Leo B. Hendry

How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example

This paper examined the concept of emerging adulthood as proposed by Arnett, in a purposive sample of Welsh young people (n=38) aged 17–20 years who were working or unemployed (i.e. not in higher education). In this exploratory study, young people were questioned about their lifestyles and their perceptions of ‘being adult’ in semi-structured interviews lasting about 40 minutes. Results indicated that Arnetts emerging adulthood stage held good for only one subgroup of those interviewed. Other developmental trajectories to adulthood were noted. Further, many claimed to perceive themselves as adult and to be perceived by others as adult. The value of Arnetts stage theory to young people in a European society was discussed in the light of present findings, and an alternative approach was offered.

Differences in agency? How adolescents from 18 countries perceive and cope with their futures

This study investigated how N = 5,126 adolescents (mean age of 15 years) from 18 countries perceive and cope with future- and school-related stress. The adolescents completed the Problem Questionnaire (PQ), which assesses stress, and the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ), which assesses three coping styles (reflection/support-seeking, emotional outlet, and withdrawal/denial). Across countries, adolescents reported considerably higher levels of future-related stress than school-related stress. The adolescents actively coped with stressors in both domains and seldom relied on emotional outlet or withdrawal/denial. A clustering of the countries according to socioeconomic criteria and geographical proximity demonstrated that adolescents from the continental group of countries showed low stress and high coping. Adolescents in the east/Asia group showed medium stress and low coping and those in the south group showed high stress and low coping. Developmental context was more strongly associated with stress perception and coping, style than age or gender, a finding relevant for prevention approaches aiming to endorse positive orientation to the future and improve coping competence.