Joyce Serido

A robust body of research provides evidence of a strong connection between identity development and age-related functioning. A sense of financial identity may be an important precursor of adult self-sufficiency. For this reason, the study of financial identity (i.e., the answer to the question “Who am I from a financial point of view?”) as a domain-specific component of identity development during the transition to adulthood is a timely and important topic worldwide. In order to properly investigate the financial identity domain, a reliable and valid instrument is needed. The aim of the current study is to test both a variable-centered model and a person-centered model of the 12-item Financial Identity Scale in an international sample of 4,960 emerging adults from ten different countries: Austria, Finland, Hungary, India, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and the United States. The variable-centered model of the Financial Identity Scale suggests that the 12 items measure four latent factors, each corresponding to a different identity status: achievement, foreclosure, diffusion, and moratorium. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this model in seven out of ten countries, and approximate measurement invariance indicated that Financial Identity Scale scores were comparable across these countries. The person-centered model of the Financial Identity Scale suggests that the four statuses of financial identity present three different configurations in the population: pathfinders, followers, and drifters. The latent profile analysis conducted in the current study identified four distinct profiles, the first three of which correspond to those in the original model, and a fourth which was labelled “Indecisive”. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The present study focuses on the role of family support to young adult children during COVID‐19 in ameliorating the negative financial impact of the pandemic. Guided by the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory of stress and coping, we conceptualize the negative financial impact due to COVID‐19 as a source of financial stress that would be associated with lower levels of both financial wellbeing and positive outlook of young adults. We rely on data collected from a multinational sample of young adults (ages 18–30) from six countries (China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, US; N = 2102) over a 3‐month period (July 2020–September 2020). We tested the potential effects of two types of support (i.e., parental financial support and family emotional support) using path analysis. While we find a consistent positive association between family emotional support and both financial wellbeing and positive outlook, we also find a consistent negative association between parental financial support and financial wellbeing, and a nonsignificant or negative association (Lithuania only) with a positive outlook. The significant interaction between COVID‐19 financial impact and family emotional support on young adults' positive outlook reveals that the benefit of family emotional support is more evident when the negative financial impact is low or moderate. We discuss the implications of these findings in assisting young adults to cope with financial disruptions.

In this article, we describe the process we adopted in designing a financial education intervention situated within the cultural and systemic realities of structural racism in Black communities and offer new insights on conducting financial education that addresses healing from ethno-racial trauma. We adopted a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and assembled a Community Led Advisory (CLA) group to discuss how to address social and economic inequalities in teaching financial education. Specifically, we sought to address the psychological consequences of racism, income scarcity, and other forms of economic distress and what it means for people’s lives and their everyday ability to make sound financial decisions. By directly addressing how systemic barriers have hindered the ability to build wealth, we allow individuals to relinquish self-blame/shame about their financial circumstances. Relinquishment of self-blame/shame (which is energy-consuming) facilitates a shift in energy that enables individuals to focus on learning how to make better financial decisions. In addition to the results of the pilot, we include a discussion of the lessons we learned, our suggestions, and next steps for applying the approach for wider use.

The present study tested the Gudmunson and Danes (2011) family financial socialization model (FFSM) using three waves of longitudinal data gathered from a college cohort of emerging adults in the United States. Specifically, we aimed to test the validity of this model in emerging adulthood (Aim 1), to verify whether the effect of the parent's socialization on a child's end financial outcome is mediated by intermediary financial outcomes (Aim 2), and to verify whether the effects found when testing the FFSM are stable across time points (Aim 3). Our findings indicate that of eight paths in the model between family socialization processes and financial socialization outcomes, seven paths were significant, thereby lending support for the validity of FFSM in emerging adulthood (Aim 1). Second, we found no mediation effects of parental financial socialization on emerging adult financial behavior and well-being via the internalization of parents' beliefs, values, and practices (Aim 2). We offer plausible explanations for this result. Last, we verified that the financial socialization processes and their effects are generally invariant across the beginning, the middle, and the end of the emerging adulthood (Aim 3). We interpret our findings in the context of the extant literature on emerging adults' transition to adult independence and provide insights for practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emerging adults face an increasingly complicated financial climate, which necessitates that they possess dynamic financial decision-making skills. With an increased understanding of emerging adults’ financial decision-making processes and what influences their financial decisions, parents, financial counselors, and other individuals can better prepare emerging adults to be financially independent. This qualitative study explored how emerging adults make financial decisions by asking questions about their habits and preferences as well as responding to two hypothetical, financial-related dilemma scenarios. Participants engaged in interactive learning sessions where they were able to share their responses in a group setting. Findings indicated that participants consulted media and their parents the most when they needed advice or additional information to make financial decisions. Based on this study’s findings, it is recommended that financial literacy programs involve emerging adults’ families and leverage the influence of media when teaching financial knowledge and skills.

Young adulthood (18–30 years old) is a crucial period due to its developmental tasks such as career establishment and financial independence. However, young adults’ relative lack of resources makes them vulnerable to employment disruptions (job loss and income loss), which may have both immediate and long-term effects on their financial wellbeing and mental health. The economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions resulted in an increase in unemployment and a decrease in income worldwide, especially for young adults. This study examined to what extent and how job loss and income loss due to the pandemic influenced young adults’ perception of their present financial wellbeing, future financial wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing by using cross-sectional survey data collected from six countries (China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the United States). Results showed that the impact of income loss and job loss on all three types of wellbeing were mediated by young adults’ negative perception of the COVID-19 lockdown restriction (i.e., perceived as a misfortune). Cross-country differences existed in the key variables. The association between employment disruptions, young adults’ perception of the COVID-19 lockdown restriction, and wellbeing were equivalent across countries except China. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Although emerging adults (i.e., individuals aged 18–29 years old) may be at a lesser risk of COVID-19 severe illness and mortality, studies have found that the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being is higher among emerging adults when compared to other age groups. The current study aimed to identify profile(s) based on resilience resources, which could help emerging adults in managing the disruptions to their lives following the pandemic. A cross-national sample of 1,768 emerging adults from China, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and the US was utilized to identify profiles based on different resilience dimensions (ego-resiliency, positivity, religiosity, socioeconomic status, family support, peer support). Results of the Latent Profile Analysis suggest the presence of four different profiles: no resources, only peer, only family, and well-equipped. The association of these profiles with demographic variables, adulthood markers, self-perceived COVID-19 impact, present well-being, and future life perception was investigated. Implications for resilience theory as well as for future interventions are discussed.