A study conducted in Spain found that individuals’ perceptions of adulthood—specifically, how much they believe they have achieved what it takes to be an adult—are associated with their mental health. These perceptions were linked to nearly every index of mental health, particularly those assessing negative emotions. The research was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), adulthood is the stage of life that follows adolescence, typically beginning around age 18, when individuals achieve physical, cognitive, and emotional maturity. During adulthood, people take on various responsibilities, such as maintaining a career, forming long-term relationships, and raising families. This stage is marked by ongoing personal development, including self-identity formation and the pursuit of goals.
While all societies recognize the existence of adulthood, there is considerable debate about what the defining characteristics of an adult are. Cultures differ significantly in their views regarding which traits and behaviors qualify an individual as an adult. These views also vary within each culture, and the concept of adulthood tends to evolve over generations. Initially, milestones such as completing education, starting a career, marrying, or parenting were used as markers of adulthood, but in recent times, this concept has become more ambiguous.
Study author Mediss Tavakkoli and his colleagues aimed to explore the associations between perceptions of adulthood—specifically, what traits and behaviors define adulthood—and various dimensions of mental health. They note that the World Health Organization’s definition of a mentally healthy individual aligns closely with what are usually considered components of successful adulthood, including psychological and emotional well-being, having life skills, and being integrated into society.
The study involved 1,772 individuals recruited from the general population of Spain, 754 of whom were men. The participants’ average age was 40, ranging from 16 to 93. The study authors divided them into four groups based on age, corresponding to different developmental stages of adulthood: emerging adulthood (18–29), established adulthood (30–45), midlife (46–59), and older adulthood (60+ years).
The participants completed assessments of their life milestones using the Hollinghead’s Social Position Index, as well as two assessments of adulthood perceptions: the Markers of Adulthood scale and the Subjective Adult Status scale. They also completed a set of mental health indexes evaluating well-being, life satisfaction, optimism, self-esteem, alexithymia (difficulty identifying and expressing emotions), dark personality traits, general health, social well-being, and symptoms of personality disorders.
The results showed that mental health indicators were associated with markers of adulthood, with stronger associations observed in participants in established adulthood and midlife compared to those in emerging or older adulthood. In the overall sample, the strongest correlations were with optimism, self-esteem, and the absence or lower levels of alexithymia and Machiavellianism (one of the dark personality traits). In other words, individuals who believed they had achieved what is needed to be considered an adult tended to have better mental health.
When the researchers grouped the mental health markers based on their similarity, the results showed that the absence of negative emotions and alexithymia were most strongly associated with the achievement of adulthood markers. Interestingly, there were no associations between mental health indices and how important participants perceived various adulthood indicators to be. On the other hand, subjective adult status—how much one feels like an adult—was associated with better subjective well-being and lower disinhibition.
“The present study supports the association between perceptions of adulthood and mental health, particularly in relation to the risk of experiencing negative emotions. The findings also suggest that psychological aspects of adulthood are key to this association, opening an intriguing framework for the prevention and treatment of mental health issues,” the study authors concluded.
The study provides valuable insights into the relationship between mental health and perceptions of adulthood. However, it should be noted that most of the associations observed in the study were modest in strength.
The paper, “Perceptions of Adulthood and Mental Health,” was authored by Mediss Tavakkoli, Erick Valarezo, and Luis F. García.
