Four longitudinal models are used to present a short review of research into adolescent psychosocial development. This review reveals adolescent development to proceed in a regular manner. This process of regular development suggests that it might be possible to uncover rules of intra-individual development. The aim of this paper is to propose a…

Adolescent delinquency and identity formation have both been described in relation to the confusion, doubt, and need for individuation and autonomy faced by adolescents. While theoretical conceptualizations (e.g., Erikson, 1968; Moffitt, 1993) suggest that delinquency and identity formation might be developmentally intertwined across adolescence,…

This study aimed to gain a better understanding of the normative declines in adolescent disclosure and maternal knowledge over the course of adolescence, by assessing the underlying monitoring processes. Multilevel structural equation models were applied to 15 assessments among 479 families across 5 years (13 years at T1, 57% boys, 11% low…

This study tested whether Marcia's original identity statuses of achievement, moratorium, early closure (a new label for foreclosure), and diffusion, can be considered identity status trajectories. That is, we examined whether these statuses are distinct and relatively stable, over-time configurations of commitment strength, levels of in-depth…

Longitudinal research into personal and ethnic identity has expanded considerably in the first decade of the present century. The longitudinal studies have shown that personal identity develops progressively during adolescence, but also that many individuals do not change identity, especially ethnic identity. Researchers have found rank-order…

The aim of this five-wave longitudinal study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and adolescent identity development. Participants were 1,313 adolescents who annually completed measures of anxiety and identity. Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) analyses demonstrated that the adolescent population was best typified by two latent growth…

We used three identity processes (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) from a recently developed model of identity formation to derive empirically identity statuses in a sample of 1952 early and middle adolescents. By means of cluster analysis, we identified five statuses: achievement, foreclosure, moratorium,…

The objective of this study was to test our alternative interpretation of the separation-individuation hypothesis. This interpretation states that separation from the parents is not a precondition for individuation, but rather separation and individuation are two parallel processes of development during adolescence. We investigated our…

People experience mental incongruity when there is a discrepancy between a standard and their own experience of a situation or behavior. The influence of adolescents' standards and mental incongruity on the development of their identity (N=706) was studied in both work and relational domains using structural equation models. (Author/EMK)

Examination of 352 Dutch secondary school students reveals that adolescents with high-level education who endorse adolescent rebellion have a more distinctly left-wing profile--in both their political party preferences and their political views--than those with low-level education, who more often ratified political intolerance. (BJV)