Emerging and Early Adulthood

Historically, early adulthood spanned from approximately age eighteen (the end of adolescence) until between forty and forty-five (beginning of middle adulthood). More recently, developmentalists have divided this age period into two separate stages: emerging adulthood and early adulthood. Although these age periods differ in their physical, cognitive, and social development, overall the age period from eighteen to forty-five is a time of peak physical capabilities and the emergence of more mature cognitive development, financial independence, and intimate relationships.