart disease Controlling cholesterol through diet and if necessary medication can significantly lower this risk o Diet also seems to protect against certain cancers Ex men who ate fish five or more times a week had a 40 lower risk of colorectal cancer than men who ate fish less than once a week o Obesity o Obesity has been called a worldwide epidemic that continues to worsen o What explains this epidemic Experts point to an increase in snacking availability of inexpensive fast foods supersized portions high fat diets labor saving technology and sedentary recreational pursuits such as TV and computers o Obesity can lead to depression and vice versa o It also carries risk of high blood pressure heart disease stroke diabetes gallstones arthritis and other muscular and skeletal disorders and some cancers and it diminishes quality and length of life o Lifestyle changes dietary change plus exercise or drug treatments have sustained weight loss targets for two or more years o Sleep o The 20 s and 30 s are busy times so it is not surprising that many emerging and young adults often go without adequate sleep o College students family life stress together with academic stress is associated with high levels of insomnia o Sleep deprivation affects not only health but cognitive emotional and social functioning as well o Lack of sleep tends to impair verbal learning some aspects of memory high level decision making and speech articulation and to increase distractibility o Chronic sleep deprivation less than 6 hours of sleep for 3 or more nights can seriously worsen cognitive performance o Adequate sleep improves learning of complex motor skills and consolidates previous learning o Indirect these influences include income education and race ethnicity Relationships also seem to make a difference and the paths young people take into adulthood o SES Higher income people tend to rate their health as better and live longer than lower income people Socioeconomic circumstances in both childhood and adulthood are important determinants of risk for cardiovascular disease and even more so of stroke o Relationships This does not mean that income and education cause good health instead they are related to environmental and lifestyle factors that tend to be causative A review of more than a 100 studies found that racial ethnic minorities tend to receive lower quality health care than white people do even when insurance status income age and severity of conditions are similar Research has identified at least 2 interrelated aspects of the is active engagement in a broad range of social environment that can promote health social integration and social support Social integration social relationships activities and roles spouse parent neighbor friend colleague and the like Social networks can influence emotional well being as well as participation in healthful behaviors such as exercising eating nutritiously and refraining from substance use Social support refers to material informational and psychological resources derived from the social network on which a person can rely for help in coping with stress In highly stressful situations people who are in touch with others may be more likely to eat and sleep sensibly get enough exercise and avoid substance abuse and less likely to be distressed anxious or depressed or even to die Because marriage offers a readily available system for both social integration and social support it is not surprising that marriage tends to benefit health especially for men Peak of illicit drug use o Peaks at ages 18 to 20 more than 22 of this age group report indulging during the past month o As young adults settle down get married and take responsibility for their future they tend to cut down on drug use o Most popular drug o Marijuana is by far the most popular illicit drug among young adults Infertility inability to conceive after 12 months of trying o Women s fertility begins to decline in their late twenties with substantial decreases during their thirties o Men s fertility is less affected by age but declines significantly by their late thirties o Infertility can be a burden in a relationship emotionally but only when infertility leads to permanent involuntary childlessness is it associated with long term psychological distress o 1 cause for men and women o Men the most common cause of infertility in men is production of two few sperm In some instances
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