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Although research suggests an interplay between identity development and self-esteem, most studies focused on the role of identity commitment and measured only level of self-esteem. This study examined longitudinal associations between Berzonsky’s (2011) styles of identity exploration and two distinct features of self-esteem: level of self-esteem and contingent self-esteem. Participants were 167 college students (mean age = 19 years; 66% female) who completed questionnaires tapping into identity styles and features of self-esteem at two measurement waves separated by a 4-month interval. Both information-oriented and normative styles were found to be predicted by contingent self-esteem. Follow-up analyses demonstrated that the content of contingent self-esteem predicting both identity styles was different. A diffuse-avoidant identity style was predicted mainly by low levels of self-esteem. Although we also observed some effects of identity styles on the self-esteem variables, the self-esteem variables had overall a more consistent influence on the identity styles than the other way around.

On the basis of self-determination theory it is proposed that adolescents’ motives for forming and maintaining identity-relevant commitments can be either autonomous or controlled in nature. This study examined whether motives for identity commitments would add to the prediction of late adolescents’ adjustment beyond the effect of strength of commitment per se. In addition, it was examined how late adolescents’ identity-processing styles would relate to motives for commitment and whether motives for commitment would mediate between identity styles and adjustment. In a sample of 431 late adolescents it was found that autonomous and controlled motives were, respectively, positively and negatively related to adjustment even after taking into account the role of strength of commitment. Each of the three identity styles showed a specific pattern of associations with the motives for commitment, with an information-oriented style relating to the most autonomous and internalized motivational profile. Mediation analyses showed that at least part of the associations between identity styles and adjustment are mediated by motives for commitment. Directions for future research are discussed.

A surprising reward omission (SRO) occurs when an appetitive reinforcer is not presented (or it is reduced in magnitude or quality) even though there are signals for its impending presentation. Evidence supporting the hypothesis that SROs produce an aversive emotional reaction with physiological and behavioral consequences is reviewed. SROs are followed by pituitary–adrenal activation; changes in immune function; odor emissions in rodents; distress vocalizations in rodents and primates; and increases in locomotion, aggressive behavior, drinking, and eating. SROs can support the acquisition of new escape responses and invigorate previously acquired responses. The review identifies common aspects of these phenomena and areas in which more research is needed.

Two experiments with turtles (Geoclemys reevesii) examined the overtraining extinction effect (OEE) and the overtraining reversal effect (ORE), under massed training conditions. In Experiment 1, three groups of turtles received 7, 14, or 21 sessions of training in a runway situation for food reinforcement, followed by 15 sessions of extinction. Extinction was faster, the greater the number of acquisition sessions. In Experiment 2, the two groups of turtles learned a spatial discrimination for food reinforcement either to a criterion (19 of 20 correct responses), or to that criterion plus 100 additional trials of overtraining. When the validity of the positions was reversed, learning was faster for the overtrained group than for the group trained to a criterion. This evidence of the OEE and the ORE is the first yet reported for a reptile. The results are discussed in the framework of comparative research on reward schedule effects.

This study examined the relationship between parental provision of attachment relations with early adolescents on parents' emotional and marital adjustment. A sample of 47 families composed of the mother, father, and early adolescent son (n = 20) or daughter (n = 27) participated in this study. Families were assessed on three separate occasions at 6-month intervals: the end of sixth grade, the first 2 months of seventh grade (involved a transition into a junior high school), and the end of seventh grade. The results revealed significant negative correlations between parents' attachment relations and measures of parents' emotional and marital adjustment. In addition, the strength of the relationship between measures of emotional and marital adjustment with attachment changed significantly across times of measurement, especially for the father The discussion emphasizes the need to consider the parental implications of attachment relations during the transitional periods that characterize early adolescence.

Attachment theory leads to the suggestion that the supportive function of attachment relations may be most salient during early adolescent transitions, such as the child's transition into junior high. To test these effects, questionnaire measures of attachment to parents, emotional autonomy, perceived self-competence, depression, and anxiety were completed by forty-seven 12-year-olds at three times: the last semester of sixth grade, the first 2 months of seventh grade (in a junior high school), and the last semester of seventh grade. Correlational results revealed that attachment to parents was significantly and positively correlated with measures of self-perceived competence, especially during the child's transition into junior high (Time 2). Also, attachment to parents was found to be significantly but negatively related to adolescent feelings of depression and anxiety. These results support the expected emergence, during transitional periods, of the buffering effect of parent-adolescent attachment for adolescent feelings of competence and emotional well-being.

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the emotional distancing and buffering hypotheses. The sample was composed of 231 seventh graders (133 females and 98 males). Each adolescent completed a battery of questionnaires yielding measures of perceived attachment to mother and father, pubertal status, family expressiveness and cohesion, and feelings of depression and social anxiety. The emotional-distancing hypothesis was supported in that perceived attachment to parents was found to diminish with advanced pubertal maturity. The buffering hypothesis was also supported in that adolescents who perceived greater attachment to parents reported less depression and social anxiety as well as more positive perceptions of family expressiveness and cohesion. However, pubertal maturity did not appear to moderate the buffering effects of attachment. Results are discussed in terms of the need to further explore socialization processes associated with the child's transition into early adolescence.

A total of 178 subjects participated in a study designed to assess whether adolescent perceptions of intrapsychic and extrapsychic functioning could be used to discriminate between pure identity statuses. Intrapsychic functioning was dimensionalized to include the degree of self-conscious reasoning, and the quality of the separation-individuation process of adolescence. Extrapsychic functioning was dimensionalized in terms of family coping, family cohesion, and openness of parent-adolescent communication patterns. The stepwise discriminant analysis yielded two discriminant functions which indicated that the adolescent's perceptions of intrapsychic and extrapsychic functioning significantly discriminated between the identity statuses. The classification results reveal that identity achieved and diffused adolescents were most accurately identified based on the discriminant functions. The discussion addresses the relevance of these findings to the model of adolescent psychosocial development advanced by Grotevant and Cooper.

The purpose of this study was to describe domains of family conflict and to examine variations in these domains by adolescent pubertal status, gender, and status as a family member. Sixty-three intact family triads completed an instrument designed to assess pubertal status and the Issues Checklist. Principal Factor Analysis with Varimax rotation resulted in the retention of seven factors accounting for 78.52 percent of the variance. Separate Stepwise Regression analyses were conducted for each factor (using factor scores) with adolescent pubertal status, gender, and status as a family member as predictors. Persistent Concerns and Appearance Issues were more disruptive in families with daughters than sons. Room Care and School Issues varied among family members. Leisure and Time Management Issues varied by adolescent pubertal status. Only Household Issues were unrelated to any of the predictor variables. In summary, the affective climate of the family can be characterized by a variety of conflictual domains, the intensity of which are related to adolescent pubertal status, gender, the role as a family member.

A study was conducted to examine adolescent's sexual self-disclosure to their parents and friends. The sample consisted of 169 senior high school students. The results revealed that adolescents engage in more sexual disclosure with their friends than with their parents. In addition, significantly greater sexual disclosure was reported between adolescents and same-sex, rather than opposite-sex, parent and friend. The only exception to this finding was that no significant differences were reported in male and female sexual self-disclosure to a best female friend. Additional regression analyses revealed that adolescent sexual disclosure to parents was strongly associated with adolescent perceptions of the openess and adaptiveness of the family context. By contrast, sexual disclosure to friends was strongly related to the adolescent's emotional individuation from the family. The discussion focuses on sexual socialization during adolescence.