Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Resilience and Mental Health of Emerging Adult University Students.

This study explored the relationship between COVID-19 impacts and resilience in emerging adulthood during the final two months of the pandemic. It aimed to examine whether mental health symptoms moderated this relationship. In total, 205 university students completed an online questionnaire survey. Regression analysis was used to examine the prediction of resilience by pandemic-related impacts, and moderation analysis was used to explore the potential moderating effect of mental health on the relationship between impacts and resilience. The findings failed to confirm the hypothesis that total COVID-19 impacts would predict resilience. Rather, resource-type impacts predicted resilience [B = 0.17, p < 0.5]. Significant partial correlations found among resource, financial, and psychological impacts may go some way toward clarifying connections between impacts and resilience [for resource-type impact with financial-type impact, r = 0.48, p < 0.01; for resource-type impact with psychological impact, r = 0.22, p < 0.01]. The results confirmed the hypothesis that mental health symptoms would moderate the relationship between pandemic impacts and resilience [for the overall model, R = 0.41, ΔR2 = 0.16, MSE = 0.76, F (4, 200) = 10.19, p < 0.001; for the interaction between total COVID impacts and resilience, ΔR2 = 0.017, F (1, 200) = 3.98, p < 0.05]. Thus, emerging adult students with low or moderate levels of symptomatology were more resilient, independently of the level of pandemic-related stressors they faced. Those experiencing higher levels of mental health symptoms, in tandem with high levels of pandemic-related impacts, exhibited increasingly higher resilience levels [b = 0.17, 95% CI [0.02, 0.32], t = 2.26, p = 0.025]. These youths may be better equipped to handle severe stress and adversity thanks to skills and resources they possess and are experienced in using. The implications of these findings for each group of young people are discussed for their usefulness in directing future research and interventions to foster resilience during current and future crises and health pandemics.

Intergenerational Social Mobility and Youth Well-Being in the Context of the Greek Socio-Economic Crisis.

Intergenerational social mobility and its associations with youth well-being has scarcely been examined in Greece. This study examines educational and income mobility across generations, its relations with emerging adults' well-being, and the impact of interpersonal and contextual factors on this relationship, such as parental school involvement and the recent severe socio-economic crisis in Greece. 468 female and male University students and graduates completed a questionnaire battery, using two different modes: pen-and-pencil and online. The questionnaire assessed demographics, including information about educational levels for youths, parents and grandparents of both genders, and income (for the former two), flourishing and quality of life, as well as parental involvement, and the impact of the crisis on youths. The results revealed upward educational mobility across three generations. Intergenerational mobility was significantly, and positively associated with youth well-being. Parental involvement mediated the relation between social mobility and flourishing, while the impact of the socio-economic crisis mediated the relationship among mobility, flourishing, and quality of life in emerging adulthood. The implications of these findings on educational, mental health and other types of interventions are discussed. Lastly, the two modes of questionnaire assessment were found to be equivalent, a finding that can facilitate research in other trying times, such as health pandemics.

Criteria for the Transition to Adulthood, Developmental Features of Emerging Adulthood, and Views of the Future Among Greek Studying Youth.

This study investigated emerging adulthood and transition to adulthood in Greece, a highly underresearched issue in this country. Participants were 784 university students aged 17.5-27.5 years. Criteria for the transition to adulthood, developmental features of emerging adulthood, perceived adult status, views of the future (optimism), and sociodemographic variables were assessed. The results support the existence of emerging adulthood as a distinct life period in Greece. More than two thirds of the sample were self-perceived emerging adults. Most prevalent criteria were Norm compliance and Family capacities. Developmental features of emerging adulthood ranked high, especially Identity exploration, Experimentation/possibilities, and Feeling "in-between". Statistically significant variations emerged as a function of gender, age, living arrangement, job experience, and perceived adult status. Views of the future were cautiously optimistic. Similarities with existing data and differences related to the specific characteristics of the Southern European context are discussed.