A Qualitative Analysis of Life Events and Turning Points in the Transition to Young Adulthood of Rural and Small-Town Youth

Introduction: Transition periods from one life stage to another, such as the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, hold risks but also great opportunities for change. New life domains and associated social roles (e.g., work, college, romantic relationships, marriage, or parenthood) require new skills and responsibilities but also allow for greater autonomy and exploration. Negotiating this transition can be difficult and stressful, possibly derailing, at least temporarily, a previously healthy or successful life trajectory; but transition periods also come with opportunities that can move someone who struggled in childhood and adolescence onto a healthier or more successful life path. Little is known about the transition to adulthood for those who grow up in rural areas and small towns. Because rural youth are much more likely to move away from their home towns after high school, they may experience unique risks and opportunities during the transition to adulthood. Using young adults’ own words and self-reflections, this study examined salient life events during the transition to young adulthood that may act as turning points in rural young adults’ lives.

Methods: Data are from a community-randomized trial of the Communities That Care prevention system in 24 small and rural towns (average population 15,000) in 7 states. The trial followed a panel of youth from Grade 5 to Age 21 with 91% (n=3977) retained through age 21. At the end of the age 21 survey, respondents were asked to characterize themselves and their life in their own words. They were instructed to think of any life events or turning points since high school that changed their life to some extent. The majority (82%; n=3269) provided answers to the open-ended question. Preliminary analyses coded 10% of the open-ended responses (n=331) using NVivo to develop and test the coding system.

Results: The most frequently mentioned life areas in the preliminary analysis were school and education (194 mentions), work and career (169 mentions), romantic relationships (123 mentions), and mobility/living situation (94 mentions). Evaluations of events in the first three life areas were predominantly positive (e.g., “I love school and learning,” “I thoroughly enjoy working in health care,” “I have an amazing boyfriend that I plan on marrying one day”), yet evaluations of mobility events were almost as often negative as positive (e.g., “Well Ever Since I Moved To Mexico I Feel Like My Life Took A Downfall,” versus “I enjoy living with my friends”). Additional analyses will examine which life events elicited ambiguous evaluations (e.g., “Dropped out of college was a good and bad decision”). Turning points were also coded with respect to the direction of change (better, worse, unchanged) when it was explicitly mentioned (e.g., “My life went from horrible to great”). When reference was made to the future, we recorded which life domain was mentioned and how young adults felt about the future (optimistic, pessimistic, anxious; e.g., “looking forward to the future”).

Conclusions: The analysis of rural young adults’ own words will identify which life areas and events are experienced as stressful or challenging and may be important targets for interventions supporting the transition to young adulthood.