144 Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan
Developmental Stage: Adult Sufficiency or Insufficiency
In 2000, developmental psychologist J. J. Arnett (2000) coined the term “emerg-
ing adulthood” to better define the ambiguous period between adolescence
and adulthood, encompassing roughly ages 18 to 25. Arnett justified this recon-
ceptualization of development by noting how marriage, childbearing, and
career formation had gradually moved to older ages in Western, industrialized
nations as extended education and adolescent dependence had taken hold.
He also observed that this life stage might extend into the late 20s under con-
ditions of persistent economic weakness, hypothesizing that developmental
stages are tied to the economy (Arnett, 2004). By 2007, when the U.S. sub-prime
lending crisis triggered the Great Recession, his term was widely accepted.
Arnett’s (2004) conceptualization included five features that provided
a rationale for why emerging adulthood is a separate life phase, not merely
a transition: identity explorations (continued and broadened from adoles-
cence); instability (multiple moves/jobs); self-focus; feeling in-between; and
anticipating many possibilities. Although these are features of adolescence
and can be found in adulthood, they are most frequent and intense among
those between 18 and their mid to late 20s. Emerging adulthood character-
istics are creeping into the 30s as years of chronically high rates of unem-
ployment and sub-employment among young people (from 2008 through
at least 2015) seem to support Arnett’s hypothesis about the relationship
between development and the economy.Biological Development
Neurobiologists assert that brain maturation is not complete until the
prefrontal cortex is fully integrated and executive functions well established—
a task most believe occurs at approximately age 25. As indicated in the
Tweens/Teens chapter, adolescence is a time of tremendous neurobiological
change as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis evolves, the dopamine
system is sculpted, and pruning and integration of the prefrontal cortex
occurs (Brenhouse & Andersen, 2011; Ernst, Romeo, & Andersen, 2009). This
sets the stage for emerging adulthood as most people complete these pro-
cesses between 18 and 25. This coincides with more white matter production
as myelination occurs in the brain at cortical and subcortical levels and gray
matter is pruned (Sturman & Moghaddam, 2011). Functionally, the brain
becomes integrated to be Flexible, Adaptive, Coherent, Energized, and Stable
(FACES) by the time these changes are completed (Siegel, 2012). These white
and gray matter changes in the brain correspond with the movement from
the emerging adult’s initial search for novelty and intensity, and higher risk
for addictive behaviors and mental health problems, and a calming once the
brain changes are accomplished (Weiland et al., 2014).Psychological Development
Development in emerging adulthood blends the tasks of adolescence and
young adulthood, and represents a discrete phase of life with the primary