'Emerging Adulthood' Author Speaking at School of Human Environmental Sciences Lecture

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Jeffrey Arnett, author of 'Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood'

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Author and leading authority on “emerging adulthood” Jeffrey Arnett is visiting the University of Arkansas as a guest lecturer for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science’s School of Human Environmental Sciences.

Arnett is scheduled to visit with students, faculty and staff at 4 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the first-floor auditorium of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on campus. The event is free and also open to the public.

Arnett is a research professor in the psychology department at Clark University and the author of Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. He coined the term “emerging adulthood” to describe the developmental stage from ages 18 to 29. His book was aimed at parents of children in that group with questions such as, will our child ever leave home, find love, start a career, settle down or act like a grown-up?

Despite derogatory portrayals of 20-somethings in movies and television shows, Arnett says “it’s a mystery to me that they are seen as lazy and selfish, that they don’t want to grow, when the fact is that they are more likely to be working and going to school at the same time their parents were at the same age.”

He recently released findings of a poll with emerging adults, showing they gradually transition away from their parents during this age span. The majority claim close relationships with their parents and are optimistic about their adult lives.

His newest book, When Will My Grown-Up Kid Grow Up?, is a parenting guide that says all will be okay and explains why time spent in emerging adulthood, which may feel like flailing to some parents, helps kids become happier, healthier grown-ups. The book is re-titled Getting to 30: A Parent’s Guide to the 20-Something Years in paperback. It offers parents tools to deal with the challenges of emerging adulthood, including setting goals, how to listen more than you talk, how to share household responsibilities, money-management strategies, being available for career advice and 10 things better left unsaid.

Arnett, who is the father of teenage twins, is editor of the Journal of Adolescent Research and recently founded the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (ssea.org).