Established adulthood: A new conception of ages 30 to 45.

Abstract

In developed countries, the years from Age 30 to 45 are, for many, the most intense, demanding, and rewarding years of adult life. During this period of the life span most adults must negotiate the intersecting demands of progressing in a chosen career, maintaining an intimate partnership, and caring for children. Successes or difficulties in meeting these simultaneous demands have the potential to profoundly influence the direction of a person's adult life. As such, we believe that it is of critical importance to better understand this developmental period that we call established adulthood. This article provides a new theoretical conceptualization of established adulthood, outlining its distinctiveness from emerging adulthood and midlife in terms of physical health, well-being, cognitive development, and the career-and-care-crunch of competing work and family responsibilities. We also consider variations in the timing and experience of established adulthood, including variations by gender and social class, and provide suggestions for future research. As economic and social arrangements continue to evolve, so too will this developmental period, providing fertile ground for developmental theory and research. Public Significance Statement This article provides a new theoretical conceptualization of established adulthood, the period from 30-45. The article distinguishes established adulthood from emerging adulthood and midlife in terms of physical health, well-being, cognitive development, and the career-and-care-crunch of competing work and family responsibilities. Because successes or difficulties in handling the intensity of the intersection of work and family demands have the potential to profoundly influence the direction of a person's adult life, a better understanding of this developmental period may promote policy, programs, or therapeutic interventions to support established adults as they navigate what may be one of the most intense and demanding periods of the life span.

Age differences in cognitive–affective processes in adults with chronic pain

“…Adults were stratified into the following age groups: young adulthood (Group 1: ages 18-39; M age = 30.72, SD = 6.05, N = 854, middle adulthood (Group 2: ages 40-64; M age = 50.6, SD = 6.5, N = 1,848) and older adulthood (Group 3: ages 65-75; M age = 70.6, SD = 5.05, N = 250). We selected these age groupings based on a priori, developmental life stage considerations that have been underscored as important in recent research (Mehta et al, 2020); although there is no 'validated' age cutoff, the age groupings chosen in our study are generally accepted within the developmental literature as they coincide with social and psychological resource changes as well as biological changes in adult development (Robert & Feldman, 2019). Specifically, young adulthood (ages 18-39) is generally characterized by transitioning to a committed romantic partnership (and typically marriage), new parenthood, building a career while balancing multiple professional and family roles, and overall good physical health (Mehta et al, 2020;Robert & Feldman, 2019).…”

“…We selected these age groupings based on a priori, developmental life stage considerations that have been underscored as important in recent research (Mehta et al, 2020); although there is no 'validated' age cutoff, the age groupings chosen in our study are generally accepted within the developmental literature as they coincide with social and psychological resource changes as well as biological changes in adult development (Robert & Feldman, 2019). Specifically, young adulthood (ages 18-39) is generally characterized by transitioning to a committed romantic partnership (and typically marriage), new parenthood, building a career while balancing multiple professional and family roles, and overall good physical health (Mehta et al, 2020;Robert & Feldman, 2019). By middle adulthood (ages 40-64), individuals often acquire career expertise and reach occupational and economic stability, launch their adult children into independence, care for their aging parents and experience gradual decrements in physical health (e.g.…”

“…Risk and resilience-focused cognitive-affective processes-including pain catastrophizing, acceptance and self-efficacy-have gained strong empirical support for their role in adjustment to chronic pain (Edwards et al, 2016;Sturgeon & Zautra, 2010). However, few studies have sought to understand whether the expression and impact of cognitive-affective processes related to pain differ according to developmental age, commonly defined by lifespan developmentalists as young adulthood (ages 18-39), middle adulthood (ages 40-64) and older adulthood (ages 65; Mehta et al, 2020;Robert & Feldman, 2019). Pain research has generally focused on the 'average' adult age group (i.e.…”

The winding roads to adulthood: a twin study

“…However, this study also found that change across the two-year period was significantly heritable (15% on average), suggesting that genetic influences change even during this two-year period in the early years of emerging adulthood. It remains to be seen whether the heritability of EA traits increases as the sample fully emerges into what has been called established adulthood (Mehta, Arnett, Palmer, & Nelson, 2020). The importance of non-shared environment in emerging adulthood is clear: it accounted for 82% of the variance on average for change across the two-year period.…”

Creativity in Adulthood

“…There are also more recent arguments to consider the period between the ages of 30 and 45 as established adulthood (Mehta et al, 2020): a stage of special importance not only for the three vital developmental challenges of adulthood: work, relationships, and parenthood, but also for creativity (see Mehta et al, 2020).…”