Young adult
In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of the term; generally, the term is often used to refer to adults in approximately the age range of 18 to 45 years. Some inclusive definitions extend the range into the early to mid 40s, while others end earlier.
The young adult phase is typically defined as lasting from around the age of 18 to 25. The brain also finishes its development during this period, transitioning into full adulthood.
The United States Census Bureau, for instance, defines young adults as those between the ages of 18 and 34. Over 65 million Americans born approximately from 1991 to 2008, would likely fall under this category. The young adult stage in human development precedes middle adulthood.
The phrase "young adult" is frequently used to market young adult novels to readers in the literary industry of young adult literature. These are books targeted at children down to ages 13 or 14. This broad extension of young adult to minors has been disputed, as they are not considered adults by the law or in most cultures, outside of religion, and the tradition of biological adulthood beginning at puberty has become archaic.
This period imposes many challenges in the health and well being, as well as psychological development of humans.
Young adults tend to have a lower voter turnout than people of middle age or old age.
Time co-ordinates
For a variety of reasons, timelines on young adulthood cannot be exactly defined—producing different results according to the different mix of overlapping indices employed, or on whether a developmental perspective... the socialization perspective is taken. 'Sub-phases in this timetable of psycho-social growth patterns... are not rigid, and both social change and individual variations must be taken into account'—not to mention regional and cultural differences. Arguably indeed, with people living longer, and also reaching puberty earlier, 'age norms for major life events have become highly elastic' by the twenty-first century. Due to generational changes, the pathway for young adults to fulfill their adult responsibilities has become less predictable. With growing changes in college education costs, living arrangements, and work and education opportunities, young adults are experiencing various life transitions in many stages of adulthood rather than one stage itself.Some have suggested that after Pre-adulthood... in the first 20 years or so... the second era, Early Adulthood, lasts from about age 16/17 to 45... the adult era of greatest energy and abundance and of greatest contradiction and stress.' Within that framework, 'the Early Adult Transition is a developmental bridge between pre-adulthood and early adulthood', recognizing that 'the transition into adulthood is not a clear-cut dividing line'. One might alternatively speak of 'a Provisional Adulthood ... the initiation to First Adulthood' as following that. Alternatively, MIT has generally defined "young adulthood" as 18 to 22 or 18 to 25, although this is likely to align with the typical age range of college students.
Despite all such fluidity, there is broad agreement that it is essentially the twenties and thirties that constitute Early adulthood... the basis for what Levinson calls the Dream—a vision of his goals in life which provide motivation and enthusiasm for the future.'
Health
Young/prime adulthood can be considered the healthiest time of life and young adults are generally in good health, subject neither to disease nor the problems of senescence. Strength and physical performance reach their peak from 18 to 46 years of age. Flexibility may decrease with age throughout adulthood.As teens transition into young adulthood, engagement in risky behavior may be noticeable, which may result in health risks such as "unintended injury, unprotected sex, violence, binge drinking, motor vehicle incidents, suicide, and poor diet and nutrition." 75% of deaths during the young adult years are due to risky behavior or mental health crises leading to suicide. In developed countries, mortality rates for the 18–45 age group are typically very low. Men are more likely to die at this age than women, particularly in the 18–25 group: reasons include car accidents and suicide. Mortality statistics among men and women level off during the late twenties and thirties, due in part to good health and less risk-taking behavior.
There has been an increase in the presence of mental illness among young adults globally. This increase has been linked to factors such as diet and exercise. Those dealing with the effects of mental illness are more likely to indulge in food that lacks nutrients and is high in sugar, salt, and fats. Mental illnesses and risk taking behaviors correlate to the transition between the teen years and adulthood.
Regarding disease, cancer is much less common in young than in older adults. Exceptions are testicular cancer, cervical cancer, and Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS has hit the early adult population particularly hard. According to a United Nations report, AIDS has significantly increased mortality between ages 20 to 55 for African males and 20 to 45 for African females, reducing the life expectancy in South Africa by 18 years and in Botswana by 34 years.
Theory
Erik Erikson's theories of early adulthood
According to Erik Erikson, in the wake of the adolescent emphasis upon identity formation, 'the young adult, emerging from the search for and insistence on identity, is eager and willing to fuse their identity with that of others. He is ready for intimacy, that is, the capacity to commit... to concrete affiliations and partnerships.' To do so means the ability 'to face the fear of ego loss in situations which call for self-abandon: in the solidarity of close affiliations, in orgasms and sexual unions, in close friendships and in physical combat'. Avoidance of such experiences 'because of a fear of ego-loss may lead to a deep sense of isolation and consequent self-absorption'.Where isolation is avoided, the young adult may find instead that 'satisfactory sex relations... in some way take the edge off the hostilities and potential rages caused by the oppositeness of male and female, of fact and fancy, of love and hate'; and may grow into the ability to exchange intimacy, love, and compassion.
In modern societies, young adults in their late teens and early 20s encounter a number of issues as they finish school and begin to hold full-time jobs and take on other responsibilities of adulthood; and 'the young adult is usually preoccupied with self-growth in the context of society and relationships with others.' The danger is that in 'the second era, Early Adulthood... we must make crucially important choices regarding marriage, family, work, and lifestyle before we have the maturity or life experience to choose wisely.'
While 'young adulthood is filled with avid quests for intimate relationships and other major commitments involving career and life goals', there is also "a parallel pursuit for the formulation of a set of moral values". Erikson has argued that it is only now that what he calls the 'ideological mind' of adolescence gives way to 'that ethical sense which is the mark of the adult.'
Reaching adulthood in modern society is not always a linear or clean transition. As generations continue to adapt, new markers of adulthood are created that add different social expectations of what it means to be an adult.