Personal Identity Development in Hispanic Immigrant Adolescents: Links with Positive Psychosocial Functioning,Depressive Symptoms,and Externalizing Problems

The present study was designed to examine trajectories of personal identity coherence and confusion among Hispanic recent-immigrant adolescents, as well as the effects of these trajectories on psychosocial and risk-taking outcomes. Personal identity is extremely important in anchoring young immigrants during a time of acute cultural change. A sample of 302 recently immigrated (5 years or less in the United States at baseline) Hispanic adolescents (M_age?=?14.51 years at baseline; SD?=?0.88 years, range 14–17) from Miami and Los Angeles (47?% girls) completed measures of personal identity coherence and confusion at the first five waves of a six-wave longitudinal study; and reported on positive psychosocial functioning, depressive symptoms, and externalizing problems at baseline and at Time 6. Results indicated that identity coherence increased linearly across time, but that there were no significant changes in confusion over time and no individual differences in confusion trajectories. Higher baseline levels of, and improvements in, coherence predicted higher levels of self-esteem, optimism, and prosocial behavior at the final study timepoint. Higher baseline levels of confusion predicted lower self-esteem, greater depressive symptoms, more aggressive behavior, and more rule breaking at the final study timepoint. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of personal identity for Hispanic immigrant adolescents, and in terms of implications for intervention.     

Developmental Interplay between Ethnic,National, and Personal Identity in Immigrant Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Developing a personal identity is a core developmental task for all adolescents. Immigrant adolescents need to integrate the meaning that their belonging to their...     

Existential Anxiety in Adolescents: Prevalence, Structure, Association with Psychological Symptoms and Identity Development

Existential anxiety is hypothesized to be a core human issue in a great deal of theoretical and philosophical writing. However, little is known about the emergence of these concerns and their relation to emotional functioning in youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of existential anxiety in a sample of adolescents. Data on existential concerns, identity development and psychological symptoms were collected on a sample of 139 youth in grades 9–12. Results indicated that existential anxiety concerns have a theoretically consistent factor structure, are common among adolescents, and are associated with psychological symptoms, as well as identity issues. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of existential concerns in the lives of youth and the need for additional research.Received PhD from Florida International University. Interests are identity development including associated anxiety and distress, cross-national comparisons, and the development of identity interventions.Received PhD from Florida International University. Interests focus on the developmental psychopathology of anxiety and depression.Received PhD from the University of Arizona. Interests include a range of topics in developmental psychopathology, prevention, program evaluation, and research methodology.     

Ethnic-Racial Socialization,Ethnic-Racial Identity,and Depressive Symptoms in Korean Adolescents in the United States and China

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - The United States and China are top two receiving countries of Korean immigrants in modern history. Minority families in ethnically-racially diverse societies,...     

Acculturation, Enculturation, and Symptoms of Depression in Hispanic Youth: The Roles of Gender, Hispanic Cultural Values, and Family Functioning

The risk for depression increases as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. society. This association is stronger for Hispanic girls than boys. To better understand the influence of culture and family on depressive symptoms, we tested a process-oriented model of acculturation, cultural values, and family functioning. The data came from Project RED, which included 1,922 Hispanic students (53?% girls; 86?% were 14?years old; and 84?% were U.S. born) from Southern California. We used data from 9th to 11th grade to test the influence of acculturation-related experiences on depressive symptoms over time. Multi-group structural equation analysis suggested that both family conflict and cohesion were linked with depressive symptoms. Hispanic cultural values were associated with family cohesion and conflict but the strength and direction of these relationships varied across cultural values and gender. For girls and boys, familismo and respeto were associated with higher family cohesion and lower family conflict. Moreover, gender roles were linked with higher family cohesion in girls but not in boys. These results indicate that improving family functioning will be beneficial for boys' and girls' psychological well-being. This may be achieved by promoting familismo and respeto for boys and girls and by promoting traditional gender roles for girls.     

Longitudinal Links Between Identity Consolidation and Psychosocial Problems in Adolescence: Using Bi-Factor Latent Change and Cross-Lagged Effect Models

Most previous identity research has focused on relationships between identity synthesis, confusion, and psychosocial problems. However, these studies did not take into account Erikson’s notion of identity consolidation, that is, the dynamic interplay between identity synthesis and confusion. This study aimed to examine longitudinal relationships and the directionality of the effects between identity consolidation and psychosocial problems during adolescence, using two waves of longitudinal data from 793 Japanese adolescents (49.7% girls; ages 13–14 and 16–17 at Time 1). A bi-factor latent change model revealed that levels and changes in identity consolidation were negatively associated with levels and changes in psychosocial problems. Furthermore, a bi-factor cross-lagged effects model provided evidence that identity consolidation negatively predicted psychosocial problems, and vice versa. Our study facilitates a better understanding of the importance of identity consolidation in the relations between identity components and psychosocial problems.     

Family Functioning and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Disentangling between-, and Within-Family Associations

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Adolescence is often a period of onset for internalizing and externalizing problems. At the same time, adolescent maturation and increasing autonomy from parents...     

Psychological Symptoms Linking Exposure to Community Violence and Academic Functioning in African American Adolescents

African American adolescents are exposed disproportionately to community violence, increasing their risk for emotional and behavioral symptoms that can detract from learning and undermine academic outcomes. The present study examined whether aggressive behavior and depressive and anxious symptoms mediated the association between exposure to community violence and academic functioning, and if the indirect effects of community violence on academic functioning differed for boys and girls, in a community sample of urban African American adolescents (N = 491; 46.6 % female). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the indirect effect of exposure to community violence in grade 6 on grade 8 academic functioning. Results revealed that aggression in grade 7 mediated the association between grade 6 exposure to community violence and grade 8 academic functioning. There were no indirect effects through depressive and anxious symptoms, and gender did not moderate the indirect effect. Findings highlight the importance of targeting aggressive behavior for youth exposed to community violence to not only improve their behavioral adjustment but also their academic functioning. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Attachment and the Development of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Role of Regulating Positive and Negative Affect

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Although widely accepted, attachment theory’s hypothesis that insecure attachment is associated with the development of depressive symptoms through emotion...     

The Role of Language, Parents, and Peers in Ethnic Identity Among Adolescents in Immigrant Families

To construct a model of the influences on ethnic identity among adolescents in immigrant families, we surveyed adolescents and their parents from 81 Armenian families, 47 Vietnamese families, and 88 Mexican families. Adolescents completed measures of ethnic language proficiency, in-group peer social interaction, and ethnic identity. Parents completed a measure of support for cultural maintenance. Across all groups, ethnic language proficiency and in-group peer interaction predicted ethnic identity, and parental cultural maintenance predicted adolescent ethnic language proficiency. However, because of differences among the groups, a separate model was required for each ethnic group. The results suggest both common processes and group differences in the factors that influence ethnic identity.     

Organized Activity Involvement,Depressive Symptoms,and Social Adjustment in Adolescents: Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status as Moderators

The current cross-sectional study investigated the links between various dimensions of organized activity involvement and depressive symptoms, loneliness, and peer victimization in an ethnically and economically diverse sample of adolescents (N = 152; 58% female). Results indicate that adolescents who were involved in organized activities for more years also reported lower levels of loneliness. There was evidence of diminishing returns when adolescents were very highly involved in organized activities; those who were either under- or over-involved reported the highest levels of depressive symptoms. Conversely, findings indicate that adolescents who participated in a narrow or wide range of activity contexts reported the lowest levels of depressive symptoms. In addition, results suggested that the relation between organized activity involvement and adjustment differs among adolescents from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings from the current study also underscore the importance of considering multiple indices of activity involvement when assessing its association with adjustment.

The Broader Context of Relational Aggression in Adolescent Romantic Relationships: Predictions from Peer Pressure and Links to Psychosocial Functioning

The broader context of relational aggression in adolescent romantic relationships was assessed by considering the ways such aggression emerged from prior experiences of peer pressure and was linked to concurrent difficulties in psychosocial functioning. Longitudinal, multi-reporter data were obtained from 97 adolescents and their best friends at age 15 and from adolescents and their romantic partners at age 18. Teens’ relational aggression and romantic partners’ victimization were predicted from levels of best friends’ pressuring behaviors toward teens in an observed interaction as well as from best friends’ ratings of how much pressure teens experienced from their peer group. Romantic partner relational aggression and teen victimization were predicted by pressure from teens’ peer group only. Adolescents’ romantic relational aggression and victimization were also associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms and increased alcohol use. Results are discussed in terms of the connection of relational aggression in romantic relationships to the broader task of establishing autonomy with peers in psychosocial development.

A Multi-mediation Model on the Relations of Bullying,Victimization, Identity,and Family with Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

This study investigated a multi-mediation model of the relationship between bullying behavior, peer victimization, personal identity, and family characteristics to adolescent depressive symptoms in 194 high school students, 12–18 years of age. In the first model, peer victimization mediated the relation between bullying behavior and depressive symptoms. In the second model, personal identity mediated the relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. In the final model, the two mediation models were combined. The relative influence of family characteristics on all variables in the two mediation models was studied using structural equation modeling. The results supported both mediation models and confirmed the influence of family characteristics on all variables in the mediation models. This study indicates that victimization by one’s peers has consequences for adolescents’ psychological health when their personal identity is affected. In addition, the study was able to model several processes in which family characteristics were related to adolescent depressive symptoms. Moreover, the final combined model (in which the two mediation models and the influence of family characteristics on all variables were confirmed) explained half of the variance in adolescent depressive symptoms.

Psychosocial Factors in Adolescent and Young Adult Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms: Causal or Correlational Associations?

Using a large longitudinal representative community sample, this study identified three groups of subjects who were depressed either in pre-adolescence, late adolescence or early adulthood, and matched by age and gender to controls without depression. The 90th percentile on one or two self-reported symptom scales [i. e. the Center for Epidemilogical Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) or the subscale Anxious / Depressed subscale on either the Youth Self Report (YSR) or the Young Adult Self Report (YASR)] served as the cut-off for the depression groups. Psychosocial variables under study included life events and life events impact, coping, self-related cognitions, perceived parental rearing style, family relations, perceived school environment, and the internalizing (except anxious/depressed) and externalizing problem scale of the YSR/YASR. The study found a large number of time-related correlations between psychosocial factors and depression. Evidence for causal effect (either antecedent or consequent) was obtained only for self-esteem, perceived maternal rejection, and internalizing problems.     

School Belonging,Self-Esteem,and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: An Examination of Sex,Sexual Attraction Status,and Urbanicity

Using data from Wave II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; Bearman, P. S., Jones, J., and Udry, J. R. http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/design.html, 1997), we conducted multivariate analyses to examine three indicators of psychosocial adjustment (school belonging, self-esteem, depressive symptoms) and their associations with sexual attraction status, sex, and urbanicity. In general, sexual minority adolescents reported lower psychological adjustment than adolescents endorsing other-sex attractions only, with sexual minority females at particular risk. Further, differential patterns of risk for sexual minority youth emerged across rural, urban, and suburban communities. We conclude by discussing implications of these findings for addressing the psychosocial needs of sexual minority adolescents.     

Different Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: Predictors and Differences in Girls and Boys

The development of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence can follow different pathways. This study examined heterogeneity in the development of self-reported depressive symptoms and the predictive influence of mothers’ depressive symptoms, the number of life events, and loss events via growth mixture modeling over a four-year period in a large community sample of German children and adolescents (N = 3,902; mean age 11.39 years; 49.6 % female). This procedure was conducted for the total sample as well as for separate samples of girls and boys. Four different classes of trajectories for the total and the girls’ model were identified, but only three classes for the boys. Girls showed higher intercepts and stronger increases in symptoms over time, whereas boys displayed stronger decreases. In the total model, mothers’ depressive symptoms and the number of life events significantly increased the level of depressive symptoms. In the gender models, only mothers’ depressive symptoms showed significant influence on the level of symptoms in girls and boys, whereas for life events this was only true for boys. In every model, the significant predictors discriminated at least between some classes. Loss events showed no significant influence in any model. In sum, there are meaningful differences in the development of depressive symptoms in girls and boys. These results have several implications for prevention and future research.     

Pubertal Timing and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescents: The Roles of Romantic Competence and Romantic Experiences

In spite of the large literature supporting the link between early pubertal timing and depression in adolescent girls, there are some exceptions. This suggests that there may be factors that interact with pubertal timing, increasing risk for depression in some girls, but not others. This study examined two such factors, romantic competence and romantic experiences, and their role in the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms among 83 early adolescent females (89% Caucasian). For on-time maturing girls (but not for early- or late-), lower levels of competence were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms concurrently, but not longitudinally. In addition, for on-time maturing girls, more romantic experiences were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms both concurrently and longitudinally. The discussion focused on the need for greater conceptual and empirical clarity regarding the pubertal timing-depression association and its potential moderators.

Anger, Happiness, and Sadness: Associations with Depressive Symptoms in Late Adolescence

This study used self-report and observational methods to examine associations between depressive symptoms and patterns of emotional experience and expression during late adolescence. Fiftyone male and 49 female first and second year college students completed questionnaires on emotion experience and were videotaped while completing a frustrating task with a friend. Emotion expressions were coded from videotapes. Findings revealed associations between depressive symptoms and reporting high anger experience in the past month but displaying low anger with a friend, reporting low happiness but showing high happiness in the task, and reporting high sadness experience. Gender differences were found in depressive symptoms and in observed and reported happiness. Findings highlight the importance of anger and happiness, in addition to sadness, for depression.Received a PhD in child clinical psychology with a minor in developmental psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on the role of emotion regulation in the development of psychopathology, particularly the development of depression in adolescence.