Stability and change in flourishing and languishing from adolescence to young adulthood
V Birgel, J Lemcke, M Rapp, C CohrdesAbstract
Background
Adolescence and the transition to young adulthood are important phases for mental health. While research has mainly focused on symptoms and disorders, less is known about positive mental well-being. Flourishing and languishing may help capture whether young people maintain, gain, or lose well-being over time. This study examined stability and change in well-being profiles and their correlates from adolescence to young adulthood.
Methods
We used data from a national German cohort (JEPSY/KiGGS; N = 2,366) assessed in adolescence (11-17 years, 2014-2017) and young adulthood (18-26 years, 2024). Latent profile analyses identified flourishing and languishing at both waves based on life satisfaction and meaning in life. Hierarchical logistic regression examined flourishing in young adulthood and upward and downward transitions with stepwise adjustment for sociodemographic, psychosocial, health, care, and adversity-related factors.
Results
In adolescence, 16.7% were classified as languishing and 83.3% as flourishing; in young adulthood, 36.2% and 63.8%, respectively. Of those flourishing in adolescence, 32.1% shifted to languishing; of those languishing, 56.7% shifted to flourishing. Baseline flourishing predicted flourishing in young adulthood (OR 3.30, 95% CI 2.31-4.70), but the association attenuated after full adjustment (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.17-2.88). Higher self-efficacy, very good/excellent physical health, access to care, and social resources were consistently linked to favorable outcomes. Most adversity indicators showed little independent association, although social exclusion was linked to poorer outcomes.
Conclusions
Mental well-being across the transition to adulthood showed both continuity and substantial change. Favorable trajectories were linked more strongly to modifiable psychosocial resources and current functioning than to distal adversity alone, highlighting targets for prevention and health promotion during the transition to young adulthood.