Parenting and Youth Purpose: Fostering Other-Oriented Aims

Youth purpose is defined as a life aim that is both personally meaningful and contributes to the world beyond the self. This study disaggregated other-oriented (OO) aims (i.e., purpose as defined as a life aim intended to contribute to the world) and self-oriented (SO) aims (i.e., a personally meaningful life aim without intention to contribute beyond the self) to examine the development of youth who evince various combinations of high and low OO and SO aims. In a sample of 207 adolescent girls, hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three clusters: High SO–High OO (“Self and Other-Oriented Aims”), High SO–Low OO (“Self-Oriented Aims”), and High OO–Low SO (“Other-Oriented Aims”). A MANOVA indicated that youth who reported higher levels of parental trust and communication were more likely to have OO purpose (i.e., “Self and Other-Oriented Aims” and “Other-Oriented Aims”) versus primarily SO aims (“Self-Oriented Aims”). The “Self and Other-Oriented Aims” cluster was associated with better psychosocial functioning.

Objective and subjective markers of transition to adulthood in emerging adults: Their mediating role in explaining the link between parental trust and life satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect (via objective and subjective markers of adulthood) relations of parental trust and emerging adults’ life satisfaction in samples of Lithuanian ( N = 399, ages 18–25) and Japanese ( N = 585, ages 18–25) emerging adults. Results revealed that parental trust was associated with emerging adults’ life satisfaction both directly and indirectly via subjective markers of adulthood (i.e., self-perception of oneself as an adult) but not via objective markers of adulthood. Importantly, these associations were largely similar in both countries with a slight variation. These findings underscore the complex and important relations between parental trust and life satisfaction during emerging adulthood.