Abstract:
There is widespread recognition that stressors related to Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19) jeopardize the development of emerging adults, more particularly those living in
disadvantaged communities. What is less well understood is what might support emerging
adult resilience to COVID-19-related stressors. In response, this article reports a 5-week
qualitative study with 24 emerging adults (average age: 20) living in a South African township.
Using digital diaries and repeated individual interviews, young people shared their
lived experiences of later (i.e., month 4 and 7) lockdown-related challenges (i.e., contagion
fears; livelihood threats; lives-on-hold) and how they managed these challenges. An inductive
thematic analysis showed that personal and collective compliance, generous ways-ofbeing,
and tolerance-facilitators enabled emerging adult resilience to said challenges.
Importantly, these resilience-enablers drew on resources associated with multiple systems
and reflected the situational and cultural context of the township in question. In short, supporting
emerging adult resilience to COVID-19-related stressors will require contextually
aligned, multisystemic responses.
