Erik Erikson was born Erik “Salomonsen,” a German developmental psychologist born 1902 in Frankfurt and died in 1994 in Massachusetts. His mother was Jewish and he was raised as such, but felt alienated with his Nordic features from Jewish and Gentile communities in an antisemitic time.
From his own identity conflict and ambiguous roots, Erikson informed his exploration of how people form identity, especially under pressure from social norms, race, culture, or migration.
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory outlines eight stages across the human life span, each defined by a central conflict that individuals must address. The successful resolution of this conflict is necessary to achieve healthy psychological growth (Erikson, 1950). Beginning with trust in infancy and culminating in reflection and acceptance in late adulthood, Erikson emphasized that successful navigation of each stage leads to the development of essential “virtues.” Unresolved conflicts, on the other hand, may result in long-term emotional and social challenges and a lack of mental wellness. In young adulthood, the objective virtue developed is intimacy and love.
- Although Erikson did not assign strict age ranges to his psychosocial stages, contemporary scholars, including Hutchinson (2018), generally place the stage of Intimacy vs. Isolation between the ages of 18 and 40. This is a broad age range that encompasses the healthy growth and maturation of the young adult, starting from the end of adolescence and ending at the entrance to adult middle age. During this period, individuals strive to form meaningful, lasting relationships as independent adults.
The Conflicts of Young Adulthood:
Central Challenge:
The central psychosocial challenge of young adulthood is the negotiation of intimacy versus isolation. In this important life stage, individuals seek to establish deep emotional bonds with others. These may manifest through romantic relationships, friendships, or meaningful social connections.
Successful Resolution:
The successful resolution of this stage leads to the development of intimacy and produces emotional closeness, trust, and mutual commitment as an adult. In contrast, failure to resolve this conflict results in isolation, emotional withdrawal, and difficulty in later life forming lasting relationships (Erikson, 1950; Hutchinson, 2018).
Erikson on Intimacy:
Addiction, Development, and the Present Day
Addiction Roots:
Addiction can both stem from and reinforce the psychological struggle between intimacy and isolation. Young adults who experience trauma, neglect, or instability during earlier developmental stages may enter this period with unresolved issues around trust and attachment, making it difficult to form intimate bonds.
Coping Mechanism:
In such cases, substance use may become a coping mechanism to manage feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and fear of vulnerability. Over time, addiction can further damage social relationships, perpetuating a cycle of detachment and emotional isolation. Moreover, the developmental demands of this life stage—such as pursuing education, establishing a career, or starting a family—may feel overwhelming for individuals already struggling with substance use.
As Peiper and Ridenour (2021) argue, addiction during young adulthood can serve as a powerful agent in derailing essential life transitions, compounding the sense of disconnection and failure to thrive. The theory of Intimacy vs. Isolation thus provides a powerful lens for us to understand how psychological development and relational needs can collide with addiction in this stage of life to create dire ramifications for a young adult.
Theoretical Spotlight: Arnett
18-25 years old:
While Hutchinson’s life course perspective highlights the importance of achieving developmental milestones in adulthood, I would like to highlight to consider Jeffrey Arnett’s (2000) theory of Emerging Adulthood. Arnett described ages 18 to 25 as a distinct period of identity exploration and instability. According to Arnett and Mitra (2020), young adults in the present day may delay traditional markers of adulthood as compared to previous generations, such as marriage and stable employment.
Instead, today’s young adults are accustomed to experiencing longer periods of uncertainty and emotional flux that extend past adolescence and well into adulthood, which has been bolstered by the modern medical understanding of the development of the brain into early adulthood. This combination of conditions can further heighten susceptibility to risky behaviors, including substance use.
Key Features of Emerging Adulthood:
Identity Exploration
Especially in love, work, and worldviews.
Instability
Frequent changes in jobs, relationships, and living situations.
Self-Focus
Individuals spend time on personal growth without typical adult responsibilities (like parenting or full-time careers).
Feeling In-Between
They don’t feel like teenagers anymore, but don’t fully feel like adults either.
Possibilities / Optimism
A sense that the future holds many options and opportunities.
COVID-19 and Addiction:
COVID: Present and Future
The environmental stressors of COVID and its aftereffects interrupted healthy relationship formation society wide for young adults. This increased susceptibility to addiction and other maladaptive behavior for many. During the initial lockdowns and ensuing months and years, substance use as a maladaptive route to self-regulate or escape emotional distress was often employed. Liquor stores remained open and accessible when other establishments where shuttered. Behavioral addictions also skyrocketed, with internet and technology use becoming major disruptive factors in people’s lives.
Initially, social services, addiction treatment options, resources and access to medication assisted treatment options were all greatly reduced, which exacerbated addiction and overdose rates. The opioid epidemic in the United States saw all time overdose rates after the dawn of COVID and addiction rates to all substances heightened. Efforts to employ harm reduction for addiction and trauma took great strides pre-pandemic as vital, life saving measures. They are again jeopardized in 2025 by political trends and lack of funding. The future is not certain, and COVID’s effect on young adults and addiction is still occurring.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened this dynamic.
Public health restrictions, social distancing, enforced isolation, and economic uncertainty disrupted social networks and limited opportunities for healthy intimacy between all age ranges. The development of young adulthood when a global epidemic has occurred creates new dynamics that will require reflection, research, and time to further understand. Young adulthood in a new, altered society after COVID is experienced uniquely based on the specific age range, circumstances, and hardships faced by various individuals and groups in this time. Patrick et al. (2022) and Volkow (2020) report a distinct, marked rise in substance use during the pandemic which occurred particularly among young adults confined to social isolation.
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