Psychological Distress in Emerging Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

1168 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-10-15

Study Completion Date

2023-06-30

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Emerging adulthood (18-29 years) is a critical stage in lifespan development. During this stage, people experience instability: shifts from their families of origin, breakups of relationships and job changes are frequent before most young adults stabilize their lives and make more lasting decisions. This study seeks to understand the psychological distress of emerging adults in Quito, Ecuador and define how it varies over a year.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Neurophysiology, Estrogen, and Stress Exposure in the Emergence of Depression in Adolescent Girls

NCT03450135

Adolescent Development Stress Emotional Disturbances

COMPLETED

Negative Emotionality and Epigenetics During Puberty

NCT06690866

Puberty Healthy Stress

RECRUITING

Perimenopause-Related Mood and Behavioral Disorders

NCT00001231

Mood Disorder

COMPLETED

Prevalence of Premenstrual Syndrome in Women of Reproductive Age

NCT06117215

Premenstrual Syndrome

UNKNOWN

Gender Dysphoria in Children and Adolescents : Parents' Perspectives

NCT04160364

Gender Dysphoria

UNKNOWN

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Emerging adulthood is often a period of some instability with relationship changes and often a series of job changes before life trajectories clarify and more lasting decisions are possible. These changes often produce distress and they might explain why most of the symptoms that impact the individual's mental health throughout their lives appear at this stage, although full-blown disorders are often only diagnosed subsequently. There are several studies that describe the prevalence of mental disorders in this age group, however, there are few studies that refer to how psychological distress changes during this phase of emotional, social, and financial instability. The few existent studies refer mostly to college student populations, with relative neglect of the non-student populations.

The objective of this study is to analyze the intraindividual changes in psychological distress of emerging adults over one year. These changes will be compared between those participants who are college students and those who are not. Sociodemographic data will be recorded in the first assessment and the last assessment, while psychological distress and health-related quality of life will be monitored bimonthly for seven assessment points in total. Everyday relevant events will be also recorded bimonthly for seven assessment points, and this information will be used as a time-varying covariate. An electronic survey will be used for data collection through formr system (https://formr.org/).

The results of this research will show if the distress changes significantly in the studied population for one year and it will be possible to identify some of the events and variables that are related to these changes. This knowledge might help to create interventions that are tailored to the needs of this population.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Psychological Distress

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

University students

This group will include all those participants who declare to be attending a study program to get a higher education degree.

No intervention will be applied.

No interventions assigned to this group

Non-university-attending peers

This group will include all those participants who are not attending a study program to get a higher education degree.

No intervention will be applied.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Competence to read and understand Spanish
* Living in Ecuador
* Being a student (for the student cohort)
* Not attending to a formal student program (for the non-student cohort)