Search

Dramatic changes in sleep duration, schedules, and quality put adolescents at higher risk of negative outcomes, such as poorer physical and psychosocial adjustment. While significant attention has been paid to the role of proximal contexts (e.g., family), less is known about the longitudinal interplay between exo- (e.g., neighborhood characteristics) and macro-contextual (e.g., ethnic/racial discrimination) influences and adolescents’ sleep quality. Therefore, this review aimed to summarize findings from available longitudinal research to understand the role of structural factors and experiences in the distal contexts of development in influencing sleep quality in adolescence. A total of 10 studies were included in this systematic review. The results highlighted the detrimental consequences of structural factors and experiences at the exo- and macro-systems for adolescents’ sleep duration, quality, and disturbances. Specifically, neighborhood economic deprivation, ethnic/racial minority status, community violence and victimization, and ethnic/racial discrimination were all linked to significantly lower sleep quality. Overall, this review highlighted the need for more longitudinal and multi-method studies addressing sleep quality as embedded in contexts and the reciprocal influences among the multiple layers of adolescents’ development.

This study ( N = 161 Italian adolescents attending 11th and 12th grade of secondary school) investigated how adolescents linguistically portray migrants. Over a year and a half, the study considered whether positive factors known to reduce social discrimination – i.e., multiple categorization of migrants and/or respondent's identification with the human group – are associated with relatively unbiased linguistic descriptions of migrants . The coding system included three categories of terms referring to the outgroup: generalized/categorical definitions, individuating piecemeal information or membership in the human group. We found that adolescents who used multiple categorizations to describe migrants and self-identified with the human group (at T1) linguistically described migrants in human and individuating terms (at T2) to a higher extent. The findings are discussed underlying the implications of defining the self and outgroups in multiple complex ways through language, as an ecological means used by adolescents to communicate their views of others.

In adolescence, peer relationships become crucial since youths start to rely on their peers for support. Thus, multiple facets of adolescents’ well-being are affected by their peer relationships. In this vein, one of the central well-being aspects that could be affected by the peer relationships of adolescents is sleep quality. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how multiple peer relationship factors (i.e., positive, negative, emotional, and behavioral issues related to peer relationships) are intertwined with adolescents’ sleep quality. For this reason, this systematic review with meta-analysis aims to summarize longitudinal studies to uncover how the interplay between peer relationship factors and adolescents’ sleep quality unfolds over time. Nineteen longitudinal studies involving a total of 21,232 adolescents were included. Overall, findings from this review showed that (a) positive peer relationships and sleep quality were not associated over time; (b) negative peer relationships and sleep quality were bidirectionally associated over time; (c) few studies evaluated the bidirectional relations between emotional and behavioral issues and sleep quality, showing links with sleep schedule and duration, but not with sleep quality. Meta-analytic results were discussed, considering their implications.

The aim of this study was to explore the potentially different associations between two common aspects of adolescents’ life, namely social jetlag and weekend catch-up sleep, with well-being and physical health, according to the actual sleep duration, i.e.

This study investigated the associations between cultural diversity approaches endorsed by teachers and adolescents' positive and negative intergroup contact in schools. Participants were 984 adolescents (Mage=14.66; 62.7% female; 24.8% ethnic minority) involved in a three-wave longitudinal study between 2019 and 2020. Results highlighted that perceived equal treatment by teachers was related to higher positive and lower negative contact over time. However, perceived support for contact and cooperation and interest of teachers in children's cultural background were not related to either positive or negative contact over time. Importantly, the results were replicated across ethnic minority and majority adolescents. This study provides novel insights into the key role that teachers can play in promoting cultural diversity approaches to facilitate harmonious intergroup interactions in schools.

Purpose Given the large number of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) impacted by parental cancer and the potential for negative psychosocial outcomes in this vulnerable population, this study examined the mediating role of offspring unmet needs with regard to parental cancer and the relation between AYAs psychosocial adjustment and perceived illness unpredictability. Methods A total of 113 AYAs (aged 11–24 years) living with a parent diagnosed with cancer completed a questionnaire assessing illness unpredictability, offspring unmet needs, and psychosocial adjustment (i.e., health-related quality of life and internalizing problems). Results Higher offspring unmet needs were associated with lower health-related quality of life (r = –0.24**) and higher internalizing problems (r = 0.21*). Offspring unmet needs mediated the relation between illness unpredictability and health-related quality of life (standardized indirect effect = –0.100* [–0.183, –0.018]) but not internalizing problems (standardized indirect effect = 0.067 [–0.015, 0.148]). In particular, higher illness unpredictability was related to higher unmet needs (β = 0.351**) which, in turn, predicted lower health-related quality of life (β = –0.286**). Conclusion These findings identify offspring unmet needs and illness unpredictability as implicated in AYAs positive psychosocial adjustment to parental cancer. Given that AYAs are at greater risk of elevated psychosocial difficulties, interventions should target offspring unmet needs and perception of illness unpredictability to mitigate the adverse effects of parental cancer.

Empathic competences might help adolescents navigate current multicultural societies by supporting harmonious intergroup relations. Yet it is unclear how each component of empathy (empathic concern and perspective-taking) is associated with different dimensions (affective, cognitive, behavioral) of ethnic prejudice. The current study aims to fill this gap. A total of 259 Italian adolescents (Mage = 15.60, 87.6% female) completed online questionnaires at three time points (i.e., April, May, and October 2021). The results of cross-lagged models indicated that empathic concern was directly and indirectly associated with reduced affective, cognitive, and behavioral ethnic prejudice, while perspective-taking was linked to increases in cognitive and one facet of behavioral (i.e., lower contact willingness) prejudice. Furthermore, the prevalence of affect over cognition was found, with the affective component of both empathic competences (i.e., empathic concern) and ethnic prejudice exerting the strongest influence on the cognitive ones.

Adolescents spend most of their daily time in school and performing school-related activities. Different aspects of their school experiences, such as school performance, psychological factors related to school, and structural factors, consistently impact adolescents’ health and are likely to be intertwined with their sleep (i.e., quantity and quality, sleep disturbances). This systematic review aimed to comprehensively summarize the reciprocal and longitudinal associations between adolescents’ sleep and multiple aspects of their school experience. Using multiple search strategies and applying a two-step selection process, 25 journal articles matched the eligibility criteria and were thus included in the review. The results highlighted the contribution of poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances in predicting longitudinal school experiences-related outcomes (i.e., decreasing school engagement and performance, and increasing school-related burnout, absenteeism, and bullying). At the same time, the results showed how experiences related to the school’s psychological factors (e.g., high levels of school burnout and stressful environment) and structural characteristics (e.g., early school entrance time) affect youth sleep over time (i.e., decreasing sleep quality and quantity). These main findings provided novel insights into the bidirectional relationship between school experience and sleep health, highlighting the importance of more longitudinal research investigating all aspects of healthy sleep, including the size and direction of the association.

Family is one of the primary socialization contexts influencing adolescents’ psychological health. In this regard, a crucial indicator of adolescents’ health is their sleep quality. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how multiple family factors (i.e., demographic and relational) are intertwined with adolescents’ sleep quality. For this reason, this systematic review with meta-analysis aims to comprehensively summarize and integrate previous longitudinal research investigating the reciprocal relation between demographics (e.g., family structure) and positive (e.g., family support) and negative (e.g., family chaos) relational family factors and adolescents’ sleep quality. Several search strategies were applied, and a final set of 23 longitudinal studies that matched the eligibility criteria were included in this review. The total number of participants was 38,010, with an average age at baseline of 14.7 years (SD = 1.6, range: 11–18 years). On the one hand, the meta-analytic results showed that demographic factors (e.g., low socio-economic status) were not related to adolescents’ sleep quality at a later time point. On the other hand, positive and negative family relational factors were positively and negatively related to adolescents’ sleep, respectively. Furthermore, the results suggested that this association could be bidirectional. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

In this contribution, we review research that uses a cross-fertilisation approach to integrate developmental and social-psychological perspectives on how identities are formed and changed over time and how identity processes are genuinely social, being embedded in social contexts and fed by social contents. First, we outline the three-factor identity model as a parsimonious approach to understanding the dynamics of identity development. Second, we review empirical studies with longitudinal approaches to shed light on how identity processes are embedded in key contexts such as family, friendships and society at large through behaviours such as civic engagement. Third, we discuss the interplay between personal and social identities. We conclude by highlighting how adopting a cross-fertilisation approach that combines social-psychological and developmental perspective can significantly advance the theoretical understanding of identity dynamics. Finally, we address similarities and differences between personal identity and social identity approaches, and we provide an agenda for future research.

The present study examined the role of morality, competence, and attractiveness as perceived from faces in predicting hiring decisions for men and women. Results showed that for both female and male applicants, facial competence significantly predicted the hiring decision directly and indirectly, through the mediation of the overall impression. Decisions concerning female applicants were, however, significantly predicted by multiple dimensions—that is, facial morality, facial competence, and attractiveness—with the mediation of the overall impression. Facial competence was the only significant predictor of impression and, in turn, hiring decision about men. These findings resonate the mottoVirtutem forma decorat, “Beauty adorns virtue,” painted by Leonardo da Vinci on the reverse side of the portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, and suggest that women’s chances of getting a job are less than those of men whenever they do not show a moralandcompetentandattractive face.

Inspired by the Conservation of Resource theory (Hobfoll, 1989), this study investigated the role of a broad set of personal vulnerabilities, social, and work-related stressors and resources as predictors of workers’ well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants were 594 workers in Italy. Results showed that personality predispostions, such as positivity, neuroticism and conscientiousness as well as key aspects of the individuals’ relationship with their work (such as job insecurity, type of employment contract or trust in the organization) emerged as factors promoting (or hampering) workers’ adjustment during the COVID -19 outbreak. Interactions between stressors and resources were also found and discussed. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02408-w.

Self-concept clarity reflects how confidently and clearly an individual defines the self-belief, and it is theorized to help individuals to be more resilient in the face of stressors. The present study aimed at investigating how self-concept clarity may be implicated in the stress process related to the COVID-19 outbreak, by examining its association with daily negative affect, as a short-term adaptational outcome. The impact of the total number of positive cases, as an objective index of COVID-19 spreading, on negative affect was also tested. Participants were 287 young Italian adults (52% female; Mage =22.68years, SDage =2.62), who completed twelve daily diaries (of which five after the lockdown measure was introduced). Results from multilevel growth modeling showed that individuals low in self-concept clarity reported the highest levels of negative affect across the study period, compared to individuals high in self-concept clarity. Moreover, after the issuing of the lockdown measure, individuals high in self-concept clarity showed a steeper increase in their daily level of negative affect, compared to individuals low in self-concept clarity, indicating their responsiveness to the new situation. The total number of new cases was not related to daily negative affect. These findings attest the protective role of self-concept clarity and its impact on emotional responding to the lockdown measure in Italy.

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real- world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding “how” we do developmental science and “what for” are out- lined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for integrative, inclusive, transdisciplinary, transparent, and actionable developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Previous research highlighted that prejudice is already formed in early childhood, reaches a peak in middle childhood, and slightly decreases in late childhood, whereas the development of prejudice in adolescence was mostly unknown. This systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively summarize and integrate prior longitudinal research on adolescents’ prejudice to address two main research questions: (a) how does prejudice develop in adolescence? (b) which factors are related to holding prejudicial attitudes in adolescence? Using multiple search strategies and applying a two-step selection process, a final set of 26 journal articles including a total of 30 samples (N = 23,513 participants) was found to match eligibility criteria and, thus, was included in the review. The meta-analytic findings highlighted that (a) prejudice does not change in adolescence; (b) interindividual differences in prejudice are well-established, they become increasingly strong with age, and they are inversely related to the time-lag between assessments; and (c) several individual, identity, and contextual factors are related to prejudice in different ways. More specifically, social dominance orientation, intergroup anxiety, identification with the national ingroup, and parental prejudice contributed to increasing later levels of adolescents’ prejudice, whereas intergroup friendship contributed to lessening it. Importantly, prejudice had comparable reverse effects on these factors, pointing to consistent bidirectional associations. These main findings are discussed considering their implications for future research and practice.

The transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood is a period of the life span that offers young people the possibility to consolidate their self–certainty and prosociality. Both aspects are of core importance for increasing personal and societal well–being. The purpose of this longitudinal study was twofold: (i) to examine patterns of change and stability in self–concept clarity and prosociality; and (ii) to unravel over time associations between these constructs in the transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. In addressing both aims, we explored the moderating effects of gender. Participants were 244 Dutch emerging adults (46% male; mean age at T1 = 16.73 years) who completed six waves of data collection (mean age at T6 = 22.7 years). Findings highlighted that (i) self–concept clarity developed nonlinearly, with an initial decline from T1 to T2 followed by an increase thereafter, while prosociality increased linearly over time and both self–concept clarity and prosociality were characterized by high rank–order consistency; (ii) self–concept clarity and prosociality were positively related over time, with the effect of prosociality on self–concept clarity being stronger than the reciprocal effect of self–concept clarity on prosociality. Gender differences were detected in mean levels of self–concept clarity and prosociality (male participants reported higher self–concept clarity and lower prosociality than female participants) but not in their developmental pathways nor in their reciprocal associations. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to disentangle patterns of change and stability in self-concept clarity (SCC) in adolescents and in their parents and (b) to examine processes of intergenerational transmission of SCC in families with adolescents. Participants were 497 Dutch families including the father (baseline M age =46.74), the mother (baseline M age =44.41), and their adolescent child (56.9% males; baseline M age =13.03). Each family member completed the SCC scale for six waves, with a one-year interval between each wave. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that adolescent boys reported higher SCC than girls. Furthermore, fathers and mothers reported higher SCC than their children, and it increased over time. Indices of SCC rank-order stability were high and increased from T1 to T2, T2 to T3, etc., for each family member, especially for adolescents. Multivariate latent growth curve analyses and cross-lagged models highlighted a unidirectional transmission process, with fathers' and mothers' SCC influencing adolescents' SCC. This result was not moderated by adolescent gender. These findings indicate that self-concept clarity is transmitted from parents to children.

The development of personal and social identity is crucial in adolescence. On the one hand, adolescents face the task of forming and consolidating their personal identity in multiple domains, with educational and interpersonal domains particularly salient. On the other hand, they enlarge their social horizon and increasingly define themselves as members of multiple peer groups, such as groups of classmates and friends met outside school. There is however a lack of integrative research on the interplay among and between personal and social identity processes. Hence the purpose of this study was threefold. First, we examined how personal identity processes in the educational and interpersonal domains are associated longitudinally. Second, we investigated to what extent social identifications with classmates and with the group of friends are associated over time. Third, with an original approach we examined the longitudinal interplay between personal and social identity processes, to connect theoretical contributions that have so far proceeded largely in parallel. Participants were 304 adolescents (61.84% female, M age = 17.49) involved in a three-wave longitudinal study. We found that (a) the ways in which adolescents develop their identity in the educational and interpersonal domains become more closely intertwined over time; (b) identifications with classmates and with the group of friends are interconnected; and (c) personal and social identity processes are associated both concurrently and longitudinally, with most cross-lagged effects showing that social identifications influence personal identity formation and consolidation in the interpersonal identity domain. Theoretical implications are discussed.

na

Background: Approximately 20 % of adolescents around the world experience mental health problems, most commonly depression or anxiety. High levels of anxiety disorder symptoms can hinder adolescent development, persist into adulthood, and predict negative mental outcomes, such as suicidal ideation and attempts. Objectives: We analyzed generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms in cross-cultural samples from the general population. We sought to examine cultural and gender differences, and correlates of GAD symptoms in samples of adolescents from six countries located in three different continents (Europe: Bulgaria, Italy, the Netherlands; Africa: Kenya; Asia: China and Philippines). Methods: Participants were 3,445 (51 % male) adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years old. They filled self-report measures of GAD symptoms and identity. Results: First, it was found that the scores on GAD symptoms varied significantly across countries, with Dutch respondents reporting the lowest levels whereas Filipino participants exhibited the highest levels of GAD symptoms. Second, gender differences (i.e., girls reported more GAD symptoms than boys) were significant in each country (as well as in the total sample), with the only exception being that of Kenya. Third, GAD symptoms were significantly related to identity processes and similarities and differences across countries were examined. Conclusions: This study highlighted that prevalence, gender differences, and correlates of GAD vary across countries. Therefore, it is important when researching GAD symptoms to examine one’s research findings within a global perspective.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine ego-identity (Erikson, Psychol Issues 1:1–171, 1959; Identity, youth and crisis, Norton, New York, 1968; Marcia, J Pers Soc Psychol 3:551–558, 1966) and social identity (Tajfel and Turner, In: Austin WG, Worchel S (Eds.) The social psychology of intergroup relations. Brooks/Cole, Monterey, pp 33–47 1979; Turner et al., Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Blackwell, Oxford, 1987) theories within the organizational literature. We adopted a person-centered approach to analyze whether employees classified in various identity statuses and identification profiles exhibited differences in job outcomes (i.e., burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors). We also analyzed interconnections among identity statuses and identification profiles.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were 515 employees (85.4 % women) between 24 and 64 years old. They completed self-reported questionnaires assessing personal identity, social identity, and job outcomes.FindingsCluster analysis indicated that participants could be classified into four identity statuses (i.e., achievement, early closure, moratorium, and searching moratorium) and into four identification profiles (i.e., orthogonal combinations of high vs. low organizational and group identification, respectively). Employees classified in the various identity statuses and identification profiles reported meaningful differences on job outcomes. Further, findings highlighted significant associations between identity statuses and identification profiles, giving rise to various identity configurations associated with job outcomes.ImplicationsThis study highlights the importance of integrating different facets of job identity. These findings have relevant implications in terms of suggesting which dimensions of identity should be promoted in order to reduce workers’ burnout, and enhance their satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors.Originality/valueThis study provides evidence for integrating ego-identity and social identity theories. In doing so, it bridges developmental psychology literature on personal identity with social and organizational psychology literature on social identity, setting the basis for a comprehensive line of research.Keywords: Identity statuses, Identification, Burnout, Job satisfaction, Organizational citizenship behaviors, Person-centered approach

The purpose of this study was to test whether personal commitment to community was related to political involvement in two cultural contexts: Italy and the USA. Participants were 566 adolescents (48.2% males) aged 14–19 years (M = 16 years; SD = 1.29): 311 Italians and 255 Americans. Participants filled out a self-report questionnaire. Analyses of variance revealed that American high school students reported higher levels of personal commitment to community than did their Italian peers and that many forms of political involvement were significantly more common among American adolescents. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that personal commitment to community was strongly and positively associated with involvement in political activities in both adolescent samples. Thus, fostering personal commitments to community could potentially lead youth to political engagement.

Background: Accumulating studies have demonstrated that the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), a modern youth anxiety questionnaire with scales explicitly designed to map onto specific DSM-IV-TR anxiety disorders, has good psychometric properties for children and adolescents from various countries. However, no study has yet been conducted as to the overall strength of the psychometric properties found in these studies. Methods: Studies were collected from the PsycINFO, PubMed, SSCI, SCI-Expanded, ERIC, and A&HCI databases from the year of the SCARED’s first publication (1997) to the present. The inclusion criteria focused on all studies that examined the psychometric properties of the SCARED. Results: We retained 21 articles, reporting a total of 25 studies from predominately Europe (Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands) and the USA, as well as South Africa and China, which matched our inclusion criteria. It was found that the psychometric properties were robust for the SCARED scales related to the symptoms of DSM-IV-TR anxiety disorders, that females scored significantly higher than males and that age had a moderating effect on male and female score differences. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the SCARED can be utilized as a screening instrument for DSM-IV-TR anxiety disorder symptom dimensions for children and adolescents from various countries. Keywords: Adolescents, anxiety, children, cross-cultural, meta-analysis, SCARED. Abbreviation: SCARED: Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders.

The aim of this special issue is to shed light in the dark side of identity formation in adolescence and emerging adulthood, that is, to provide some understanding in what exactly can go wrong in identity development. After summarizing the recent developments in identity development literature, in this introduction the main findings of all thirteen empirical papers are summarized into three overarching themes: (1) lack of identity integration as a risk factor, (2) reconsideration of commitment as a sign of identity uncertainty, and (3) ruminative exploration as another risk factor undermining healthy identity development. Finally, given that all papers in this special issue are based on conference presentations at the 14th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA), some more information on that conference is included in this introduction. (C) 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. EARA Council

WOS: 000371104000018, PubMed: 26411790, In the present study, we tested whether the five identity statuses of the original Meeus -Crocetti model could be extracted in a Turkish sample. Their three-factor model of identity was used to examine identity formation. Participants were 1201 (59.6% females) youth aged between 12 and 24 years (M-age = 17.53 years, SDage = 3.25). Findings revealed that the five identity statuses extracted in previous studies (Crocetti, Rubini, Luyckx, & Meeus, 2008; Crocetti, Schwartz, Fermani, Klimstra, & Meeus, 2012) also emerged in a sample of Turkish adolescents and emerging adults. Findings indicated that gender and age affected the distribution of the individuals among the five identity statuses. Furthermore, individuals in the five identity statuses represented distinct profiles according to personality and self characteristics, problem behaviors and well-being, and interpersonal and group relationships. Finally, the status x age interactions indicated that the searching moratorium status became more problematic with age. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed. (C) 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Turkish Council of Higher Education, This research was supported by a grant to the first author from the Turkish Council of Higher Education.

This chapter discusses specifics of identity formation in Italian adolescents and emerging adults. We review consistent evidence illustrating that, in Italy, a progressive deferral of transition to adulthood strongly impacts youth identity development by stimulating identity exploration and postponement of identity commitments. We also consider the influence of ecological contexts and specific Italian groups (i.e., immigrant adolescents and those who drop out of school, youth living in disadvantaged areas in the south of Italy, and emerging adults who are unemployed or hold precarious jobs) for which the identity formation process is particularly challenging.

Adolescents at-risk for problem behaviors can have more difficulties in developing a firm sense of personal identity. Hence the purpose of this prospective longitudinal study was to scrutinize how externalizing problems in early adolescence impact identity development in middle to late adolescence. Participants were 443 (43.12 % female) Dutch adolescents. Teachers rated their externalizing problem behaviors when participants were 11 or 12 years old and their identity formation was studied during five consecutive years (from 14 to 18 years of age). The sample was divided into four groups: boys and girls with a high versus a low-risk for externalizing problem behaviors. Participants completed a self-report measure of identity commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. Multi-group Latent Growth Curve and profile stability analyses were used to evaluate identity development across adolescence. Findings indicated that high-risk boys and girls reported a less structured identity, with lower levels of commitment and higher levels of reconsideration of commitment. Since externalizing problems behaviors and lack of a coherent sense of identity might reinforce each other, early intervention for high-risk adolescents might foster positive youth development.Keywords: Identity, Externalizing problem behaviors, Gender, Longitudinal

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in identity formation between large community samples of Italian (N = 1,975) and Dutch (N = 1,521) adolescents. Findings indicated that the distribution across five previously extracted identity statuses (i.e., achievement, early closure, moratorium, searching moratorium, and diffusion) differed strongly across nationality, with Italian participants more represented in the moratorium statuses, and with Dutch adolescents more likely to be in the early closure and diffusion statuses. Furthermore, the profile of the searching moratorium status, in terms of personality characteristics, internalizing symptoms, and parent-adolescent relationships, was found to be more adaptive in the Italian context. These findings are discussed in light of social, economic, and cultural differences between Italy and the Netherlands. © 2011 Hogrefe Publishing.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure and the reliability of the French versions of the Identity Style Inventory (ISI-3) and the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) in a sample of college students (N = 457,18-25 years old). Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized three-factor solution of the ISI-3 identity styles (i.e. informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles), the one-factor solution of the ISI-3 identity commitment, and the three-factor structure of the U-MICS (i.e. commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment). Additionally, theoretically consistent and meaningful associations among the ISI-3, U-MICS, and Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) confirmed convergent validity. Overall, the results of the present study indicate that the French versions of the ISI-3 and UMICS are useful instruments for assessing identity styles and processes, and provide additional support to the cross-cultural validity of these tools. (C) 2010 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to compare identity formation in adolescents from Italian (n = 261), mixed (n = 100), and migrant families (n = 148). Participants completed the Italian version of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale that assesses identity processes in educational and relational domains. Within a variable-centered approach we found that adolescents from migrant families reported significantly higher levels of reconsideration of commitment than did their peers from Italian and mixed families. Similarly, within a person-centered approach, adolescents from migrant families were more represented in the searching moratorium status than their counterparts from Italian and mixed families. Overall, these results indicated that migrant adolescents face more difficulties to define their personal identity.