The author considers the late teens and early twenties as a period of 'the greatest pressure in terms of completion of partially finished integration tasks' and offers the thesis that 'postadolescence' represents a 'specific phase of growth in the life cycle'. Over a period of nearly twenty years he has treated nearly one hundred young adults, of whom ten had a 'classical' analysis. This case material is interwoven throughout the text and enlivens the work.

The book is divided into two sections, each preceded by a brief introduction. The first section deals with the metapsychology of the young adult and concisely presents the task that besets the ego as it struggles with internal conflicts and pressures from the environment. The internal conflicts are considered under five headings which the author designates as: 1, the self-image crisis; 2, aspects