The Role of Parents in Emerging Adults’ Psychological Well‐Being: A Person‐Oriented Approach

• Published date: 01 December 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12388
• Author: Águeda Parra Jiménez,Inmaculada Sánchez Queija,María Del Carmen García Mendoza
• Date: 01 December 2019

The Role of Parents in Emerging Adults’

Psychological Well-Being: A Person-Oriented

Approach

MARI

´A DEL CARMEN GARC



IA MENDOZA*

INMACULADA S



ANCHEZ QUEIJA*



AGUEDA PARRA JIM



ENEZ*

The purpose of this study was to gain an overview of Spanish emerging adults’ family

relationships and their link with psychological well-being and psychological distress. The

sample comprised 1502 undergraduate students (903 women and 599 men) aged between

18 and 29 (M=20.32 and SD =2.13), recruited from two universities in Spain. A cluster

analysis identified three groups of families based on the centrality of five family variables:

parental involvement, parental support for autonomy, parental warmth, behavioral con-

trol, and psychological control. The three groups or clusters were labeled high-quality fam-

ily relationships (HQ), intermediate-quality family relationships (IQ), and low-quality

family relationships (LQ). Women were overrepresented in the HQ cluster, whereas men

were overrepresented in the IQ cluster. Moreover, emerging adults who perceived better

family relationships (high levels of parental involvement, parental support for autonomy

and parental warmth, and low levels of behavioral and psychological control) were found

to have a higher level of psychological adjustment. Thus, our results indic ate that family

plays a key role in the psychological well-being of emerging adults. The discussion focuses

on the implications of this finding for the parent-child relationship, and explores how it

extends our knowledge about family relationships during emerging adulthood.

Keywords: Emerging Adulthood; Fa mily Relationships; Psychological Well-Being

Fam Proc 58:954–971, 2019

Over the past few decades, a reconceptualization of the transition from adolescence to

adulthood has given rise to a new life stage known as emerging adulthood, which

encompasses the years from 18 to 30 (Arnett, 2014). The development and characteristics

of this life stage are different from both adolescence and adulthood (Arnett, 2007, 2010).

While emerging adults no longer see themselves as adolescents, neither do they consider

themselves fully-fledged adults; indeed, the majority have not yet achieved the distinctive

roles characterizing this stage, namely stability in love and work (Arnett, 2004, 2006). As

a result of this instability, emerging adults tend to remain in their family home, a situa-

tion which is particularly common in Southern European countries. Despite this, however,

*Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Inmaculada S

anchez Queija, Department

of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Calle Camilo Jos

e Cela s/n, 41018,

Sevilla, Spain. E-mail: queija@us.es

This work was supported by a grant from Ministerio de Econom

ıa y Competitividad (the Spanish

Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, EDU2013-45687-R), and was approved by the Coordinating

Committee for the Ethics of Biomedical Research in Andalusia (Spain).

954

Family Process, Vol. 58, No. 4, 2019 ©2018 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12388

few studies have focused on family functioning during emerging adulthood, or on the role

played by family relationships in emerging adults’ well-being in Spain.

EMERGING ADULTHOOD IN A SOUTHERN EUROPEAN COUNTRY

Like other Western societies, Southern European countries have undergone many polit-

ical, socioeconomic, and cultural changes since the Technological Revolution . As a result,

young people’s lives have changed considerably (Crocetti & Meeus, 2014; Rodr

ıguez &

Rodrigo, 2011). One of the most relevant changes is the progressive deferral of transition

into adult roles, such as living independently, entering the labor market, getting married,

and becoming a parent (Aassve, Arpino, & Billari, 2013). However, this transition into

adult roles differs from country to country. For example, in the United States and North-

ern European countries, young people usually leave the family home in their early twen-

ties (Le Blanc & Wolff, 2006). In Southern European countries such as Italy, Portugal,

Greece, and Spain, on the other hand, a very high percentage of emerging adults do not

leave home until a much later age (Le

on & Migliavacca, 2013; Oinonen, 2010).

Overall, in Southern European countries, transition to adulthood occurs within the

family context (Crocetti & Meeus, 2014), which itself is based on strong family bonds (Giu-

liano, 2007). The importance of family in these countries is rooted in a number of different

factors: first, high unemployment rates and job insecurity, particularly among the youth

population, which makes it very difficult for many young people to find a job that enables

them to live independently; second, insufficient social policies, which obliges families to

assume financial responsibility for their adult children (OECD, 2013); and third, a

strongly Catholic tradition which fosters the forging of close family ties (Gal, 2010; Moreno

& Mar

ı-Klose, 2013). Indeed, Vogel (2002) talks of “family welfare regimes” when describ-

ing the countries of Southern Europe, which are characterized by low employment and

social expenditure, strong, traditional families, and higher poverty rates and income

inequality. Thus, unlike in other European countries and the United States, in Southern

Europe the family acts as the main provider of care and security not just during infancy

and adolescence, but also during emerging adulthood (Bosch, 2015; Moreno & Mar

ı-Klose,

2013).

Spain is a typical example of such “family welfare regimes” and the influence of this

situation is clearly evident in the transition to adulthood, with almost eight out of ten

young people aged between 16 and 29 (or in other words, around 79% of the entire youth

population) still living with their parents (Consejo de la juventud de Espa~

na, 2016), and

31.5% of young people aged between 18 and 24 being university students (MEDM, 2016).

Moreover, 39.4% of men and 39.2% of women between the ages of 20 and 24 are

unemployed (INE, 2016), and the average age for getting married for the first time is

32.6 years for women and 34.8 years for men (INE, 2016).

THE FAMILY SYSTEM DURING EMERGING ADULTHOOD

For many young people, changes in the transition to adulthood also include changes in

their relationship with their parents (Lefkowitz, 2005). Since the family is a complex,

dynamic system, different changes in family patterns have been observed during this time

period, as those involved strive to establish a new balance in their relationships (Fosco,

Caruthers, & Dishion, 2012; Parra, Oliva, & Reina, 2013).

Against this background, several studies have suggested that emerging adults are, to a

large extent, socially supported by their parents (Lee & Goldstein, 2016). Emerging adults

have been reported to perceive an average level of parent warmth (Gomez & McLaren,

2006) and intense parental involvement (Duchesne, Ratelle, Larose, & Guay, 2007). In

Fam. Proc., Vol. 58, December, 2019

GARC



IA MENDOZA, S



ANCHEZ QUEIJA, & PARRA JIM



ENEZ

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