Emerging Adults’ Self-Efficacy as a Resource for Coping With the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting emerging adults during a crucial developmental period, which may have long-lasting effects on their developmental task progression and psychosocial adjustment. Because self-efficacy is a well-researched psychological resource to deal with substantial challenges, the present study examined the link between emerging adults’ life- and domain-specific satisfaction during the pandemic and self-efficacy before the pandemic. Drawing on a sample of 377 German emerging adults (56.5% female), we found that self-efficacy prior to the pandemic was not associated with life or domain-specific satisfaction during the pandemic. However, results revealed that associations between domain-specific satisfaction during the pandemic and self-efficacy varied by educational attainment. Results are discussed in light of specific circumstances related to the progression of the pandemic in Germany, possible non-response bias, as well as implications for social policy and future research.