Competent in Work and Love? Emerging Adults’ Trajectories in Dealing With Work–Partnership Conflicts and Links to Health Functioning

Abstract

In a 3-year longitudinal study on 989 emerging adults, we assessed self-efficacy in dealing with work-family conflicts and different indices of work and relationships characteristics (e.g., satisfaction, commitment, and stress). In addition, we assessed different indices of health functioning (e.g., sick days, body complaints, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and well-being). Latent class growth analyses revealed three different trajectories of competence with work-to-partnership conflicts over time that were related to work, romantic relationships, and health. Emerging adults in the high stable group (characterized by high levels of selfefficacy in dealing with conflicts in work and partnerships) remained in considerably better health than those in the other two groups. Emerging adults following the moderate increasing and the low increasing trajectories (e.g., with increasing competencies, starting from moderate and low mean levels in self-efficacy in dealing with work-partnership conflicts), experienced a stable commitment with their partners but more partnership-work conflicts over time. Their job satisfaction also increased over time.Overall health improved in those following the low increasing trajectory but remained considerably lower than in the other two groups. Results are interpreted with respect to the challenges but also the costs of efforts involved in adapting to the difficult transitions in the domains of love and work.

Finding a Meaningful Life as a Developmental Task in Emerging Adulthood

“…Finally, in line with our fourth postulate, despite some connections between the two domains, Israeli, German, and Argentinean studies all suggest that young people might treat work and romantic experiences as different domains where life meaning can be found and constructed and do not necessarily perceive them as connected (Facio & Resett, 2014;Seiffge-Krenke & Luyckx, 2014;Shulman, Laursen, & Dickson, 2014). This does not mean that emerging adults are either in a relationship or working.…”

Emerging Adults’ Psychopathology in Seven Countries: The Impact of Identity-Related Risk Factors

“…Compared to earlier decades, current life conditions in most Western industrialized countries are characterized by new career options but also by greater uncertainty in career planning (Arnett, 2002; Schoon & Silbereisen, 2009). Although such societal changes may be perceived as identity challenges in the positive sense, they may impair identity formation and lead to more identity conflicts and extended exploration in the field of love and work (Bynner, 2002; Schwartz, 2012; Seiffge-Krenke & Luyckxs, 2014). Emerging adults in other parts of the world may be experiencing political unrest, facing unclear future options, or living in poverty (Larson, 2011; Tiede Call et al, 2002).…”

Gendered pathways to young adult symptomatology

“…We found no published German studies to date that examine the long-term impact of support and coping on adaptation in emerging adulthood. Similar to North American emerging adults, young Germans also have difficulties in balancing often conflicting challenges and demands (Seiffge-Krenke & Luyckx, 2014; Luyckx, Seiffge-Krenke, Schwartz, Crocetti, & Klimstra, 2014), and they experience this period as quite stressful (Seiffge-Krenke, 2015). German nationwide surveys have shown increases from adolescence in prevalence rates of overall symptomatology between the ages of 18 to 30 in which these challenges are mirrored (Lambert et al, 2013).…”