Welcome

Virginia Institute of Development in Adulthood (VIDA) is our ongoing longitudinal study examining the influences of social relationships, autonomy, and attachments to parents in young adult development. In our study, we are working to learn more about how young adults grow and change, manage friendships and romantic relationships, as well as relationships with their families- both their family of origin and the new families they are creating. We are hoping to learn more about how family relationships during earlier stages of life might influence the directions that people’s lives take, including the qualities of their relationships, their satisfaction with their careers, and their overall adjustment.

Participants

We have 184 participants in our study, with over 700 visits happening each year! In the first several years of our study, when our participants were teenagers, they came in with their parents and close friends. We are currently beginning the fifteenth wave of our study, and our participants are now mostly in their mid 20s. We are currently interviewing both participants themselves and their romantic partners, when available.

Research

Information is collected about a variety of aspects of young adulthood, especially the most influential relationships in our participants’ lives. We are interested in how our participants’ lives are turning out, and want to know more about how they face and overcome challenges. We ask questions about a range of problems that people sometimes face in adulthood, including depression, stress/ anxiety, substance use, and trouble with the law. We also want to know about positive events- participants’ success in school, at work, and in their personal lives. We like to get information in several different ways and from several different people in order to get the most complete picture possible. We use pencil-and-paper questionnaires, interviews, and observations of real conversations between our participants and important people in their lives.