Coming of Age Rites of Passage and Their Association with Perceived Health in Young Adulthood

Background: Coming of age rites of passage mark the transition from childhood to adulthood in many traditional cultures. While American culture does not offer explicit rites of passage to adolescents ready for adulthood, they may be experienced associated with community-based programs, cultural heritage, peer groups or informal accomplishments. With increasing depression and suicide among young adults, exploring formative adolescent experiences and associations with young adult perceived health is warranted.

Methods: Surveys were emailed to students at two universities and alumni from a community-based rites of passage program. We received 1282 completed surveys from young adult respondents, 18-29yo. Our predictor of interest was an experience of rites of passage during adolescence (13-17yo) and our outcomes were young adult perceptions of physical health, mental health, and ability to cope with stress. For our predictor of interest, we developed a list of 14 rites of passage components based on a review of the literature and input from experts in rites of passage program development. From this list, we created a composite score to estimate a dose response between rites of passage and outcomes. Associations between the individual rites of passage components and outcomes was also assessed. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-squared test and multivariate logistic regression. Covariates included in the regression models were religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and perceived stress.

Results: The average age was 21.8 (SD 3.2), 72.2% identified as women, 25.3% identified as men, 2.5% identified as other. Just over half of respondents identified as white (57%), 30.7% as Asian, 26% as Hispanic and 8.1% as Black. Nearly half of students reported their religious affiliation as Christian (48.7%), 20% as Spiritual, 14.7% Agnostic, 11.4% Atheist , and 10.3% as Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. Seventy-three percent of respondents experienced at least one of the 14 rites of passage components during adolescence and the average number of components experienced was 7.1 (SD 3.6). For each additional rites of passage component respondents experienced, there was a 6.4% increase in odds of the reporting good or excellent mental health (OR=1.06 95% CI [1.01-1.11]) and a 4.5% increase in the odds of reporting good coping skills (OR=1.05 95%CI[1.0-1.08]). When the individual rites of passage components were included in the model, there was a 100% increase in odds of good or excellent mental health associated with having adolescent experiences in nature (OR=2.0 95% CI[1.27-3.15] and a 69% and 62% increase in the odds of having good coping skills associated with having adult mentoring (OR=1.69 95% CI[1.02-2.79]) and experiences in nature (OR=1.62 95% CI[1.04-2.55]).

Discussion: According to our findings, young adults who had experiences with rites of passage during adolescence may have positive perceptions of their own mental health and coping as young adults. This finding aligns with emerging evidence showing a dose response of positive childhood experiences decreasing the onset of adult depression and poor mental health. This study warrants further investigation of health outcomes associated with participation in formal rites of passage programs.