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Salient and emerging developmental tasks in the transition to adulthood
Glenn I Roisman1, Ann S Masten, J Douglas Coatsworth
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 61820, USA. roisman@uiuc.edu
Child Development
|March 16, 2004
Summary
Developmental tasks in adolescence, like friendship and academics, predict adult success. Emerging tasks such as work and romance show less long-term impact, highlighting changing life priorities.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Adult Development
- Life Course Studies
Background:
- Understanding the long-term impact of developmental tasks is crucial for predicting adult adaptation.
- Previous research has focused on early developmental stages, with less emphasis on the transition into adulthood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the predictive relationship between salient and emerging developmental tasks around age 20 and adult adaptation 10 years later.
- To examine the changing salience of developmental tasks throughout the life course.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design tracking a normative sample of 205 children into adulthood.
- Analysis of predictive links from friendship, academic, and conduct tasks (salient) and work and romantic tasks (emerging).
Main Results:
- Salient developmental tasks significantly predicted adult success.
- Emerging developmental domains demonstrated limited long-term predictive significance.
- Evidence supports a life course perspective of waxing and waning task salience.
Conclusions:
- Early established developmental tasks are key predictors of adult adaptation.
- The predictive power of developmental tasks evolves over the life course.
- Future adaptation is influenced by the dynamic nature of developmental task organization and salience.