March, 2003                       

Welcome to the Emerging Adulthood Special Interest Group sponsored by the Society for Research on Adolescence.  The goal of this group is to bring together people who have a common interest in emerging adulthood, which includes roughly ages 18-29.  SRA members who have an interest in any aspect of development during this age period are invited to join us.  There is no charge for membership.  If you are interested in being part of this group, please fill out a simple questionnaire and e-mail to Jennifer Tanner at jennifer.tanner@simmons.edu. 

Since our first meeting at SRA in New Orleans (2002), we have made great progress in developing ways of bringing together scholars interested in emerging adulthood. First, we are very excited to announce the first conference on emerging adulthood to be held this November 3-4, 2003 at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. This conference, sponsored by the American Psychological Association, will host leading scholars on a wide range of topics pertaining to emerging adulthood. In addition to the invited speakers, a poster symposium will provide an opportunity for all scholars with interests in emerging adulthood to present their work. Poster submissions will be due July 1, 2003.  Please check the conference web site for information about registration and travel stipends.

Second, I am pleased to let you know that a review panel (Panel 12) on Late Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood has been added to the list of review panels for the tenth biennial meeting of SRA to be held in Baltimore, Maryland, March 11-March 14, 2004. As noted in the call for papers, submissions are due electronically by June 25, 2003.  Also of note, the SRCD meeting on April 24-27, 2003 in Tampa, FL will include several symposia focusing on emerging adulthood. The inclusion of such presentations in both SRA and SRCD indicates widespread support for scholarly work in this area.

Two articles that focus specifically on emerging adulthood have been published since our last EA SIG update;

Shiner, R. L., Masten, A. S., & Tellegen, A. (2002). A developmental perspective on personality in emerging adulthood: Childhood antecedents and concurrent adaptation. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 83(5), 1165-1177.

Arnett, J. J. & Jensen, L. A. (2002). A congregation of one: Individualized religious beliefs among emerging adults. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17(5), 451-467.

Last, I would like to inform you that I am the new editor of Journal of Adolescent Research, as of October 1, 2002. I look forward to receiving many excellent manuscripts on emerging adulthood! For submission guidelines, see the journal website at www.sagepub.com/journal.aspx?pid=135

I hope you will find this information useful.  We welcome additional ideas for the web site and the group.  Let me know, at arnett@wam.umd.edu.  

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Chair, Emerging Adulthood SIG