Adolescent Identity Development and Distress in a Clinical Sample

    Authors

    R. E. Wiley;S. L. Berman

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Clin. Psychol.

    Keywords

    identity development; identity distress; adolescent psychopathology; clinical; VALIDATION; Psychology, Clinical

    Abstract

    ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of identity development and identity distress to psychological adjustment within adolescents affected by psychological problems. MethodParticipants included 88 adolescents (43.2% female) ranging from 11 to 20 years of age who were receiving services from a community mental health center. ResultsA high proportion of the participants (22.7%) met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision criteria for Identity Problem. Regression analyses found psychopathology symptom score was associated with identity distress, identity exploration, and identity commitment, while identity distress was only related to psychopathology symptom score and not the other two identity variables. ConclusionsAdolescents with a clinical diagnosis may report significant levels of identity distress. Given that the relationship between psychopathology and identity distress may be reciprocal, assessing for identity issues might be prudent when conducting clinical diagnostic interviews and useful in treatment planning. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Clin. Psychol. 69:1299-1304, 2013.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Clinical Psychology

    Volume

    69

    Issue/Number

    12

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    1299

    Last Page

    1304

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000325996100008

    ISSN

    0021-9762

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