Paths to success in young adulthood from mental health and life transitions in emerging adulthood

Abstract

This study followed a school-based sample (N = 920) to explore how trajectories of depressive symptoms and expressed anger from age 18 to 25, along with important life transitions, predicted life and career satisfaction at age 32. A two-group (women and men) bivariate growth model revealed that higher depressive symptoms at age 18 predicted lower life satisfaction in men and women, and lower career satisfaction in women. Slower declines across emerging adulthood in women’s depressive symptoms predicted lower life satisfaction, but slower declines in women’s expressed anger predicted higher career satisfaction. Marital and employment-related transitions were differentially related to men’s and women’s life and career satisfaction. Paths to success in young adulthood are diverse and gendered.