The COVID-19 pandemic represents an epidemiological and psychological crisis (APA, 2020). In this context, although emerging adults are less likely to get COVID-19, they might have suffered from the national lockdowns over the last year, as they are indeed involved in a crucial development period wherein interpersonal relationships undertake a fundamental function in their psychological well-being. To this end, mentalizing abilities and emotion dysregulation may play a crucial role as possible salutogenic or pathogenic factors on the onset of psychiatric symptoms during the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1) To examine the relationship between emotion dysregulation assessed at the end of the first wave of COVID-19, mentalizing assessed during the second wave, and psychiatric symptoms levels assessed during the third wave. 2) To examine the moderation role of mentalizing within the relation between emotion dysregulation and psychiatric symptoms.

Participants were 83 non-clinical emerging adults (Mage=22.18, SD=4.36; 57.8% females). Measures applied were Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) to examine emotion dysregulation, Reflective Functioning Questionnaire to examine mentalizing (RFQ_uncertainty; RFQ_certainty) and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90) to examine psychiatric symptoms (Global Severity Index, GSI).

DERS_total score (r=.31, p=.03) and both RFQ_uncertainty (r=.41, p<.01) and RFQ_certainty (r=-.33, p=.02) are associated with GSI. Secondly, a significant moderation role by RFQ_u emerged within the relation between DERS_total score and GSI (∆R2=.067, β=.001, SE=.00, CI[.000, .002]).

These results suggest that mentalizing and emotion dysregulation may play a pivotal role in the onset of psychiatric symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical implications are discussed.

No significant relationships.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly increased depression rates, particularly in emerging adults. The aim of this study was to examine longitudinal changes in depression risk before and during COVID-19 in a cohort of emerging adults in the U.S. and to determine whether prior drinking or sleep habits could predict the severity of depressive symptoms during the pandemic.

Participants were 525 emerging adults from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA), a five-site community sample including moderate-to-heavy drinkers. Poisson mixed-effect models evaluated changes in the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) from before to during COVID-19, also testing for sex and age interactions. Additional analyses examined whether alcohol use frequency or sleep duration measured in the last pre-COVID assessment predicted pandemic-related increase in depressive symptoms.

The prevalence of risk for clinical depression tripled due to a substantial and sustained increase in depressive symptoms during COVID-19 relative to pre-COVID years. Effects were strongest for younger women. Frequent alcohol use and short sleep duration during the closest pre-COVID visit predicted a greater increase in COVID-19 depressive symptoms.

The sharp increase in depression risk among emerging adults heralds a public health crisis with alarming implications for their social and emotional functioning as this generation matures. In addition to the heightened risk for younger women, the role of alcohol use and sleep behavior should be tracked through preventive care aiming to mitigate this looming mental health crisis.

The First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) service model is associated with significant reductions in wait times and improved clinical outcomes for emerging adults with recent-onset eating disorders. An understanding of how FREED is implemented is a necessary precondition to enable an attribution of these findings to key components of the model, namely the wait-time targets and care package.

This study evaluated fidelity to the FREED service model during the multicentre FREED-Up study.

Participants were 259 emerging adults (aged 16–25 years) with an eating disorder of <3 years duration, offered treatment through the FREED care pathway. Patient journey records documented patient care from screening to end of treatment. Adherence to wait-time targets (engagement call within 48 h, assessment within 2 weeks, treatment within 4 weeks) and care package, and differences in adherence across diagnosis and treatment group were examined.

There were significant increases (16–40%) in adherence to the wait-time targets following the introduction of FREED, irrespective of diagnosis. Receiving FREED under optimal conditions also increased adherence to the targets. Care package use differed by component and diagnosis. The most used care package activities were psychoeducation and dietary change. Attention to transitions was less well used.

This study provides an indication of adherence levels to key components of the FREED model. These adherence rates can tentatively be considered as clinically meaningful thresholds. Results highlight aspects of the model and its implementation that warrant future examination.

Despite increased awareness that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) poses a significant public health concern on college campuses worldwide, few studies have prospectively investigated the incidence of NSSI in college and considered targeting college entrants at high risk for onset of NSSI.

Using data from the Leuven College Surveys (n = 4,565; 56.8%female, Mage = 18.3, SD = 1.1), students provided data on NSSI, sociodemographics, traumatic experiences, stressful events, perceived social support, and mental disorders. A total of 2,163 baseline responders provided data at a two-year annual follow-up assessment (63.2% conditional response rate).

One-year incidence of first onset NSSI was 10.3% in year 1 and 6.0% in year 2, with a total of 8.6% reporting sporadic NSSI (1–4 times per year) and 7.0% reporting repetitive NSSI (≥ 5 times per year) during the first two years of college. Many hypothesized proximal and distal risk factors were associated with the subsequent onset of NSSI (ORs = 1.5–18.2). Dating violence prior to age 17 and severe role impairment in daily life were the strongest predictors. Multivariate prediction suggests that an intervention focused on the 10% at highest risk would reach 23.9% of students who report sporadic, and 36.1% of students who report repetitive NSSI during college (cross-validated AUCs =.70–.75).

The college period carries high risk for the onset of NSSI. Individualized web-based screening may be a promising approach for detecting young adults at high risk for self-injury and offering timely intervention.

We aimed to examine the food-seeking experiences of homeless emerging adults (age 18–24 years) in a US urban context.

The study used a qualitative descriptive design, combining semi-structured interviews with a standardized quantitative measure of food insecurity. Interview data were coded using constant comparative methods to identify patterns across and within interviews. Emerging themes were confirmed and refined through member checking.

Buffalo, a mid-sized city in the Northeastern USA.

A sample of thirty participants was recruited through community-based methods. Eligibility criteria specified that participants were aged 18–24 years and did not have a stable place to live. The sample was demographically diverse and included participants who were couch-surfing, staying on the streets and/or using shelters.

Participants’ food access strategies varied across their living circumstances. Common strategies included purchasing food with cash or benefits (reported by 77 %), using free meal programmes (70 %) and eating at friends’ or relatives’ homes (47 %). Although 70 % of participants received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, several reported access barriers, including initial denials of eligibility due to being listed on a parent’s application even when the participant no longer resided in the household. Participants described a stigma associated with using food pantries and free meal programmes and expressed preference for less institutionalized programmes such as Food Not Bombs.

Given endemic levels of food insecurity among homeless youth and young adults, policy modifications and service interventions are needed to improve food access for this population.

To examine (i) situational characteristics of young adults’ eating occasions, including away-from-home eating, social influences and multi-tasking, and (ii) how these characteristics are associated with specific foods/beverages consumed.

Participants logged numerous characteristics of eating occasions (n 1237) in real time over 7 d.

Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area (Minnesota, USA).

Forty-eight participants, aged 18–23 years.

Half of all eating occasions (46 %) occurred alone, 26 % occurred while watching television and 36 % involved other multi-tasking. Most participants (63 %) did not think about their food choices in advance of eating occasions. Eating that occurred in the absence of television viewing and/or other multi-tasking was less likely to include sweetened beverages and more likely to include items like water, fruit, vegetables, cereal, grains and entrées. Eating occasions occurring alone, and/or those occurring at home, were more likely to include snack foods that required little preparation (e.g. cookies, baked goods) and less likely to include more traditional meal items (e.g. fruits, vegetables, entrée items).

Overall, a large proportion of young adults’ eating occasions occurred alone, while engaging in other activities and with little advanced planning. Although many young adults’ eating occasions consist of a wide range of highly processed, energy-dense, convenience products, more traditional meal settings (i.e. eating at home with others in the absence of multi-tasking) may result in more structured mealtimes and better food choices, such as more fruits and vegetables. Effective behavioural strategies promoting positive eating patterns, including home meal preparation, are urgently needed among young adults.