Charting a Course, Weathering Storms, and Making Lemonade: A Person-Centered Mixed Methods Analysis of Emotional Wellbeing and Dispositional Strengths following University Graduation

How well emerging adults adapt to transitions, like entering or graduating from post-secondary education, may depend on individual differences. Emotional wellbeing within post-secondary education contexts has been studied, but little research has examined patterns of change after graduation. A diverse sample of emerging adults in their final year of university ( N = 159; M age = 23.22) were surveyed at four time points starting prior to and then across the year after graduation. Most participants (58%) showed stable, low depressive symptoms, a small percentage (9%) decreased in depressive symptoms, and a sizeable group (32%) increased in depressive symptoms. Low or decreasing depressive symptoms were associated with higher baseline optimism and grit and lower neuroticism and with qualitative accounts of willingness to learn from setbacks, self-efficacy, and gratitude for the university experience. Mixed-methods results highlight the challenges and role of self-regulatory strengths for adjustment at this juncture.