Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

A Majority of Young Adults in the U.S. Live with Their Parents for the First Time Since the Great Depression

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Pew Research Center.

The coronavirus outbreak has pushed millions of Americans, especially young adults, to move in with family members. The share of 18- to 29-year-olds living with their parents has become a majority since U.S. coronavirus cases began spreading early this year, surpassing the previous peak during the Great Depression era.

In July, 52% of young adults resided with one or both of their parents, up from 47% in February, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of monthly Census Bureau data. The number living with parents grew to 26.6 million, an increase of 2.6 million from February. The number and share of young adults living with their parents grew across the board for all major racial and ethnic groups, men and women, and metropolitan and rural residents, as well as in all four main census regions. Growth was sharpest for the youngest adults (ages 18 to 24) and for White young adults.

The share of young adults living with their parents is higher than in any previous measurement (based on current surveys and decennial censuses). Before 2020, the highest measured value was in the 1940 census at the end of the Great Depression, when 48% of young adults lived with their parents. The peak may have been higher during the worst of the Great Depression in the 1930s, but there is no data for that period.

Among all adults who moved due to the pandemic, 23% said the most important reason was because their college campus had closed, and 18% said it was due to job loss or other financial reasons.

Source: Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-live-with-their-parents-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-depression/

Looks Like Guys Are More Prone to Pack on the 'Freshman 15'

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

When a high school senior becomes a university freshman, change is the name of the game. A new school. New friendships. Even new ways of eating.

As healthy, home-cooked meals give way to a campus diet of beer and pizza, student waistlines tend to expand. But new research shows it is the waistlines of boys that expand the most.

"Males and females display different patterns of body weight and body composition changes during first-year university," explained study author Andrea Josse.

How different? Poll results revealed that girls gained an average of about 4 pounds during their first year at university, said Josse, an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University in Toronto.

But among the male first-year students, weight gains roughly doubled that, hitting an average of about 8 pounds, she said.

Freshman boys also saw bigger increases in terms of waist size and overall fat mass than girls, Josse added.

And while boys also packed on more lean body mass than girls during their first year at college, in the end they were more likely to end up becoming overweight than girls, the researchers found.

Why? Josse pointed to changing alcohol habits as a possible culprit, noting that while drinking went up across the spectrum, it went up more among boys.

Male students "displayed greater reductions in vegetable intake and greater increases in donuts/cakes, fried chicken, beer and liquor, compared to females," said Josse.

The study included 301 first-year students (229 females and 72 males), aged 17 to 20, who completed the freshman diet survey. Nearly three-quarters lived in a campus residence, while roughly one-quarter lived at home.

Two polls were conducted -- one between 2014 and 2015, and one between 2015 and 2016. Each poll was administered at the start of the first year and again towards the end.

All participants underwent body composition testing to assess overall body weight, body fat percentage and lean body mass.

The investigators found that total caloric intake did not change much over the course of the students' first year at school.

However, food quality did decline, while alcohol consumption increased, particularly among boys.

And while boys and girls both gained weight, male waistlines expanded much more.

For example, freshman girls saw their body mass index (BMI) -- a standard measurement of body fat -- rise on average from 22.6 to 23.3. That still kept most girls "within the normal weight category," said Josse.

In contrast, freshman males saw their BMI rise from 23.9 to 25.1. That change ended up "putting them into the 'overweight' category," particularly given that the students did not experience height changes over the course of the year, she explained.

The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/looks-like-guys-are-more-prone-to-pack-on-the-freshman-15-748049.html

Almost Half of Practicing Christian Millennials Say Evangelism Is Wrong

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Barna.com.

Sharing one’s faith—evangelizing—is a core practice among many religions. For Christians, it’s viewed as a mandate from Jesus himself before he departed earth: commanding his disciples to “spread the good news.” Yet, today, a number of factors are curbing many Christians’ enthusiasm for faith-sharing, including the decline of religion in America, a spreading apathy toward spiritual matters and a growing cultural suspicion of people of faith.

It is against this backdrop that Barna is releasing Reviving Evangelism, a new report based on research commissioned by Alpha USA. This study looks at the faith-sharing experiences and expectations of Christians and non-Christians alike. Among the major findings in this report is the revelation that Christian Millennials feel especially conflicted about evangelism—and, in fact, almost half believe it is wrong to share their faith.

Almost all practicing Christians believe that part of their faith means being a witness about Jesus (ranging from 95% to 97% among all generational groups), and that the best thing that could ever happen to someone is for them to know Jesus (94% to 97%). Millennials in particular feel equipped to share their faith with others. For instance, almost three-quarters say they know how to respond when someone raises questions about faith (73%), and that they are gifted at sharing their faith with other people (73%). This is higher than any other generational group: Gen X (66%), Boomers (59%) and Elders (56%).

Despite this, many Millennials are unsure about the actual practice of evangelism. Almost half of Millennials (47%) agree at least somewhat that it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. This is compared to a little over one-quarter of Gen X (27%), and one in five Boomers (19%) and Elders (20%). (Though Gen Z teens were not included in this study, their thoroughly post-Christian posture will likely amplify this stance toward evangelism.)

Younger Christians tend to be more personallyaware of the cultural temperature around spiritual conversations. Among practicing Christians, Millennials report an average (median) of four close friends or family members who practice a faith other than Christianity; most of their Boomer parents and grandparents, by comparison, have just one. Sharing the gospel today is made harder than at any time in recent memory by an overall cultural resistance to conversations that highlight people’s differences.

Read the entire free research sample by clicking the source link below.

Source: Barna.com
https://www.barna.com/research/millennials-oppose-evangelism/

Millennials' Odds for Depression Rise With Social Media Use

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Millennials struggling with depression aren't being helped by their use of Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, a new study reports.

College students who meet the criteria for major depressive disorder tend to use social media more often and are more heavily addicted to social media, researchers found.

They're also more likely to use social media in ways that exacerbate or highlight their depression, the study said.

For example, depressed young adults are more likely to compare themselves on social media to people who appear better off than them, said first author Anthony Robinson. He's a research assistant in the psychology department at Texas State University.

Folks who post to Facebook or Instagram take pains to portray themselves in a flattering light, Robinson said.

"If people are making comparisons based on this inflated image that's being presented, it can cause feelings of inferiority," Robinson said.

Depressed young adults were also more likely to be bothered if tagged in an unflattering picture, less likely to post pictures of themselves with other people, and more likely to self-censor what they posted to avoid the judgment of others, results showed.

For the study, Robinson and his colleagues asked 504 undergraduates at Texas State to complete an online survey. The survey assessed their social media use and asked a variety of psychological questions.

Those with symptoms of depression reported behaviors like excessive sleeping, feelings of hopelessness and guilt, or a loss of pleasure in activities they used to enjoy, Robinson said.

About 16 percent of the students met the criteria for major depressive disorder, which Robinson said was an "extremely high" proportion.

Major depressive disorder affects nearly 7 percent of Americans 18 and older in any given year, according to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. Young adults 18 to 25 are the age group most likely to have had a major depressive episode in 2016, around 11 percent.

The no-holds-barred, say-anything-without-consequences nature of social media could contribute to people feeling bad about themselves, Robinson said.

"If you're spending more time on these platforms and you're being trolled or cyberbullied, it's going to have a negative effect on your psychological well-being," Robinson said.

But because this was an observational study, the researchers can't say in what direction the association between depression and social media works, noted Joseph McGuire, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. He was not involved with the study.

"Is it that people who tend to be on social media more then start to feel depressed, or is it that the people who are more depressed are more withdrawn and this is their only social contact?" McGuire asked.

The new study was published in the Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/depression-news-176/millennials-odds-for-depression-rise-with-social-media-use-741406.html

Teen Churchgoers Often Stop Attending as Young Adults

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Two-thirds of American Christian teenagers who regularly attend worship at a Protestant congregation for at least a year quit going for at least a year when they become young adults.

According to a report by LifeWay Research titled “Most Teenagers Drop Out of Church as Young Adults,” 66 percent of young adults who attended a Protestant church regularly for at least a year as a teenager dropped out for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22.

The major reasons respondents gave included “moving to college” (34 percent), “church members seeming judgmental or hypocritical” (32 percent), “no longer feeling connected to people in their church” (29 percent), disagreement with their “church’s stance on political or social issues” (25 percent), and employment obligations (24 percent).

The report drew from data collected from a survey done Sept. 15 – Oct. 13 of last year of 2,002 respondents who attended Protestant churches, with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

The 2017 numbers were a slight improvement compared to 2007, when 70 percent of respondents reported leaving for at least a year between ages 18 and 22.

Alex McFarland, national talk show host and author who has hosted dozens of “Truth for a New Generation” apologetics conferences, told The Christian Post that he believed the LifeWay study was “accurate” and attributed the numbers ultimately to “issues of worldview.”

“If they are taught the biblical worldview and the responsibility of every Christian to be a steward of their life and their influence and be a part of a church, really all of those things could ultimately be dealt with,” said McFarland, who encouraged “teaching a more cohesive, consistently proclaimed biblical worldview.”

Regarding the 25 percent of respondents who reported leaving over their church’s views on social and political issues, McFarland told CP that this should not lead a church to “abdicate its roll to be a voice for righteousness within the culture.”

Source: The Christian Post
https://www.christianpost.com/news/teens-who-attend-church-often-stop-going-as-young-adults-lifeway-study-finds.html

One in Three College Freshmen Face Mental Health Woes

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

More than one in three first-year college students around the world struggle with a mental health disorder, new research suggests.

"The number of students who need treatment for these disorders far exceeds the resources of most counseling centers, resulting in a substantial unmet need," said study author Randy Auerbach, of Columbia University in New York City.

"Colleges must take a greater urgency in addressing this issue," he said in a news release from the American Psychological Association.

In the study, researchers analyzed data collected on nearly 14,000 students from 19 colleges in eight countries -- Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain and the United States.

The students answered questions designed to assess their mental health and identify common disorders, such as major depression, anxiety disorder and panic disorder.

The study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, showed that 35 percent of first-year college students experienced symptoms consistent with at least one mental health issue.

Major depressive disorder was the most common condition among the students, but many were also affected by generalized anxiety disorder.

"The finding that one-third of students from multiple countries screened positive for at least one of six mental health disorders represents a key global mental health issue," Auerbach said.

Auerbach's team said previous research has also found that only about 15 percent to 20 percent of college students seek help at their school's counseling center, which may already be struggling to meet rising demand for services. So the study authors suggest that students go online to look for help, such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

"University systems are currently working at capacity and counseling centers tend to be cyclical, with students ramping up service use toward the middle of the semester, which often creates a bottleneck," Auerbach explained.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/depression-news-176/1-in-3-college-freshmen-faces-mental-health-woes-737653.html

One in Five College Students So Stressed They Consider Suicide

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

College can be so stressful that many students think about killing themselves, and some even try, a new study suggests.

Among more than 67,000 students surveyed, over 20 percent said they experienced stressful events in the last year that were strongly associated with mental health problems, including harming themselves and suicidal thoughts or attempts, researchers found.

"What's striking about our findings is that there is a disproportionate number of students who are reporting a large number of exposures to stress they believe is traumatic or difficult to overcome," said lead researcher Cindy Liu. She directs the developmental risk and cultural disparities program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"There are some stresses that are exceeding the capacity of students to cope," she added.

Stressful events defined as traumatic or difficult to handle included: academic pressures; career issues; death of a family member or friend; family problems; intimate and other social relationships; finances; health problems of a family member or partner; personal appearance; personal health problems and sleep difficulties.

Liu's team found that 3 out of 4 students had experienced at least one stressful event in the previous year. And more than 20 percent experienced six or more stressful events in the past year.

Among these students, 1 in 4 said they had been diagnosed with or treated for a mental health problem. Furthermore, 20 percent of all students surveyed thought about suicide, 9 percent had attempted suicide, and nearly 20 percent injured themselves.

These problems were particularly acute among transgender students, with about two-thirds saying that they had hurt themselves and more than one-third saying they had attempted suicide.

In addition, more than half of bisexual students said they had suicidal thoughts and had harmed themselves. More than a quarter of these students had attempted suicide, the researchers found.

Liu said the rate of students suffering from depression or anxiety is much higher now than it was in 2009, when the last survey was conducted.

Colleges are doing more than ever to help students cope with depression and anxiety, Liu said. In some schools, these efforts include peer counseling in addition to traditional mental health services.

The report was published online in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/suicide-health-news-646/1-in-5-college-students-so-stressed-they-consider-suicide-737502.html

Share of American Young Adults Living with their Parents Highest in 75 Years

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Quartz.

Parents in the US cannot get rid of their kids. The share of young adults in their late 20s living with their parents is the highest it’s been in 75 years.

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 33% of 25-29 year olds lived with their parents or grandparents in 2016. This is almost three times as many as in 1970.

The share of young adults who don’t leave the nest has steadily increased in recent decades, and accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis. Across education levels, race, gender, and region, no group has been immune from the trend.

Pew’s researchers think late twenty-somethings are boomeranging back home because, in contrast to previous generations at this stage of their lives, they are less likely to have a well-paying job and less likely to be married. It turns out that no job and no partner makes living with your parents a lot more appealing.

Source: Quartz
https://qz.com/1248081/the-share-of-americans-age-25-29-living-with-parents-is-the-highest-in-75-years/

Numbers Suggest Why Millennials Are "Generation Frustration"

86
The number, in millions according to Barron's, of millennials in the U.S. 86 million: that's 7 percent larger than the baby-boom generation.

16.3
The percentage of millennials who are unemployed in the United States, according to the United States Labor Department, this is even more alarming when paired with a Harvard study finding that just 6 in 10 millennials have a job, half of which jobs are part-time. The bottom line here is that millennials can't seem to find jobs.

1.8
The number of bachelor's degrees, in millions, that universities are expected to award during the 2013-14 school year. This is in addition to the 943,000 associate's degrees, 778,000 master's degrees and 177,000 doctoral degrees projected.

58
The percent of hiring managers in a recent survey by Adecco who say they have no plans whatsoever to hire a recent college graduate.

4.7
4.7 million jobs have been created over the past three years, according to the Jobs Report, while about 8 million jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. The fact is, jobs aren't being created fast enough for the entire U.S., much less for millennials.

61
The average age at which current U.S. retirees said they retired, compared with 59 in 2003 and 57 in 1993. That figure is just current retirees; current non-retirees expect to delay their own retirements past age 65. Whether they haven't saved enough money or just love working, their delayed retirement means less upward mobility for millennials.

21.6
The total number, in millions, of millennials who lived in their parents' home in 2012, up from 18.5 million of their same-aged counterparts in 2007. Millennials simply can't afford to live on their own.

Source: Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-donegan/millennials-generation-frustration_b_3977145.html

New UK Guidelines: Adolesescence Now Ends at 25

Adolescence no longer ends when people hit 18, according to updated guidelines being given to UK child psychologists.

The new directive is designed to extend the age range that child psychologists can work with from 18 years old up to 25.

It is hoped the initiative will stop children being 'rushed' through their childhood and feeling pressured to achieve key milestones quickly, reports the BBC.

There are now three stages of adolescence, according to the BBC report: early adolescence that ranges from 12 to 14 years, middle adolescence from 15 to 17 years and 18 and over is classed as late adolescence.

It has been introduced because research now suggests the brain continues developing through and passed teenage years, well into a person's mid-twenties and thirties.

The new guidance is also to make ensure that over 18s don't miss out on opportunities, or are forgotten about, in terms of health and education.

Source: Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2430573/An-adult-18-Not-Adolescence-ends-25-prevent-young-people-getting-inferiority-complex.html