The current study focused on three aspects of identity development relevant to the adolescent years: being an authentic person, perceiving control over and consistency in one's environment, and having consistent expectations from close others. In a two-wave study of adolescents (n = 750), we examined how these aspects change over the course of a…

We examined change and stability of the 3 personality types identified by Block and Block (1980) and studied their links with adjustment and relationships. We used data from a 5-wave study of 923 early-to-middle and 390 middle-to-late adolescents, thereby covering the ages of 12-20 years. In Study 1, systematic evidence for personality change was…

Study focused on the relationship among adolescents' negative thoughts, depressive mood and family environment. Family cohesion was found to be related to the degree of negative thoughts and depressive mood, while perceived control within the family was not. (BF)

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Assoc. (San Francisco, Calif., Aug. 29, 1967)

Phenomenological and psychodynamic differences between girls who score at the high and low extremes of the Psychosocial Maturity Inventory are explored. Ability to tolerate anxiety and the developmental use of interpersonal relationships are discussed as central to identity formation among these girls. (Author/MV)

The use of self-psychology, a theory first developed by Heinz Kohut, is discussed and illustrated with case examples from child welfare practice. The cases demonstrate that self-psychology can enhance an ecological model. The ways in which self-psychology can enrich the social worker's therapeutic role in permanency planning are emphasized.…

Argues for a view of adolescence as deriving from the nature of the interaction of adolescent thought and action in a social setting. Suggests the necessity for rethinking current definitions of adult as well as adolescent development and calls for a change in ways both groups are educated. (RC)

This longitudinal study examined consistency and change in human personality. Rather than studying the consistency of individual differences over time, an approach which considers only the stability of a variable at the group level and ignores differences in stability at an individual level, this study used a person-centered approach to study…

Based on a theory of personality in which the self, considered as a perceptual agent, is defined in terms of interpersonal orientation, seven components of self-other orientation are proposed: (1) majority identification, (2) complexity, (3) power, (4) self-esteem, (5) self-centrality, (6) identification, and (7) social dependence. The self-social…

Developmental changes in self-perceptions were studied in children and adolescents in grades 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. The responses of subjects to the question Who am I? were analyzed by means of a 30-category scoring system. Children described themselves in terms of their physical appearance and their behavior, while adolescents referred to their…

Relationships between patterns of family interaction and child development are investigated in this study on how family environment and quality of interaction relate to an adolescent's psychological and social functioning. A sample of 99 white middle-class families participated in a 2-hour structured interview in their homes. The interview…