You’re Not Done Yet: Parenting Young Adults in an Age of Uncertainty

Family psychologist Hibbs and Rostain, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, team up again (after 2019’s The Stressed Years of Their Lives) for a compassionate parenting manual on how to help 20–somethings navigate young adulthood. The authors suggest that such factors as declining real wages, rising student debt, and economic turbulence caused by the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic have left young people more reliant on their parents than previous generations. Helping adult children develop autonomy requires collaborating with them to develop solutions, Hibbs and Rostain contend, encouraging parents to listen attentively to their children’s perspectives to better understand where they’re coming from and ensure they feel heard. Client stories shed light on intergenerational dynamics, as when the authors recount counseling a mother concerned about her daughter’s eight hours of daily screen time, concluding that because the daughter was able to maintain a job and friendships she didn’t “meet the criteria for a treatable mental disorder.” To keep perspective, the authors urge parents to recognize how concerns about excessive social media use may mirror their own parents’ anxiety about long hours spent watching TV. Hibbs and Rostain excel at explaining large-scale social trends, and the empathetic explorations of how parents and adult children perceive the world will help both find common ground. Not-quite-empty nesters will appreciate the guidance. (Mar.)

Correction: A previous version of this review misidentified Anthony Rostain’s academic institution.