Life Transition for the Emerging Adults and Their Mental Health

Abstract

Emerging adults have been conceptualized as a developmental stage which is full of uncertainty and ambiguity. And the mental health issues among this group of emerging adults are worrying as there was a prevalence of depression found from this group of young people in Malaysia. This study aims to investigate a group of emerging adults who have gone through depression to understand their experience going through depression. A snowball sampling method was employed and in-depth interviews were conducted with eight research participants aged 18-24 who suffered from depression but were on their way of recovery. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was carried out for data analysis. The triggering events were inability to cope with transition from high schools to universities or transition from being single to having intimate relationships, and also issue like loved one being diagnosed as having cancer. The findings reveal challenges faced during this transitional stage especially experience of rejection. The recovery stage involves reflection, supports from the psychosocial context and religious guidance. This research highlights the vulnerability of transitional stage of emerging adults in highly industrialized or post-industrialized countries. Index Terms-Emerging adults, mental health, depression, life transition, Malaysian youth.