The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is marked by intense identity exploration along several dimensions, such as work, love, values, skills, interests and worldviews. This life stage has received particular attention in post-industrial societies where there are greater opportunities to explore educational and career pathways, although the influence of social relationships on young adults is of universal importance. Navigating young adulthood may involve culturally specific challenges, as changes in relationships with peers, family members, employers, and educators may vary widely as a function of ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability, race, and socioeconomic status. Most studies exploring this age range are conducted in developed countries, which can limit our understanding of what it means to be a young adult. Some young adults pursue higher education, which helps them obtain jobs within information-based economies, but other young adults do not have that opportunity and must consider alternative ways of living. In any case, this is a stage of increasing agency and independence in which family support typically decreases, again with variability across cultural groups.
The aim of this Article Collection is to provide an updated perspective about the effects of social relationships on the mental health of young adults. We are keen to receive articles describing the characteristics of young adults and their relationships with partners, family, friends, classmates, employers, or community members. Alongside this, we are also interested in the links between social relationships and psychological distress and wellbeing in young adults, aged up to 30 years old. We look forward to contributions from different countries, describing in-person relationships, as well as relationships through social media, with the aim to present updated research from a range of cultures and contexts.
This Article Collection will contain high-quality articles on a variety of different topics related to the effects of social relationships on the mental health among young adults, including:
- The subjective experience of the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood
- The impact of familial, educational and occupational settings on the mental health of young adults
- Associations between various relationships (e.g., familial, community support, friends) created or continued into young adulthood and their effect on the individual, including relationships based on social media
- Developing and refining culturally sensitive and context dependent support mechanisms to preserve and encourage psychological wellbeing in young adulthood
The following article types will be considered: basic and clinical, as well as epidemiological research, meta-analyses, systematic and scoping reviews, narrative reviews, and commentaries.
When submitting your manuscript, please select the Article Collection, ‘Mental health in young adults: The impact of social relationships’ from the menu in the submission system.
