As adolescents grow up, one of the important developmental tasks is to individuate themselves and to become more autonomous from parents. This requires a realignment of the parent-adolescent communication. The current meta-analytic study aims at identifying developmental changes in parent-adolescent communication, conceptualized within the parental monitoring framework, as entailing parental solicitation, control and knowledge, and adolescent's disclosure and secrecy. Thirty-one longitudinal studies published between 2000 and 2015 were identified and included in the current meta-analysis. Informants, age at assessment and study duration were tested as moderators. Results showed a low to medium normative decline in parental control (Cohen's d =-.395, 95% CI [-.541,-.249]), knowledge (d =-.245,95% CI [-.331,-.160] and adolescence disclosure (d =-.147, 95% CI [-.204,-.090]), and an increase in adolescent's secrecy (d = .194, CI [031, .356]). Parental solicitation decreased based on parents' (d =-0.242, 95% CI[-0.376,-0.109]) but not on adolescents' reports (d = 0.038, 95% CI[-0.099, 0.175]). Another significant moderator was the duration of the study, with studies longer than 2 years being able to detect a more pronounced change in parental control than studies lasting less than 2 years (≤ 2 years, d=-0.139 vs. duration > 2 years, d=-0.581). Limitations of the current knowledge and new direction of studies are discussed.

This study examined emerging adults' personal goals and concerns in the domains of career (including education, work, and financial issues) and romantic relationship. A particular focus was on goal and concern hierarchies, that is, individuals' profiles of goals and concerns. A total of 1,052 Finnish emerging adults (63% female) were followed at ages 20 and 23. Latent class analyses yielded goal and concern profiles that were primarily related to career, whereas romantic relationships were less central in individuals' goal and concern hierarchies. Career and romantic relationship goals and concerns were associated with life status in these domains, especially prioritizing career goals and concerns predicted being in education and/or employment. Our findings suggest that given the diversity of goals and concerns in emerging adulthood, it is crucial to take a holistic approach and investigate the interdependences and prioritizations among different career and romantic relationship goals and concerns.

PurposeThis study focuses on how young adults face the COVID-19 pandemic by investigating their personal concerns about mental well-being, career/studies and economic situation. The authors investigated how young adults' (aged 18–29) personal concerns differ from older people's concerns (aged 30–65) and which person- and context-related antecedents relate to personal concerns.Design/methodology/approachData of Finnish young adults aged 18–29 (n = 222), who participated in the “Corona Consumers” survey (N = 1,000) in April 2020, were analyzed by path analysis and compared to participants aged 30–65 by independent samples t-test.FindingsYoung adults were significantly more concerned about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental well-being, career/studies and economic situation than older people. Females were more concerned about their mental well-being than males. Among youth, lower life satisfaction was related to concerns about mental well-being, and lower satisfaction with financial situation was related to concerns about career/studies and economic situation. Young adults' predisposition to avoid difficult situations was related to more frequent concerns in all domains, whereas generalized trust and education were not.Research limitations/implicationsDue to cross-sectional data, causal COVID-19 interpretations should be made cautiously.Practical implicationsStrong youth policies are needed for youth empowerment, mental health and career advancement in the pandemic aftermath.Originality/valueThe study highlights the inequality of the effects of COVID-19: The pandemic has radically influenced young adults as they exhibit significant personal concerns in age-related life domains.

A key developmental task in young adulthood is acquiring financial capability (Serido, Shim, & Tang, 2013), meaning competent financial management skills and the responsibilities that these involve. This study extends previous research on the theoretical model of the development of financial capability, including financial confidence (or financial self-efficacy) and financial behavior as factors contributing to subjective and financial well-being. It is part of the Finnish Educational Transitions Studies (FinEdu) longitudinal research project. Participants were 418 young adults aged 24–25 at Time 1 and 26–27 at Time 2. Path and mediation models and Structural Equation Modeling following a modified theoretical model of financial capability were estimated. The results support the theoretical model of financial capability among young adults in Finland. The study complements previous research by investigating the associations between subjective financial situation and financial capability and their respective mediation effects over time.