Accelerated adulthood and its implications for adolescents’ wellbeing in Abrewankor of the Oti region in Ghana

Abstract

The occurrence, duration, and complexity of the transition to adulthood have shifted from social development milestones with rites of passage to customised, negotiable, and less ritualised transitions with broad margins of choice and a lack of clarity in modality and timing. Social, cultural, and economic changes in the latter half of the 20th century have led to shifts in the nature of the markers, with variations in pace and duration across different settings. While the duration has been extended, accelerated adulthood is prevalent in other settings, such as rural settings. There is, therefore, a need to understand the factors that sustain accelerated adulthood in rural settings to inform decision-making. This study assessed the contextual factors contributing to persistent accelerated adulthood, its socio-cultural and economic implications for adolescents’ wellbeing in Abrewankor, a rural setting, using three markers of adulthood: marriage, childbirth, and work. Structuration and social ecological theories informed the conceptual framework for the study. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results showed that accelerated adulthood is influenced by societal acceptance of early adoption of adult roles and retention of traditional approaches to skills transfer, as well as other conditions, which result in limited opportunities for education, modern literacy, numeracy skills, and social skills, and in subsistence employment - practice of barter trade. The persistence of accelerated adulthood can lead to intergenerational transfer of poverty. What will be needed are community education and mobilisation of significant others to drive the programme for change.