Untitled

Competence, Resilience, and Development 45trated change in individuals, contexts, and their interaction, looks promising as atime of improving prospects and emerging resilience (Masten et al., 2006). Someof the problem behaviors that spiked upward early in adolescence begin to arc downwardduring emerging adulthood, which is characterized by considerable normativedesistance in multiple problem domains of external and internal behavior,including crime (the “age-crime” curve heads downward), party-based drinking, andself-reported symptoms of depression (e.g., Ge et al., 2006; National Institute onAlcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2004/2005; Thornberry & Krohn, 2003). There aresome bumps upward in problems related to contextual changes (entering militaryservice or college), but these very broad patterns suggest that there must be significantinfluences at work directing the behavior of young people toward acceptablemainstream adult behavior. Again, youth who enter the years from 18 to 25 with asolid foundation of competence and resources typically navigate this transition well,but additionally, some of the youth who were off track in adolescence begin to getback on track. New resilience emerges (Masten et al., 2004; Masten et al., 2006).Emergent resilience has been reported for many years in anecdotal accounts orsmall studies and the qualities associated with “late blooming” are interesting:planfulness, increasing motivation to achieve future goals, connections to adultmentors outside the family, military service, marriage/romantic commitment toprosocial partners, and religious conversion (Masten et al, 2006). This may be awindow in human development in modern societies when there is a positive convergenceof strategic executive control and future orientation (facilitated by braindevelopment and new capacity for executive functioning), opportunities (to leavehome, join transformative new contexts such as the military, college, religiousorganizations, or the work world), and new adult support beyond the family (e.g.,adult mentors, romantic partners) that together spur positive change. It is probablynot a coincidence that many cultures around the world provide socially approvedcontexts and opportunities for young people around this age to move intonew environments through work, education, or travel, nor that the legal age ofadulthood for various activities often falls around the age of 20 (often 18 to 21).ConclusionNormative and individual inflection points in pathways to competence or psychopathologyacross adolescence may arise from a confluence of changes in adaptivecapacity or motivation, contextual demands or supports, and opportunities. Turningpoints may also result from life-altering experiences that jolt development downa new path, as might happen after traumatic experiences, unplanned pregnancy,religious conversion, or other events.Transitions into and out of adolescence are periods in which there are markedchanges in individuals, relationships, contexts, experiences, developmental task