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This chapter examines the idea that the processes of continuing education beyond high school and launching a career pose challenges for young adults that are related to the processes of achieving autonomy while maintaining relatedness with parents as adolescents. Many different conceptual models of adult educational attainment have been explored in which intergenerational factors play a major role in academic success or failure. It is well documented that students who come from relatively small, intact, middle-class families, where they are expected to succeed, go further in school, and ultimately obtain relatively high-prestige jobs in comparison to their peers. Darling and Steinberg presented a contextual model of parenting whereby parental goals and values affect both parenting style and parenting practices. Parents' goals for their children, which are related to adult outcomes, may be confounded with socioeconomic status. Economic hardship, for example, may make parents more pessimistic about their children's futures and consequently lower their goals for their children.

Itch is the most common dermatological symptom and worsens with stress. The general belief of a person in their own ability to cope in stressful situations, known as self-efficacy, is relevant in the management of chronic diseases other than skin diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the association between perceived self-efficacy, itch and stress among late-stage adolescents. The study was cross-sectional and questionnaire-based. Information on psycho-social factors and skin symptoms among late adolescents was collected in a sample of the general population in Oslo, Norway. In this sample of 2,489 boys and girls, the prevalence of current itch was 7% among adolescents with high self-efficacy and low stress, and 17% among adolescents with low self-efficacy (p = 0.028). Adolescents with low self-efficacy under higher stress were twice as likely to report itch than those with high self-efficacy (30% vs. 15%, p = 0.072). In the adjusted logistic regression the report of current itch was significantly associated with low self-efficacy, with an odds ratio of 2.85 (1.71; 3.82). In conclusion, current itch was significantly associated with low self-efficacy among adolescents. Further clinical research is needed to determine whether improvement in self-efficacy could contribute positively to the management of patients with itch.

The aim of this study was to specify and test the factor structure of the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA provides a continuous measure of attachment, and also an examination of the construct validity of this continuous approach. Analyses included 150 children aged 9–13, recruited from schools in Norway. The one factor-model “Security–Dismissal”, as well as a model including the supplementary factor “Preoccupation–Idealization”, fitted the data well. Individuals' scores based on these factors converged with the categorical attachment classifications, but added more information about individual differences within categories. The findings support the construct validity of this continuous approach to the CAI.

Ego development has been associated with positive outcomes, namely, with a better psychosocial adjustment and establishment of satisfactory relationships. However, ego development and psychosocial functioning are independent domains and a developed ego does not guarantee successful adaptation. Moreover, it is not clear whether ego development differentially influences psychosocial functioning in clinical and normative samples. The present study investigated the impact of ego development on the psychosocial functioning of young adults with (high-risk) and without (normative) psychiatric history. Results show an association between those two variables, especially strong for the high-risk group. High-risk individuals with successful psychosocial functioning exhibited levels of ego development more similar to those of normative young adults than to those of the remaining high-risk individuals. Moreover, as predicted, ego development mediated the relationship between psychiatric history and psychosocial functioning. Further support was found for the protective role of ego development, especially for individuals with psychiatric history.

Participants (n = 36) with consistent Pre-conformist ego development levels during multiple adolescent assessments were studied to determine whether and how their ego levels had changed at age 25. Those (n = 12) whose ego levels remained at the Pre-conformist level were assigned to a life-course-persistent profound ego development arrest trajectory group; those (n = 24) whose ego levels reached the Conformist or Post-conformist level at age 25 were assigned to an adolescence-limited profound ego development arrest trajectory group. Analysis of predictors and age 25 correlates of group membership revealed that selected age 14 family interaction behaviors differentiated the two groups. At age 25, members of the adolescence-limited group showed superior performance on several measures of interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning.

We examined associations between depressive symptoms and young adults' self-perceptions of social competence to explore whether higher symptoms are associated with self-evaluations that are more accurate (i.e., depressive realism), negatively biased (i.e., cognitive distortion), or less accurate (i.e., self-verification perspective). In 133 young adults, depressive symptoms and discrepancies between self- and peer ratings of social competence were assessed. Results demonstrated a linear relationship between depressive symptoms and self-peer discrepancies, such that higher symptoms were associated with underestimation of the self and low symptom levels were linked with overestimation of the self relative to peer evaluations. These findings suggest negative bias in dysphorics' self-perceptions, supporting cognitive distortion models, as well as positive bias in self-perceptions of those with low depressive symptoms. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64: 1–15, 2008.

Our overarching goal is to understand the unfolding of resilient development. Our person-based approach is based on a follow-back design, enabling us to examine previously recorded adolescent clinical and adult attachment interviews of now-competent young adults who experienced significant adversity during their adolescent years. In their adolescent years, these young adults encountered three serious misfortunes. Between 13 and 16 years old (middle adolescence) they were sent to live in a psychiatric hospital, from 2 to 12 months. Their physical home ties with their parents and community friends were abruptly severed, as they lived full-time in High Valley Hospital. In addition, experiencing a serious psychiatric disorder leading to hospitalization, regardless of how time limited, can markedly change the experience of self, often leading to lowered self-regard and lowered personal competence. The label of psychiatric patient is made even more indelible by living in a psychiatric hospital. Their third seri...

OBJECTIVE: To obtain a demographic profile of aggressive students in an urban setting and discern psychiatric diagnoses, functional impairment, and psychosocial stressors. STUDY DESIGN: Participants were 33 students in an urban public school district referred for comprehensive psychiatric evaluation by school staff because they were viewed as a threat to school safety. Evaluations included a review of records, interviews with school and mental health professionals, and student and parent interviews. RESULTS: Students were characterized by severe and untreated or undertreated psychopathology together with high levels of psychosocial stressors and learning disorders. Thirty-two students received at least one Axis I diagnosis, and the mean number of diagnoses for each student was 3; 33% had substance abuse problems, and 30% had nonpsychiatric medical conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The sample is a chronically impaired group of students confronting serious adversity in their daily lives, whose psychosocial and psychiatric needs are not met by current educational and mental health programming. Necessary interventions include prevention and early identification, substance abuse and family treatment, and appropriate psychopharmacological treatment. A comprehensive psychiatric assessment can help change the outcomes for this group of aggressive students. Language: en

The authors trace the contribution of narrative studies to the study of resilience. Narrative studies infiltrated the mental health field more slowly than they did the medical and social sciences, despite its long reliance on "talking therapies. " With the development of the Adult Attachment Interview, however narrative studies began to come into their own in developmental psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis. Narrative studies are an especially apt tool in resilience studies. The authors discuss their use in this context, considering also some theoretical questions about the nature of narrative and its implications for psychotherapy.

This study examined links between emotion expression in couple interactions and marital quality and stability. Core aspects of emotion expression in marital interactions were identified with the use of naïve observational coding by multiple raters. Judges rated 47 marital discussions with 15 emotion descriptors. Coders’ pooled ratings yielded good reliability on 4 types of emotion expression: hostility, distress, empathy, and affection. These 4 types were linked with concurrent marital satisfaction and interviewer ratings of marital adjustment as well as with marital stability at a 5-year follow-up. The study also examined the extent to which naïve judges’ ratings of emotion expression correspond to “expert” ratings using the Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF). The unique advantages of naïve coding of emotion expression in marital interaction are discussed.

Relationship schemas are core elements of personality that guide interpersonal functioning. The aim of this study is to examine stability and change in relationship schemas across two developmental epochs-adolescence and young adulthood-in the stories that people tell about their interactions with others. Using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme Method, relationship themes were coded from semistructured interviews conducted in adolescence and again at age 25. The sample consisted of 40 participants in a longitudinal study of adolescent and young adult psychological development. There was considerable stability in the frequency with which particular themes were expressed in the narratives of adolescents and young adults. Significant changes from adolescence to young adulthood included a decrease in the perception of others as rejecting and of the self as opposing others. Young adults saw themselves and others more positively, and used a broader repertoire of themes in their relationship narratives than they had as adolescents. The basic continuity and particular changes in relationship schemas found in this study are consistent with knowledge about the adolescent-to-young-adult transition derived from other empirical and clinical findings. Relationship schemas may be rich units of study for learning about the development of interpersonal functioning.

Based on the stage-environment fit perspective (Eccles & Midgley), we hypothesized that diabetic adolescents who experience a developmental match would be more likely to experience optimal psychosocial outcomes. Three questions were addressed: Are there links between developmental match and adolescents’psychosocial outcomes, and if so, do such links differ by diabetic status? What are the long-term implications for later psychosocial outcomes of developmental match, and do such links differ by diabetic status? Do adolescents differentially perceive community support as a function of their developmental match and diabetic status? We assessed diabetic and nondiabetic adolescent boys and girls from a larger longitudinal study of chronic illness. Family characteristics were observed in a revealed difference task. Results suggested that even after controlling for psychosocial factors during adolescence, the benefits of developmental match (and the costs of developmental mismatch) could be observed during young adulthood. In addition, preadolescents with diabetes perceived their community as more supportive than any other group of adolescents. Results are discussed within a developmental contextual perspective, with particular attention to the experiences of diabetic adolescents.

This study was designed to investigate adolescent era parent behaviors and adolescent personality development as unique and joint predictors of young adult competencies. The study sample consisted of 79 two-parent with an adolescentfamilies who, at the time the data used in these analyses were gathered, had beenfollowed in longitudinal research for 11 years. Parent behaviors theoretically associated with (a) the development of adolescent autonomy while maintaining relatedness to the family (Autonomy and Relatedness Coding) and (b) adolescent ego development (Constraining and Enabling Coding) were used to predict young adult educational attainment and ego resiliency. Results indicated that (a) adolescent era parenting behaviors and (b) adolescent ego development contribute to the prediction of young adult educational attainment and ego resiliency. The influence of parenting behaviors was mediated through ego development. Parent talkativeness and parent behavior interacted in the prediction of ego resiliency.

Past cross-sectional studies have suggested that young adults with insulin-dependent (Type I) diabetes mellitus (IDDM) may experience problems in their close peer relationships. For 10 years, we have followed an onset cohort of children and adolescents with IDDM (n = 57) and an age-matched group who were originally recruited after an acute illness, accident, or injury (n = 54). Now aged 19–26 years, these two groups were compared in terms of their friendship patterns, dating and love experiences, and sense of loneliness. All subjects in both groups had at least one friend. However, the IDDM group reported fewer friendships overall. The difference was accounted for by the number of less intimate friends. The two groups had similar frequencies of current romantic partners (IDDM = 63 %; comparison group = 64 %). While dating attitude and dating assertiveness did not differ between groups, some differences were found in terms of experiences of a primary love relationship. IDDM patients experienced less trust and sense of intimate friendship in these love relationships. No differences in loneliness were found. The preponderance of our findings indicate that the two groups had similar patterns and experiences of close peer relationships. Thus, the study does not suggest that IDDM leads to serious problems in forming social relationships for these patients during the transition to young adulthood. On the other hand, the IDDM patients’ lower level of trust and intimacy within love relationships are consistent with other findings from this study suggesting specific areas of lowered self-worth that appear in social relationships. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined the influence of pubertal timing upon family interactions in normal and psychiatric adolescent samples. An important feature of our approach is its emphasis upon micro-analysis of family behaviors (individual speeches) and family processes (theoretically specified speech pairings). Rather than assume that global family patterns (e.g., power) shift in response to pubertal changes, we follow how types of speeches and speech sequences are associated with different pubertal timing. Using the previously constructed family coding system, the Constrainig and Enabling Coding System, we found that on-time adolescents and their parents differed from both off-time groups (early or late). These results are discussed in terms of current implications and suggestions for future research.

Sex differences in verbal family interactions were investigated in a group of 79 adolescents and parents from normal and psychiatric settings. The analyses were designed to study these differences in both generations, parent and adolescent. Parent and adolescent interactions with one another were observed in a semistructured, revealed-differences family discussion. All of the individual speeches were then scored with our Constraining and Enabling Coding System (CECS). Initial predictions involved both adolescent and parent differences. These hypotheses were only partially confirmed. The strongest findings pertained to parent sex differences, as we found strikingly higher levels of cognitive enabling speeches expressed by fathers and significantly more speeches addressed to fathers. We discuss several alternative interpretations of these findings. Perspectives included in our considerations are direction of effect and influences of task/context upon the expression of family sex differences.

In this chapter, we present a model of adolescent development that emphasizes the relationship dynamics of autonomy and relatedness. Research findings from concurrent and longitudinal analyses are reviewed to support the model, particularly regarding the process of leaving home in young adulthood.

This study examined the extent to which the diverging pathways taken by adolescents and their parents in establishing autonomy and relatedness in their interactions at age 14 served as stage-specific markers of underlying attachment processes that could help predict states of mind regarding attachment of the adolescents 11 years later as young adults. Adolescents in two-parent families (N=73) and their parents, originally selected from either a high school sample or a psychiatrically hospitalized sample, participated in a revealed differences family interaction task when adolescents were 14 years of age. At age 25, subjects were reinterviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview, which yielded ratings of specific states of mind and overall organization of models of attachment relationships. After accounting for the prior psychiatric history of the sample (which was highly related to attachment insecurity) and global indices of functioning in both adolescence and young adulthood, coherence/ security in adults' states of mind regarding attachment was predicted from maternal behaviors promoting adolescent autonomy and relatedness 11 years earlier. One indicator of adult preoccupation with attachment relationships, passivity of thought processes, was predicted from adolescents' autonomy-inhibiting behaviors, specifically from the presence of enmeshing behaviors and the absence of distancing behaviors. Results are interpreted as suggesting that establishing autonomy and relatedness with parents may be an attachment-related, developmental task for both normal and at-risk adolescents, and that serious psychopathology and difficulties establishing autonomy and relatedness in adolescence may represent two independent pathways to insecure attachment models in young adulthood.

This study examined the link between hostile conflict in families with adolescents and adolescents' efforts to establish autonomy and relatedness in interactions with parents in both normal and psychiatrically impaired groups. Longitudinal, observational data were obtained by coding family interaction tasks involving 53 adolescents and their two parents at age 14 and age 16 years. Measures were obtained for hostile adolescent-parent conflict, hostile marital conflict, and indices of adolescents' success or difficultly in establishing autonomy and relatedness in interactions with parents. Relative increases in adolescent-parent hostile conflict from age 14 to 16 years were predicted by adolescents' behaviors actively undermining autonomy in disagreements with parents at age 14 years. Hostile marital conflict observed by the adolescent at age 14 years predicted adolescent withdrawal from the hostile parent over time, a prediction that was not mediated by observed parenting behaviors. Difficulties in establishing autonomy and relatedness were linked to prior history of psychiatric difficulty. A developmental view of conflict as both reflecting and predicting difficulties in adolescents' establishing autonomy and relatedness in interactions with parents is proposed.

This study explored developmentally salient cognitive and emotional facets of personality during adolescence and their contribution to psychological functioning in young adulthood. Specifically, we examined the of relations among two kinds of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction during midadolescence and assessed their longitudinal contribution to young adult symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as self-worth. We drew upon a dataset that included both a group of youngsters who had been psychiatrically hospitalized at age 14 and a normative comparison group of high school students studied over an 11-year period. Findings demonstrated that the magnitude of particular actual-ideal discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differed between the groups. Contrary to expectation, actual-ideal self-discrepancies were not related to expressed negative emotions during midadolescence. For the psychiatric group, however, both self-discrepancies and expressed negative emotions made unique contributions to individuals' general sense of self-dissatisfaction. Moreover, particular types of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, specific expressed emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differentially predicted symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as diminished self-worth in young adulthood, albeit differently for the two groups. The importance of cognitions and emotions in the course diverse developmental pathways and future directions of the study are discussed.

The preceding articles reflect the continued and evolving interest of basic and clinical research scientists and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the study of affective processes during the adolescent period. In this afterword, through drawing together a future research agenda, we integrate the contributions of the articles with the discussions among workshop participants that followed each presentation and continued throughout the 2-day workshop on affective processes in adolescence.

In this article, we investigate associations between ego development and emotion communication during adolescence, using a newly constructed coding system for scoring these affect dimensions from clinical research interviews with early adolescent subjects. One overarching question frames our inquiry: How does an adolescent's ego development influence his or her communication of emotional experience? To follow special combinations of emotion communications, diversity of communication and conflict within communication were operationally defined. Findings revealed that both these more complex combinations were present in a higher number of speeches for adolescents at higher levels of ego development. In terms of specific emotions, Pearson correlation analyses indicated that enthusiasm, affection, anxiety, and neutrality were directly associated with higher stages, whereas sadness and anger were inversely correlated with ego development. These associations were similar for both genders. The findings are discu...

This study examined the connection between adolescents' expressions of negative affect and their attempts to meet the developmental task of establishing autonomy and relatedness in interactions with their parents. Longitudinal, observational data were obtained by coding family interaction tasks administered to 96 adolescents at ages 14 and 16 and their one or two parents. These were then related to observer-rated adolescent depressive affect in an interview at age 16 and to self-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 17. Results revealed that difficulties establishing autonomy and relatedness with parents were linked to both depressed affect and externalizing behaviors. However, depressed affect was more closely linked to difficulties establishing autonomy, whereas externalizing behaviors were more closely linked to difficulties maintaining relatedness.

This article presents a newly constructed observational coding system which assesses emotional expression operationalized through voice cues and speech content. In order to explore its interrater reliability and validity, the coding system is applied to clinical interviews of two groups of young people: psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and high school students. The subjects are participants in a longitudinal project examining ego development and familial interactions from early adolescence through the later adolescent years. Specific findings demonstrated the differential effects of psychiatric status and gender on emotional expression. Moreover, adolescents'emotion scores were significantly associated with a theoretically related, independent measure-ego development. These findings lend initial supportfor the validity of this coding method. Future directions of the study are also discussed.

This study investigated how pubertal development may influence the relation between aspects of the family environment and diabetes adjustment. Subjects were 49 youngsters with newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and their parents. Pearson correlations between aspects of the family environment and diabetes adjustment revealed many significant findings for the total sample and separately by pubertal development. Tests of differences between these correlations revealed support for our hypotheses in expected directions. These results suggest the adoption of a developmental perspective when considering how family life is related to a youngster's diabetes adjustment.

We describe a series of analyses that were carried out using the Constraining and Enabling Coding System (CECS). This scheme was specially constructed to identify family interactions conceptually relevant to adolescent ego development. We present results based on the application of these scales to observations of 80 families, consisting of two parents and an adolescent drawn from closely matched high school and psychiatric populations. The families are predominantly upper middle and middle class. Each family member completed the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test and then participated in a revealed-differences task, using responses to Kohlberg Moral Dilemmas as discussion stimuli. Transcripts of these audiorecorded discussions form the database for our family analyses. The family analyses were of two general types. First, we examined relations between family style and the ego development of each family member. The style analyses were based on aggregate scores for each of the enabling or constraining behaviours. After controlling for patient status, adolescent age, and family social class, adolescent and parent ego development scores contributed to explained variance in these family style behaviours. Parental style behaviours, especially of mothers, were also significantly associated with parent ego development as well as adolescent ego development. We then examined family sequences in terms of their links with adolescent ego development. Through these process-oriented analyses, we discovered that the intensity of turn taking and reciprocal enabling (mutual enabling) interactions between mothers and adolescents were significantly enhanced by the ego development of the mother. Such associations between reciprocal interactions and parental ego development were not present for mutual enabling pairings between fathers and adolescents. In our discussion we consider the importance of adding these sequence analyses to our studies, as one more way of exploring relations between family factors and adolescent development.

Many researchers, including John Hill, have studied parental influences on adolescent development. This sty investigated one aspect of parental influence, ego development, and its relation to adolescent coping. Two different groups of early adolescents were studied, one group from a public high school and the other current inpatients at a psychiatric hospital. This study found that when independently assessed, parental ego development was related to numerous adolescent coping strategies. Findings were stronger for maternal ego development; and stronger still for maternal ego development within the high school sample. Possible explanations for these new findings about the interplay between family context and an important aspect of adolescent functioning are discussed, together with planned future longitudinal investigations that may shed more light on these results.

Background The association of acne and self-evaluation is barely explored among late adolescents in the general population. Objective We sought to explore self-esteem, body satisfaction, and acne among 18-year-old young adults at a community level. Methods We conducted a questionnaire-based survey among 3775 late adolescents. Results Our response rate was 80%. The prevalence of acne was 13.5%. Girls and boys with acne had significantly more depressive symptoms, lower self-attitude, more feelings of uselessness, fewer feelings of pride, lower self-worth, and lower body satisfaction than those without acne. In a regression model adjusting for body mass index and depressive symptoms, acne explained significantly poor self-attitude for boys only (odds ratio 2.07 [confidence interval 1.10; 3.88]) and poor self-worth for girls only (odds ratio 1.88 [confidence interval 1.23; 2.88]). Limitations Not all items of the self-esteem instrument were included. Conclusions At age 18 years, acne is related to self-evaluation independent of body mass index and depressive symptoms.

To test the social learning-based hypothesis that marital conflict resolution patterns are learned in the family of origin, longitudinal, observational data were used to assess prospective associations between family conflict interaction patterns during adolescence and offspring's later marital conflict interaction patterns. At age 14 years, 47 participants completed an observed family conflict resolution task with their parents. In a subsequent assessment 17 years later, the participants completed measures of marital adjustment and an observed marital conflict interaction task with their spouse. As predicted, levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by parents and adolescents during family interactions were prospectively linked with levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by offspring and their spouses during marital interactions. Family-of-origin hostility was a particularly robust predictor of marital interaction behaviors; it predicted later marital hostility and negatively predicted positive engagement, controlling for psychopathology and family-of-origin positive engagement. For men, family-of-origin hostility also predicted poorer marital adjustment, an effect that was mediated through hostility in marital interactions. These findings suggest a long-lasting influence of family communication patterns, particularly hostility, on offspring's intimate communication and relationship functioning.