Stability and Internal Consistency of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire: A Study of Finnish Adolescents

Reliability of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) was assessed with two measures—internal consistency and stability—in Finnish children aged 13. The OSIQ was administered to 268 normal 13-year-old pupils (129 girls and 139 boys). Three weeks later, a third of the pupils (N = 88) were randomly selected for retesting. Eighty-three teenagers completed the questionnaire in an acceptable manner. The internal consistency of the test was verified for each scale using Cronbach . To estimate the stability of the test, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated, and the mean raw scores for each scale were compared with those in the retest. The internal consistency of the test was fairly good ( = 0.54–0.84) for the majority of scales, except for scales S5 and S12 ( = 0.30–0.41). The stability of scales S1, S4, S5, S7, and S10 was good. On the basis of these two measures, we conclude that for Finnish adolescents, the OSIQ is sufficiently reliable only with respect to scales S1, S4, S7, and S10.     

The Offer Self-Image Questionnaire for adolescents: Psychometric properties and factor structure

The reliability and validity of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) for adolescents were investigated using data from an Australian sample of male and female school students, with an average age of 14.9 years (n=216). Reliability coefficients were high for all subscales except the Morals subscale. Results indicated significant correlations of the OSIQ subscales with Lang and Tisher's Children's Depression Scale of 1978 and small correlations with a measure of social desirability. A factor analysis yielded five interpretable oblique factors that support the concept of a multidimensional self-image. Identification of items contributing little to the subscale alphas, and not loading on the factors yielded by the factor analysis, highlights the need for further development and validation of the OSIQ. Implications for the development of the self-concept at adolescence are also discussed.Received Ph.D. from University of Queensland. Research interests are adolescent development, self-concept, and career development.Received Ph.D. from University of Queensland. Research interests are adolescence, family, and communication.     

Ego development in the college years: Two longitudinal studies

Students from a two-year and a five-year college were tested twice at four-and four-and-a-half-year intervals using the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development. In both samples retest scores were positively correlated with initial scores (0.39 and 0.49) and were significantly higher in ego level (typically a half-stage). These data are consistent with the developmental hypothesis that ego growth occurs according to a fixed sequence of stages, and suggest that rate of growth decreases with age. In one sample women were higher in ego level than men at the beginning of the study, but in neither sample were sex differences significant at retest.     

Parent–Child Relations and Adolescent Self-Image Following Divorce: A 10 Year Study

This Australian study explored the links between self-image, family structure (divorced or intact), parent–child relations, and gender at 3 intervals over 10 years during adolescence (mean ages 14.7 at Time 1, 17.9 at Time 2) to early adulthood (mean age 24.9 at Time 3). The sample comprised 37 families at the point of divorce when interviewed in 1981–82, and 41 intact families of similar age, gender, and socioeconomic background. Initial measures of self-image (Offer Self-Image Questionnaire: OSIQ) and parent–child relations (Parent Bonding Inventory: PBI) were repeated in 1985 and 1990–91. ANOVAs showed that divorced fathers were perceived as significantly less caring than those from intact families at each interval. There were no family group differences on the control scale, nor on either scale for mothers. Correlations between PBI scales and OSIQ were significant for the sample as a whole, but were stronger for those from intact than divorced families. ANOVAs showed that when mothers' and fathers' parenting styles were seen as highly caring and also not over controlling (i.e., optimal), adolescent self-image was significantly better, irrespective of gender or family structure. Examination of the joint influence of both parents showed that at Times 1 and 2 adolescent self-image was significantly better when one or both parents, compared with neither, were optimal. At Time 3, this comparison was significant only when both parents were optimal. Self-image was related to whether or not a custodial parent was seen as optimal but not to the gender of the child or custodial parent.     

A longitudinal study of moral and ego development in young adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal changes in moral judgment and ego development in a young adult sample when a concurrent measure of verbal ability was used as a statistical control. Sixty-one late adolescents and young adults, representing three educational groups, were tested in 1977 and 1979 on the Defining Issues Tests, a measure of moral judgment (Rest), the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development (Loevinger and Wessler) and Terman's Concept Mastery Test, a measure of verbal ability. No group or time differences were found in ego development. A significant increase was found between the 1977 and 1979 moral judgment scores,p<0.05, and between groups at both testing,p<0.001. Sex differences were found,p<0.01, with females scoring higher than males, which were statistically accounted for by verbal ability. These findings suggest that moral development continues into the young adult years and that verbal ability may moderate sex differences in moral judgment.     

Diffusion within Marcia's identity-status paradigm: Does it foreshadow academic problems?

The present investigation attempted to ascertain longitudinally whether diffuseness about academic goals and plans would predict subsequent underachievement. Identity-status interviews were administered to 98 firstsemester college students. Their grade point averages (GPA) were obtained for their first six semesters in college. SAT and conceptual-level scores were used to generate predicted GPAs. Underachievement was operationally defined as a positive discrepancy between predicted-minus-observed GPA: underachievement=predicted observed GPA. Evidence for the hypothesized relationship between diffusion and academic underachievement was not found. To the contrary, Diffusions during their freshman year showed a tendency for relativeoverachievement (predicted observed GPA). The possibility of heterogeneity within Marcia's diffusion status was considered. Some diffuselike individuals may see their current lack of commitment and concern as a hiatus, whereas others may be truly unconcerned and myopic about their lives. A significant association between foreclosure and underachievement was found when the subjects were freshmen. This relationship was not replicated with an independent sample of 90 high school students. A post hoc interpretation focused on differences between transient and long-term Foreclosures and the role that the college environment may potentially play in instigating personal identity crises. The need for longitudinal tests on this account is underscored.     

Types of neutralization and types of delinquency

Neutralization theory was tested with questionnaires administered to a random sample of public school students (N=298) and institutionalized male delinquents (N=53). Nye-Short delinquency items were factor analyzed to yield three dimensions of delinquency (Predatory, Minor, and Aggressive), and each of the five techniques of neutralization was scored separately. Patterns of acceptance of neutralization techniques were similar among high school males, high school females, and institutionalized males. For example, all three subsamples scored highest on Detail of a Victim and lowest on Appeal to Higher Loyalties. Correlations between each technique of neutralization and each type of delinquency, however, were statistically significant and quite dissimilar. Within the three subsamples, however, there were no discernible patterns among these dissimilar correlations. In fact, few of the differences among these correlations were statistically significant. The analysis provides general support for neutralization theory, but indicates that the particular technique of neutralization as well as the particular type of delinquent act may be viable distinctions in delinquency research.     

Relationship status: Scales for assessing the vitality of late adolescents' relationships with their parents

Three criteria for assessing relationship status were proposed: self-disclosure despite the risk of parental disapproval; openness to critical feedback from parents; constructive confrontation when angry with parents. These concepts were operationalized as narratives of nine interpersonal dilemmas, to which late adolescents responded by indicating “What would you do if you were in this situation?” Reliable example-anchored scales were constructed from the responses of one sample of college students and then cross-validated with two other samples. Social class had a significant but small effect on the relationship status scores; but age and sex of adolescent and sex of parent did not. The patterns of correlations of the Relationship Status Scales among themselves and with the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire, the College Self-Expression Scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Hogan's Empathy Scale were interpreted as evidence of construct validity.     

Beeping children and adolescents: A method for studying time use and daily experience

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) among preadolescents and young adolescents by examining its implementation in a study of 483 5th–9th graders. Four specific methodological questions are addressed: (1) How adequate is the sampling of adolescents? (2) How adequate is the sampling of adolescents' experiences? (3) Does the method alter the phenomenon it attempts to measure? (4) How valid are the data obtained? Methodological information collected as part of the study suggests that the data obtained by the ESM accurately represents most of the experience of most of the individuals in the sample population.     

Demographic Marginalization,Social Integration,and Adolescents’ Educational Success

Links between schools’ demographic composition and students’ achievement have been a major policy interest for decades. Using a racially/ethnically diverse sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 6,302; 54 % females; 53 % White, 21 % African American, 15 % Latino, 8 % Asian American, 2 % other race/ethnicity), we examined the associations between demographic marginalization, students’ later social integration (loneliness at school, school attachment), and educational performance and attainment. Adolescents who were socioeconomically marginalized at school [i.e., having <15 % same-socioeconomic status (SES) peers] had lower cumulative grade point averages across high school and lower educational attainment. A similar disadvantage was observed among students who were both socioeconomically and racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., having <15 % same-SES peers and <15 % same-racial/ethnic peers). Indirect effects were also observed, such that demographic marginalization was linked to poorer school attachment, and poorer school attachment, in turn, was related to poorer academic performance. These results highlight the educational barriers associated with demographic marginalization and suggest potential targets for future intervention efforts.     

Revolutionary Mothers? Interacting Power Relations,Agency, and Social Change

In this article a theoretical discussion about intersectionality is carried out in dialogue with the ways in which battered and separated mothers deal with their children's situation and their relationship to their violent co‐parents/ex‐partners. In line with Connell's (1987) Connell, R. W. 1987. Gender and Power. Society, the Person and Sexual Politics, Cambridge: Polity Press.  [Google Scholar] argument that categories such as gender are shaped by several structures and that the social order is inherently instable due to historic “unevenness”, contradictions, and internal differentiation, it is shown how abused mothers both follow and undermine well‐established notions of childhood, gender, and parenthood when trying to tackle their situation post separation or divorce. What is furthermore shown is how their “doing” of age, gender, and kinship entails both dichotomization and neutralization. It is argued that constructions prominent in public discussions about children at risk—the intrinsic value of childhood, children's right to personal integrity, and need of safety and protection—serve as a resource when the interviewees argue against the norm prescribing contact between children and fathers post separation and divorce. Two established constructions of the child's best interests are set up against each other when the mothers try to undermine power associated with the father position. An empirically sensitive and actor‐centred intersectional analysis must be sophisticated enough to grasp such complexities if we are to be able to fully explore possibilities for social change.     

Efficacy of psychiatric inpatient hospitalization for adolescents as measured by pre- and post-MMPI profiles

The efficacy of inpatient hospitalization on emotionally impaired adolescents was investigated using present and past MMPI data. The results indicated that there is a flattening of the profile toward normalcy from time of admission to discharge time. Further statistical analysis revealed that of the 9 clinical MMPI scales, the Depression scale showed greatest change toward improvement.Received Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Major interests are behavior therapy and adolescent psychology.     

Correlates of drug abuse in adolescents: A comparison of families of drug abusers with families of nondrug abusers

This study was designed to compare drug-abusing adolescents and their families with nondrug-abusing adolescents and their families by (1) a comparison of the adolescents on measures of self-esteem and perceived parental behavior, (2) a comparison of the parents of drug-abusing adolescents with the parents of nondrug-abusing adolescents on child-rearing attitudes and on distortion in perceived parental behavior, and (3) an identification of the salient factors contributing to the prediction of drug-use in adolescents. The subjects in this study were 26 clinical inpatient drug-abusing adolescents and their parents and 26 nondrug-abusing adolescents and their parents. Testdata consisted of the adolescent's self-esteem score on the Self Esteem Inventory (SEI), the adolescent's factor score on the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory—Revised (CRPBI-R), and the parents' scale score on each of the five factors of the Parent Attitude Survey (PAS). Findings indicate that the adolescent's self-esteem and perception of parental behavior, the ability of the parents to predict the child's parental perceptions, and the professed parental attitudes toward confidence and responsibility in child rearing all combine to suggest a set of factors differentiating the drug-abusing adolescent from the nondrug-abusing adolescent.     

Relationship among ego identity status,field-independence,and traditional femininity

Fifty-five senior college women were given an ego identity status interview, two measures of field-independence (the Embedded Figures Test and figure drawings), and the Gough Femininity Scale. A significant relationship was found between ego identity status and field-independence, as measured by the EFT. Women in those identity statuses defined by occupational, ideological, and sexual commitment (Achievement and Foreclosure) were significantly more field-independent than women in those statuses which were not committed to elements of psychosocial identity (Moratorium and Diffusion). There was a trend toward a significant relationship between ego identity status and traditional femininity. No relationship was found between field-independence and traditional femininity.     

Ada's Piano Playing in Jane Campion's The Piano

Since the late eighteenth century, when the piano first became available for the private home, numerous female characters in literature have demonstrated their skill on the instrument. In nineteenth-century British novels, the prevalence of piano-playing women reflected the contemporary social expectation that middle-class women display some level of competence on the instrument. Yet representations of women pianists in twentieth-century films such as Jane Campion's The Piano (1992 Campion. Jane, dir . The Piano . Australian Film Commission/CiBy 2000/New South Wales Film and Television Office , 1992 .  [Google Scholar]) reflect a persistent Romantic fascination with women's piano playing as a means of expressing authentic inner emotion, especially sexual passion. In this paper I provide an overview of existing historical scholarship on the significance of the piano in nineteenth-century British and colonial culture. In light of this cultural history, I examine Campion's feminist reworking of the Romantic ideal of the artist. Judith Butler's model of performative subjectivity enables us to see the constructed nature of the Romantic ideal of individual self-expression as deployed in The Piano. In Campion's film, Ada's pianistic performance functions as a literal metaphor for the constitution of her subjectivity in the Butlerian sense. Moving beyond a critique of the Romantic model of artistic self-expression, however, I read the central violent conflict of the film as a specifically Victorian collision between genteel feminine and Romantic models of musical performance, the locus of which is the body of the piano-playing woman—Ada.     

Effect of Major Depression on the Self-Image of Adolescent Boys and Girls

We investigated the specific impact of major depressive disorder (MDD) on the self-image of adolescent boys and girls seeking outpatient treatment. We used the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) to compare 68 adolescents with MDD and 39 adolescents with no diagnosis of psychiatric illness according to the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). Self-image among MDD patients was in general poorer than in the comparison group and was particularly expressed as dissatisfaction with life and an impaired mastery of the environment. Logistic regression analysis showed S2 (Emotional Tone) to be an independent factor associated with MDD (OR 1.15). In girls S2 was also independently associated with MDD (OR 1.14). The effect of MDD on self-image was more negative in girls than in boys and the self-image pattern differed between the sexes.