Psychology Assistant Professor Joseph McFall presented the paper, “Understanding Indirect Effects of Interpersonal Transgressions on Health and Well-being in Emerging Adults: A Comparison of Stress Process and Discrimination Models," at the Society for the Study of Emergency Adulthood’s (SSEA) 2017 conference held recently in Washington, D.C.
Experiencing interpersonal transgressions, such as being subjected to rudeness, rumors or gossip or even public degradation, during emerging adulthood is detrimental or even damaging to the victim, Dr. McFall explained.
“We found that these experiences are linked to greater rates of negative health symptoms (stomach pain, back pain, headaches, insomnia and fatigue) and decreased psychological well-being (satisfaction with life and self-esteem) in 18 to 29 year-olds,” said McFall, who was assisted by department colleague Dr. Darrin L. Rogers in the project.
“Furthermore, perceived stress is a mediator – a causal link between the interpersonal transgressions and the health outcomes. People who have a greater stress response have worse symptoms and less well-being. The results are similar to research on how discrimination affects health and well-being.”
McFall was also a coauthor of a second paper at the conference, “Emerging Adulthood MoA/IDEA-8 Scale Characteristics from Multiple Institutions.” This project examined the reliability and validity of a survey measurement tool used to assess the concepts of emerging adulthood to see if the concepts still work as hypothesized a decade ago.
SSEA is a multidisciplinary international organization that focuses on theory and research related to emerging adulthood with the goal to advance the understanding of development, between the approximate ages of 18 and 29, through scholarship, education, training and practice.
