In recent years, the issue of the meaning in life has aroused particularly great interest in researchers considering the question of whether and how, using simple interventions, outside the therapeutic office, the sense of meaning in life and well-being can be strengthened. The aim of this study was to explore whether interventions based on reflection on everyday, stressful situations can contribute to fostering the sense of meaning in life and psychological well-being among emerging adults. Additionally, we aimed to explore relationships between the above-mentioned constructs and self-efficacy. The research focuses on emerging adults, who, as statistics show, are the most vulnerable among all adults to various mental problems. A pretest–posttest control group design was used. The study involved 80 emerging adults (56 women and 24 men) who were randomly assigned to the experimental group, which completed specially prepared diaries for a week, or the control group. Participants completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being twice. In the experimental group, significant differences were noted between pretest and posttest in psychological well-being, especially in the area of relationships with others (M_pretest = 59.3; M_posttest = 65.07; t(39) = −11.40; p = 0.001) and purpose in life (M_pretest = 54.85; M_posttest = 58.21; t(39) = −3.15; p = 0.003), as well as self-efficacy (M_pretest = 28.06; M_posttest = 29.60; t(39) = −2.82; p = 0.007). There were no differences in the level of meaning in life. The analysis carried out showed that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between presence of meaning in life and psychological well-being (the Aroian test: z = 4.48; SE = 0.11; p = 0.0007).

Purpose: many researchers have already established that the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat to adolescent psychological health. Studies on the COVID-19 pandemic mainly focus on individual psychological consequences, such as anxiety, depression or stress. The presented study added a family context to psychological analyses of the COVID-19 pandemic in adolescence. We examined the mediational effects of closeness to parents and perceived pandemic-related threats to relationships between personality (emotional stability and agreeableness) and stress in adolescents. Methods: in total, 413 students from secondary schools in southern Poland completed questionnaires measuring stress, personality, closeness to parents and experiencing threats with COVID-19. Results: the results demonstrated that closeness with parents in conjunction with experiencing family-related threats and threats related to lifestyle changes were mediators between adolescent personality traits and the intensity of the stress experienced. Conclusions: closeness with parents and threats experienced with COVID-19 mediate relationships between personality traits (emotional stability and agreeableness) and the intensification of stress in adolescents.

Identity is built in the context of an individual’s professed values, moral principles, and often, religiosity. Adolescence and emerging and early adulthood are times of intensive identity construction and of changes in religious attitudes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterise people across these three developmental periods in terms of the level of their identity and religiosity, and to examine whether particular identity styles allow for the prediction of the overall level of religiosity. For this purpose, the whole sample of N = 1017 individuals and particularly from adolescence (n = 307), emerging adulthood (n = 410), and early adulthood (n = 302) were studied. The results showed a lower level of the informational style and a higher level of the diffuse-avoidant style in adolescence as compared with the two older groups, who did not differ from each other. The overall level of religiosity did not significantly differentiate the developmental groups; however, it was explained by identity formation styles in different ways at particular developmental stages. Results of moderation analyses suggest that the informational style has positive effect only in adolescence; the normative style has positive effects in each age group but is strongest in early adulthood, and the diffuse-avoidant style presents negative effect in adolescence.

The main objective of our study was to determine whether the experience of the types of pandemic threats included in the study, could activate development responses among adolescents and what the role of the level of stress experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic is in the process of post-traumatic PTG growth. We also made an attempt to investigate whether personality traits and gender were predictors of PTG growth in adolescents. Therefore, the theoretical bases for the interpretation of the obtained results are models of post-traumatic growth (PTG), mainly by Calhoun and Tedeschi. The research was conducted in March 2020. The study subjects were 405 adolescents aged 14 to 20 years, with an average age of 17 years, of whom 59% were females and 41% were males. The following methods were used in the study: IPIP-BFM-20 to estimate five personality traits, PSS- to diagnose perceived stress, and an in-house questionnaire of pandemic threats experienced by adolescents (KŻP). The results showed that the various types of ‘pandemic’ threats (threats to life, family, and lifestyle) are positive predictors of growth-related changes; additionally, such factors as personality traits (here: extroversion), stress level, and gender had a positive mediating effect on growth-related changes. It was also possible to show that out of the four dimensions of post-traumatic growth, three could be activated under pandemic conditions. These were: changes in relationships with others, greater appreciation of everyday life, and spiritual changes. Changes in self-perception—one of the dimensions of post-traumatic growth, were not activated due to experiencing three types of pandemic threats.

The study aims to investigate the differences concerning the religiosity (understood as the placement of religious constructs in the structure of a personality) and value system of young adults who are married, people in non-formalized relationships, and singles. The participants of the study were 321 women and 302 men aged 22 to 42 (45% singles, 55% in relationships). The results of the research prove significant differences regarding the religiosity and preferred values between married people and those living in informal relationships. There are more differences between these groups than between singles and those living in marital and informal relationships. Consequently, it seems important to differentiate between formalized and non-formalized relationships.

The primary aim of this study was to determine the relation between the religiosity of individuals in emerging adulthood and the way they perceive the religiosity of their parents. In the literature, there are conflicting accounts concerning this relationship. In order to determine the nature of this relation among young Poles, 215 students (154 female, 56 male, 5 other) aged 19–27 were surveyed. It was tested whether parental attitudes, closeness to parents, and parents’ religiosity are predictors of the students’ religiosity. The results of this study indicate that there is a strong correlation between the students’ level of religiosity and their mothers’ assessment of religiosity, and a moderate correlation with their fathers’ assessment of religiosity. As the correlation analysis shows, there is a positive association between the religiosity of people in the emerging adulthood period and the protective attitude on the part of the mother and the sense of closeness to the father. There is an interaction between the attitude of acceptance on the part of the mother and the religiousness of the mother in predicting the religiousness of the students.