Human life typically goes through a series of changes in phases of development. As a person transitions from childhood into adulthood, they undergo changes that range from physical growth, cognitive development to emotional and spiritual expansion. The individual discovers themselves, their passion, and form emotional attachments. It is essential to observe that the connections one develops during their childhood with their caregivers directly impact the relationships they build as they grow up. This article will focus more on lifespan development during the early adulthood stage of life. It will consider the cognitive development, which includes intellectual growth and reasoning ability. Physically, some of the changes that will be discussed will cover the changes observed during adolescence. These include the growth in height and weight and the development of sexual organs for both males and females. It is essential also to consider social development and connections during this period, not forgetting the development of spiritual attachments. This phase of the human lifespan development is particularly critical since the decisions made at this stage based on the changes discussed above impact the rest of that individual's life going into the real world.
Cognitive Development
Early adulthood, also referred to as young adulthood, starts from the age of 12 as one enters adolescents. These individuals become more aware of their surroundings. This article, however, will more specifically deal with the early adulthood age bracket of between 20 and 40 years old. According to Piaget's concept of cognitive development, the formation of formal rational thinking happens in early adolescence and lasts steadily through adulthood (Barrouillet, 2015) . In early adulthood, reasoning starts to stabilize and rises to its maximum at around 35 years. Before it begins to fade away. Therefore, early adulthood serves as a period of relativistic cognition where individuals start to become mindful of the complex and dynamic nature of virtue, the right versus wrong perception. At this stage, one begins to view concepts and ideas from various angles and reasoning. At this stage, they start to realize that a simple question can bear over one wrong or right answer, or could have answers from both divides depending on the context and interpretation which varies from one situation to the next.
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Early adulthood ushers in pragmatic thinking, which results from the necessity for specialization. Pragmatic thinking is the use of reason to explain real-society problems while acknowledging imperfection, contradiction, and other aspects. Due to this evolved reasoning ability, young adults learn to focus on specific spheres of life, such as narrowing down to a particular career path. This is in a bid to gain advanced expertise in a given field (Barrouillet, 2015) . Most individuals in their early and mid-20s, therefore, enroll in colleges and universities where they narrow down to given disciplines so that they become more equipped in their problem-solving competencies and abilities. This ultimately increases their capacity for innovation and creativity.
Physical Development
Some of the physical changes experienced during this phase are subtle since, by the time an individual reaches early adulthood, that is, by the time they reach 20 years old, their physical maturation is complete. Body parts development, such as the enlargement of male testicles or the female breasts at this time are complete, even though the growth in height and weight may increase slightly (McDade et al., 2017). At this phase, one's physical abilities are at their peak. Their muscle strength, sensory abilities, reaction time, and cardiac functioning, among other physical growth, have developed fully. Due to the peak of physical development and acridity, most professional athletes are more strong and vibrant at this stage. The same case goes for most ladies who have children in their early adulthood years. Considering the fact that the early adulthood period ranges from between 20 and 40, it is critical to observe that although not overt, the aging process begins during the middle period of early adulthood.
At around the age of 30 going into 35, towards the latter years of this phase, many changes begin to take place in different parts of an individual's body as they start to age. Some of the physical changes that would mark the onset of aging include the stiffening and thickening of the eyes. This results in changes in vision, which, in most cases, affect the ability to focus on close objects. In other words, an individual begins to develop a visual disability (McDade et al., 2017). Along with losing visual sensitivity, sensitivity to sound may also decrease. In this case, an individual may lose their ability to perceive faint sounds. The loss in sound sensitivity happens twice as quickly for women as it does for women. An individual's hair may also start to thin out, fall off, and become gray, mostly around the age of 35. This, however, may happen earlier for some individuals and late for others.
Socioemotional Development
According to theorist George Valliant, human beings must develop meaningful connections with other individuals in their environment. These interactions, characterized by social activities, culture, and social connectedness, impact the whole aging process of a person (Agronin, 2015). These connections, on the other hand, are responsible for defining the meaning of life (purpose) throughout a person's life. For most individuals in their early adulthood years, the meaning of life is found in one's work and family life. While it is true that raising a child, or children can be stressful, various research indicates that parents reap the reward of parenting down the road as adult children have a positive effect on parental well-being. During early adulthood, individuals become aware of the role cultivating positive interactions plays in old age, and they invest more in the family. Most individuals at this point show tendencies of settling down and starting families of their own, which would ensure their security once they grow old.
Socially speaking, early adulthood ushers an individual into the era of forming networks of friends who offer emotional and physical support. Most persons in their early 20s start networking as they get into the employment sector. They form welfare and support groups where they pull their resources together to offer a cover plan should any adversities befall them. While adolescence is characterized by the driving force to discover oneself, early adulthood is characterized by the desire to discover the role one plays in society (Agronin, 2015). They become socially active, engaged in policymaking and actual politics. They go into leadership. Leadership can take on many forms, from political leadership to corporate leadership through the creation of employment opportunities and the manufacture of goods and services for the betterment of society.
However, this phase of human lifespan development is not without its fair share of challenges. These challenges are typically divided into two classes, the quarter-life crisis, and the mid-life crises. The quarter-life crisis occurs between the ages of 25 and 30 (Robinson, 2019). They majorly revolve around the challenges of young adults going into full adult responsibilities, such as newly living life on their own. Most individuals in their 20s move from, their homes as they settle into advanced education or employment, both of which would require them to start living on their own (Robinson, 2019). These new responsibilities could be overwhelming, and in most cases, result in confusion. A quarter-life crisis can also result from childbirth or after one's graduation as they hustle to find employment. Adjusting to these developments in one's life could cause anxiety, worry, or in extreme cases, depression. Young adults may begin to question and doubt their choices, as they wonder what life has in store for them.
Mid-life crisis kicks in from about the age of 35 years. These are mainly triggered by problems at work, marriage troubles, or the challenges surrounding the raising of children. Typically, in a work setting a person would work towards unlocking their potential along the way, which would mean a gradual rise to higher ranks. However, when an individual fails to secure a job promotion or salary appraisal, they may begin to question their ability in the field and consider exiting the workplace (Robinson, 2015). As the article earlier observed, relationships go through various staged in their development. Most relationships in the early adulthood phase are on the third stage, where couples make life term commitments to stay by each other. However, as one nears the end of early adulthood phase, they are highly likely to find themselves in the fourth stage of relationships where they are faced with numerous challenges frequently. Such a rocky marriage makes for some of the pressing problems in mid-life crises. If not handled carefully, these marriage issues could be the undoing of these once happy unions.
Interpersonal Relationships
Positive relationships with significant others have been found to contribute to a state of well-being in adult years. Most adults identify themselves through the relationships they have with their families, their spouses, or the persons they are in a romantic relationship with. An interpersonal relationship is a deep, reliable, and close association between two or more people. Relationships change and grow over time, and they may also dissipate over time, just like human growth. It is during early adulthood that individuals define their interpersonal relationships, and establish stronger bonds with those around them (Boisvert & Poulin, 2016) . Psychologist George Levinger developed one of the most influential relationship models to describe adult relationships, more specifically between heterosexual couples. However, this model can as well be applied to other kinds of interpersonal relationships. Levinger's model suggests that there are five stages to the natural development of a relationship.
The first stage is the acquaintanceship stage. This is the period in which two individuals begin to like each other (Berscheid & Regan, 2016) . This attraction depends on physical proximity, first impressions, among other factors. Acquaintanceship grows into the buildup stage in which the said individuals begin to trust and care for each other more deeply as they continue to know each other. The need for intimacy moistly drives this stage. Continuation as a third stage then comes through following a mutual commitment to healthy and close-term friendships and romantic relationships. This is the longest most stable period before the deterioration stage, although not all relationships go into deterioration. This stage marks the start of the relationship's downfall. It is generally characterized by boredom, resentment, and dissatisfaction. Prolonged irritation and loss of trust and frequent betrayals most likely usher in the final stage; termination (Berscheid & Regan, 2016) . This is marked by a breakup or spatial separation. However, termination may come as the fourth stage in cases where one partner dies.
Spiritual Development
The early adulthood phase is, no doubt the defining point for most individuals. They not only find closure for some of the issues that had been pressing them during adolescence, but they obtain more clarity. One of the problems that clears up during this phase is one's spiritual well-being. Young adults seek connection to the supernatural, a mystic force which they believe guides their choices in life (Day, 2017). Just as they find more purpose in their work, education, and interpersonal relationships, young adults establish a more close, intimate, and personal relationship with the supernatural. Religion for these young adults serves as a motivational force to keep on pushing their limits to concur the world. It is at this phase in life that religion becomes clearer as persons seek a closer and personal relationship with their creator. However, women are twice likely to believe in faith and spiritual growth as men. This is because most men believe in physical aspects of growth and are thus more motivated by their families and close friends compared to religious motivation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to point out that early adulthood is the most vibrant of the human lifespan development phases. This is because young adults in this phase become more self-driven and self-conscious compared to the previous stages of development. This can be understood from the fact that early adulthood succeeds adolescence, which is marked by confusion as teenagers struggle to identify themselves and establish their personalities. Having developed their characters, young adults in early adulthood, therefore, become more driven as they push to fulfill their newly found personalities. Thus, this phase is characterized by self-actualization in which young adults narrow down to specific goals. One fantastic aspect is that individuals at this stage chase after goals, and not dreams as they had previously set. The difference between dreams and goals is that goals are more fact-based in the sense that one discovers their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their niche in life. Using this information to chase after one's goals makes goals more practical than a dream, in which minimal effort is put to realize them. However, it is essential to observe that the late stage of early adulthood ushers one into the aging era. One begins to lose their momentum, as their potential gradually slows down, both physically and psychologically.
References
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Barrouillet, P. (2015). Theories of cognitive development: From Piaget to today .
Berscheid, E. S., & Regan, P. C. (2016). The psychology of interpersonal relationships . Psychology Press.
Boisvert, S., & Poulin, F. (2016). Romantic relationship patterns from adolescence to emerging adulthood: Associations with family and peer experiences in early adolescence. Journal of youth and adolescence , 45 (5), 945-958.
Day, J. M. (2017). Religion and human development in adulthood: Well-being, prosocial behavior, and religious and spiritual development. Behavioral Development Bulletin , 22 (2), 298.
McDade, T. W., Ryan, C., Jones, M. J., MacIsaac, J. L., Morin, A. M., Meyer, J. M., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2017). Social and physical environments early in development predict DNA methylation of inflammatory genes in young adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 114 (29), 7611-7616.
Robinson, O. C. (2015). Emerging adulthood, early adulthood and quarter-life crisis: updating Erikson for the 21st Century. Emerging adulthood in a European context. New York: Routledge .
Robinson, O. C. (2019). A longitudinal mixed-methods case study of quarter-life crisis during the post-university transition: Locked-out and locked-in forms in combination. Emerging Adulthood , 7 (3), 167-179.
