Figen Çok

Adolescent self and identity development in context

Identity formation is a dynamic and life-long process, characterized by continuous changes in the amount of exploration and strength of commitments (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1966). At specific moments in life, in which one’s identity is challenged, these changes are pronounced and clearly visible. Adolescence is such a period: Young people of 10–22 years are in the midst of a process of restructuring social relationships, of finding their place in society, and of making important choices for their future lives. This is why many authors, in line with Erikson (1968), consider the development of a stable and coherent identity a central developmental task during adolescence. Despite these normative statements, Erikson (1968) already acknowledged that not all adolescents are equally successful in negotiating this task. Whereas some adolescents arrive at a clear and integrated identity, others end up in a state of identity confusion. To account for such differences, Erikson pointed to the role of the context surrounding adolescents, and defined identity development during adolescence as a process of person–context interactions (Kroger, 2004). In his psychosocial approach to identity, Erikson stressed the important role of society and people surrounding adolescents in recognizing, supporting and thus helping to shape adolescents’ identity. Alternatively, contexts can also function as barriers (Yoder, 2000) that limit adolescents’ opportunities for building a strong sense of self or a stable and coherent identity. Low socioeconomic status, poor educational opportunities, or political restrictions all are examples of such identity barriers. For decades, however, the impact of developmental contexts on identity development during adolescence was largely ignored (Côté & Levine, 1988). In this period, identity was primarily conceptualized and measured as an intrapersonal attribute. Only recently, several authors (e.g., Adams & Marshall, 1996; Bosma & Kunnen, 2001; Kroger, 2000, 2004) stressed that we must conceptualize identity formation as a process of person–context interactions or transactions. A major reason for this absence of context in the study of identity formation could be that identity researchers, mainly psychologist at that time, lacked a good theory and description of context. It was not before Bronfenbrenner (1989) put forward his Ecological Systems Theory in the developmental psychology literature, that identity researchers started to study adolescents and their environments. It has been said that before Bronfenbrenner, psychologists studied the individual, sociologists examined the family, anthropologists the society, economists the economic

All they need is love? Placing romantic stress in the context of other stressors: A 17-nation study:

The present study focuses on romantic stress and coping styles in the context of identity and future-related stressors in 8,654 adolescents with a mean age of M = 15.3; SD = 1.84. The adolescents from 17 countries were grouped into seven regions, i.e., Mid-Europe, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, South Africa, South America, and the Middle East. Future-related stressors were perceived as being more stressful than romantic stressors by all adolescents, irrespective of the region in which they lived. Identity-related stressors were of greater concern to adolescents from South Africa, South America, and the Middle East. Romantic stress was much higher in adolescents from Mid-Europe and Southern Europe compared to adolescents from other regions. Roughly 80% of all adolescents employed adaptive coping styles in that they negotiated with the romantic partner, sought support from friends and others, and shared an overall positive outlook. Adolescents from Mid-, Northern, and Eastern Europe were the most active in negotiating and support-seeking when dealing with romantic stressors.

Parenting Processes and Aggression: The Role of Self-Control among Turkish Adolescents.

The present study examined the direct and indirect relationships between parenting processes (parental closeness, parental monitoring, and parental peer approval), low self-control, and aggression. Participants were 546 adolescents aged 14-18 attending state high schools in Turkey. Participants completed a questionnaire that included measures of parenting processes, self-control, and aggression. Findings provided evidence of both direct and indirect effects of maternal and paternal parenting processes on aggression through low self-control. Specifically, results showed that maternal closeness, paternal peer approval and both maternal and paternal monitoring were positively and directly related to low self-control, and indirectly related to aggression through low self-control. Together, parenting processes and low self-control explained 21% of the variance in aggression. Implications for self-control theory and directions for future research are discussed.

Brief report: The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) : Gender and age measurement invariance and convergent validity of the Turkish version

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure and convergent validity of the Turkish version of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS). Participants were 1201 (59.6% females) youth aged between 12 and 24 years (M(age) = 17.53 years, SD(age) = 3.25). Results indicated that the three-factor model consisting of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment provided a very good fit to the data and applied equally well to boys and girls as well as to three age groups (early adolescents, middle adolescents, and emerging adults). Significant relations between identity processes and self-concept clarity, personality, internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors, and parental relationships supported convergent validity. Thus, the Turkish version of U-MICS is a reliable tool for assessing identity in Turkish-speaking respondents.

Identity and future concerns among adolescents from Italy, Turkey and Germany: intra- and between-cultural comparisons

The present study investigated stress perception and coping styles in 3259 Turkish, Italian, and German adolescents with a mean age of 14.97 years (SD = 1.74). The adolescents filled in self-report measures assessing stress perception and coping styles in two problem domains: future and identity. In order to allow for analyses of intra-country and inter-country variation, two subsamples were assessed per country. Results revealed that adolescents from all countries experienced future concerns as most stressful. Identity-related stressors showed a greater inter-country variation. However, intra-country variation in stress perception was much lower than variation in stress perception between the countries. It is noteworthy that the coping behavior was strikingly similar among Turkish, Italian, and German adolescents. Whereas active coping styles dominated in dealing with future-related stressors, relatively high withdrawal rates occurred in all three countries when identity problems have to be dealt with. Compared to the strong influence of country, rather weak gender differences in stress perception were found; with females experiencing a higher stress level than males in both stress domains. The findings demonstrate the universality of fearful future anticipations among adolescents with different cultural backgrounds and underline the stressfulness of identity development during the transition to adulthood.

Development of a sex education programme for 12‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old Turkish adolescents

Previous research has documented a need for the development of a sex education programme in Turkish schools in terms of adolescence readiness and the presence of misconceptions regarding critical aspects of sexual issues. Currently no school‐based sex education is available for Turkish adolescents. This paper presents the development of a contemporary sex education programme for 12‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old adolescents, entitled ‘The Human Development Program for 12–14 Year Old Adolescents’. A five‐step programme development model was used including reviewing internationally recognised sex education programmes for this age group. Sexuality Information and Education Council of United States guidelines were chosen as an educational framework, and Turkish cultural values were integrated into the curriculum. The sex curriculum consists of an eight‐session interactive programme in which parental permission and involvement is required. Five units are presented: human development, relationships, sexual behaviour, sexual health, and society/culture. The programme and a related knowledge assessment tool were reviewed by a group of Turkish professionals and the validity of the educational content was received. The programme was piloted with a group of Turkish adolescents with positive results. Future recommendations include school counsellors implementing this sex educational programme into Turkish schools.

Shedding light on the dark side of identity: Introduction to the special issue

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.

Understanding civic engagement among young Roma and young Turkish people in Turkey

Although a number of aspects of earlier experiences correlate with later civic engagement (Sherrod 2007), the role of different factors in driving the level of young people’s engagement is not clearly understood. This qualitative study set out to understand those factors in Turkey. Eight focus groups were conducted with 55 young Roma and Turkish people, with different groups being conducted according to participants’ ethnicity, gender and age (16–18 year olds vs. 20–26 year olds). Analysis revealed specific themes in terms of the political and civic engagement of different sub-groups. However, almost all participants expressed that they did not have enough information about their rights and obligations as citizens. They also identified the different barriers which they perceived as impeding their political involvement and participation.

The adaptation of the dimension of identity development scale into Turkish

Objective: In recent years, studies about identity development have focused on processes in identity development. The aim of this study was to adapt into Turkish the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale which measures processes in identity development into Turkish. Method: The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale was administered to 602 participants (322 females, 280 males) in total, aged between 18-23. To determine factor structure of the scale, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and for reliability, internal consistency analysis were performed. Correlations between identity development dimensions and score of the Satisfaction with Life Scale were evaluated for criterion validity testing. To determine identity status cluster analysis was performed. Results: Results of exploratory (explained variance 57.43%) and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale was valid. Correlations between the identity development dimensions and score of the Satisfaction with Life Scale were statistically significant. Internal consistency coefficients (commitment making 0.88, identification with commitment 0.87, exploration in breadth 0.84, exploration in depth 0.78, ruminative exploration 0.79) showed that the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale was reliable. In the cluster analysis, six identity status (achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, diffused diffusion, carefree diffusion, undifferentiated) were found. Conclusion: The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of adolescent’s identity development.

Parenting processes, self-esteem, and aggression: A mediation model

Abstract The present study examined the relations between perceived maternal and paternal parenting processes and adolescent aggression, and to what extent these relations were mediated by self-esteem in a sample of 546 (43.8% males and 56.2% females) Turkish adolescents. Participants’ ages ranged from 14 to 18 with a mean of 15.91 years (SD = .95). Findings supported our hypothesized model of the effect of perceived parenting processes on aggression as being mediated through self-esteem for both maternal and paternal parenting measures. Specifically, self-esteem mediated the relations between parental closeness, monitoring, peer approval and adolescent aggression. Self-esteem is an important individual charecteristic to consider for prevention efforts of adolescent aggressive behaviors, along with key parenting behaviors.