Becoming Financially Self-Sufficient: Developing a Need-Supportive and Need-Thwarting Scale for Financial Parenting of Emerging Adults.

The shift in the parent-child relationship during the transition to adulthood presumes that emerging adults progress toward financial self-sufficiency. Research indicates that financial parenting contributes to success in this transition, and these effects extend beyond the financial domain. Nevertheless, there is a lack of theory-based tools to measure relevant financial parenting aspects. By applying the six dimensions of interpersonal behaviors outlined in the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the current study develops a scale targeting the interpersonal style of financial parenting. To validate the scale, it also tests seven preregistered hypotheses predicting internal structure and associations with relevant external variables in a sample of 600 emerging adults (Mage =24.94, SDage = 3.03, range 19-29 years; 52.3% women). The sample, diverse occupational status characteristics, was recruited from an online survey panel using the controlled quota sampling strategy. While study results provide modest evidence for a hypothesized six-factor structure and advocate instead for a more parsimonious two-dimensional one, results provide evidence for the new scale's convergent, discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity. This is the first study that brings SDT into family financial socialization research and opens a new line of research on family financial socialization, achievement of financial self-sufficiency, and emerging adults' wellbeing.

Employment Disruption and Wellbeing Among Young Adults: A Cross-National Study of Perceived Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Young adulthood (18-30 years old) is a crucial period due to its developmental tasks such as career establishment and financial independence. However, young adults' relative lack of resources makes them vulnerable to employment disruptions (job loss and income loss), which may have both immediate and long-term effects on their financial wellbeing and mental health. The economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions resulted in an increase in unemployment and a decrease in income worldwide, especially for young adults. This study examined to what extent and how job loss and income loss due to the pandemic influenced young adults' perception of their present financial wellbeing, future financial wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing by using cross-sectional survey data collected from six countries (China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the United States). Results showed that the impact of income loss and job loss on all three types of wellbeing were mediated by young adults' negative perception of the COVID-19 lockdown restriction (i.e., perceived as a misfortune). Cross-country differences existed in the key variables. The association between employment disruptions, young adults' perception of the COVID-19 lockdown restriction, and wellbeing were equivalent across countries except China. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Profiles of emerging adults' resilience facing the negative impact of COVID-19 across six countries.

Although emerging adults (i.e., individuals aged 18-29 years old) may be at a lesser risk of COVID-19 severe illness and mortality, studies have found that the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being is higher among emerging adults when compared to other age groups. The current study aimed to identify profile(s) based on resilience resources, which could help emerging adults in managing the disruptions to their lives following the pandemic. A cross-national sample of 1,768 emerging adults from China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the US was utilized to identify profiles based on different resilience dimensions (ego-resiliency, positivity, religiosity, socioeconomic status, family support, peer support). Results of the Latent Profile Analysis suggest the presence of four different profiles: no resources, only peer, only family, and well-equipped. The association of these profiles with demographic variables, adulthood markers, self-perceived COVID-19 impact, present well-being, and future life perception was investigated. Implications for resilience theory as well as for future interventions are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03658-y.

Longitudinal Associations of Identity Processing Styles With Prodiversity and Proequality Values in Adolescence.

In adolescence, the formation of personal identity and values may be intertwined, since values are among the main issues considered when building one's identity. This study examined how sociocognitive strategies used in the process of identity formation were related with adoption of prodiversity and proequality values, which are critically important for socially diverse contemporary societies. Participants were 916 adolescents (51.4% females, Mage  = 15.65, SDage  = 0.73 at baseline) involved in a three-wave longitudinal study with annual assessments. The results of cross-lagged analyses suggest that more rational and deliberate processing of self-relevant information is related to stronger adoption of prodiversity and proequality values over time. In turn, endorsement of prodiversity and proequality values is related to more rational and deliberate processing of self-relevant issues.

How does School Experience Relate to Adolescent Identity Formation Over Time? Cross-Lagged Associations between School Engagement, School Burnout and Identity Processing Styles.

The existing research findings still do not provide a clear understanding of the links between adolescent school experience and their identity formation. To address this gap, we analyzed the dynamic links between adolescent school experiences and identity formation by exploring the cross-lagged associations between school engagement, school burnout and identity processing styles (information-oriented, normative and diffuse-avoidant) over a 2-year period during middle-to-late adolescence. The sample of this school-based study included 916 adolescents (51.4% females) in the 9th to 12th grades from diverse socio-economic and family backgrounds. The results from the cross-lagged analyses with three time points revealed that (a) school engagement positively predicted information-oriented identity processing over a 2-year period; (b) school burnout positively predicted the reliance on normative and diffuse-avoidant identity styles across the three measurements; (c) the effects were stable over the three time points and across different gender, grade, and socio-economic status groups. The unidirectional effects identified in our study support the general prediction that active engagement in learning at school can serve as a resource for adolescent identity formation, while school burnout, in contrast, can hinder the formation of adolescent identity. This points to the importance of taking developmental identity-related needs of adolescents into account when planning the school curriculum.

Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire (IBQ) applied to parenting of emerging adults: dimensional structure and criterion validity.

BACKGROUND: The prolonged transitions to adulthood strengthen interest in parenting characteristics that can shape emerging adults' development and progression to full-fledged adulthood. It also strengthens interest in instruments suitable for measuring such parenting characteristics. The current study contributes to this area of research by applying the Interpersonal Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ), to assess parenting behaviors that are pertinent for emerging adults' development and wellbeing, and seeks evidence of its dimensional structure and criterion validity. METHOD: The sample of the study consisted of 600 emerging adults (Mage = 24.94, SDage = 3.03, range 19-29 years; 52.3% women). The dimensionality of IBQ was assessed by testing a sequence of theoretically plausible models representing alternative factor score structures. Criterion validity was investigated by exploring the associations between the IBQ dimensions and basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration, negative affectivity, and thriving. RESULTS: The findings provide evidence of a hypothesized six-factor structure, but advocate for the use of exploratory structural equation as it may more accurately reflect associations between the six dimensions. Findings also provide evidence of criterion validity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that IBQ applied to parenting targets dimensions highly relevant for EAs' flourishing or impoverished functioning. Findings also offer evidence of structure and criterion validity for the IBQ applied to emerging adults' parent behaviors. As such, researchers may find IBQ attractive, as it is relatively concise yet also a holistic measure that captures the behaviors that both support and thwart an emerging adult's need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Findings also shed light on the process of becoming an adult, the shift in parent-child relationships during this process, and emerging adults' wellbeing.

Profiles of Achievement Motivation and Performance in Middle School: Links to Student Background and Perceived Classroom Climate.

Achievement motivation and performance at school are reciprocally related, however, empirical studies report a large variability of findings and, in some cases, weaker than expected associations between these constructs. To further our understanding of the motivation-performance link, we examined typical patterns of motivation and performance and their correlates, in two cohorts of 8th-grade students (N 1 = 998, N 2 = 441). As expected, we identified both concordant and discordant patterns of achievement motivation and performance. In two subgroups, specifically, those characterized by low motivation and low performance (34% of the sample) and those characterized by high motivation and high performance (18% of the sample), the levels of motivation were highly concordant with scores on math and reading tests. In contrast, the other two profiles-weak motivation with elevated performance (38% of all sample) and high motivation with low performance (9% of the sample) had divergent patterns of motivation and performance. The subgroups also differed on student socio-economic background, special educational needs, gender, as well as perceptions of classroom climate. Overall, our findings reveal context-dependent patterns of the relationship between aspects of achievement motivation and performance.

Psychometric Qualities of the Educational Identity Processes Scale (EIPS).

In the educational domain, the development of identity becomes especially salient during school transition phases. To assess the specific identity processes that match the adolescents' experiences before and after the school transition, the Educational Identity Processes Scale (EIPS) was developed. The present study aimed to test the psychometric qualities of the EIPS by examining its factor structure, the internal and convergent validity of the identity dimensions, and whether the questionnaire was measurement invariant over time. The pre-transition version was tested in a Dutch sample (N = 242 early adolescents) and the post-transition version was tested in a Lithuanian sample (N = 1,268 mid-adolescents). Findings indicated good psychometric qualities for both the pre- and post-transition versions of the EIPS. Additionally, context dependencies were observed, as distance to the transition influenced the meaning of specific identity processes and determined whether specific processes could be considered as part of normative development.

How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts.

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches.