To What Extent Do Young Adults Meet the Five Needs for Independence? A Latent Class Analysis

Esther M.A. Geurts; Anne K. Smit; Stephanie Wagner; Hélène H.M. Leenders; Maria W.J. Jansen; Christian J.P.A. Hoebe; Rianne P. Reijs

doi:10.1177/21676968241288289

To What Extent Do Young Adults Meet the Five Needs for Independence? A Latent Class Analysis

Esther M.A. Geurts^*, Anne K. Smit, Stephanie Wagner, Hélène H.M. Leenders, Maria W.J. Jansen, Christian J.P.A. Hoebe, Rianne P. Reijs

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Young adults determined five needs which must be met to transition to adulthood: support, housing, study and work, income, and well-being. This study aimed to identify and describe subgroups of young adults and determine to what extent they meet the needs for independence, and to assess relations between subgroups and demographic characteristics. We conducted secondary data analysis of a population-based questionnaire, which included 2291 young adults (M age = 20.8 years, 71% female) living in South Limburg, the Netherlands. We adopted a person-centred approach, that is, latent class analysis, and identified four classes: Thriving (39%), Lacking support and well-being (29%), Widely struggling (18%) and Financially challenged (14%). Females and non-university students/graduates had higher odds of being members of the least thriving classes. Future research should focus on how support and cumulative disadvantage affect later life outcomes. We should broaden community, educational and institutional support systems to encourage and sustain meaningful relationships.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4-17
Number of pages	14
Journal	Emerging Adulthood
Volume	13
Issue number	1
Early online date	12 Oct 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968241288289
Publication status	Published - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood and SAGE Publishing.

Funding

This publication is part of the project Integrated Public Health Monitor \u2013 COVID-19 Phase 2 GGD Zuid Limburg with project number 10430212120005 of the research programme COVID-19, as well as the project Trend Break: collaborating towards a healthy generation with project number 10190022010004, both (partly) financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by ZonMw.

Funders
ZonMw

Keywords

latent class analysis
needs for independence
transitions to adulthood
well-being
young adults

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10.1177/21676968241288289Licence: CC BY

geurts-et-al-2024-to-what-extent-do-young-adults-meet-the-five-needs-for-independence-a-latent-class-analysisFinal published version, 715 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "To What Extent Do Young Adults Meet the Five Needs for Independence? A Latent Class Analysis",

abstract = "Young adults determined five needs which must be met to transition to adulthood: support, housing, study and work, income, and well-being. This study aimed to identify and describe subgroups of young adults and determine to what extent they meet the needs for independence, and to assess relations between subgroups and demographic characteristics. We conducted secondary data analysis of a population-based questionnaire, which included 2291 young adults (M age = 20.8 years, 71\% female) living in South Limburg, the Netherlands. We adopted a person-centred approach, that is, latent class analysis, and identified four classes: Thriving (39\%), Lacking support and well-being (29\%), Widely struggling (18\%) and Financially challenged (14\%). Females and non-university students/graduates had higher odds of being members of the least thriving classes. Future research should focus on how support and cumulative disadvantage affect later life outcomes. We should broaden community, educational and institutional support systems to encourage and sustain meaningful relationships.",

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To What Extent Do Young Adults Meet the Five Needs for Independence? A Latent Class Analysis

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