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Anxiety Trajectories and Identity Development in Adolescence: A Five-wave Longitudinal Study

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Abstract

The aim of this five-wave longitudinal study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and adolescent identity development. Participants were 1,313 adolescents who annually completed measures of anxiety and identity. Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) analyses demonstrated that the adolescent population was best typified by two latent growth trajectory classes: a low anxiety class (n = 1,199) characterized by a low initial level of anxiety that decreased over time and a high anxiety class (n = 114) characterized by a higher initial level of anxiety that increased over time. To answer our research question, we tested a model in which the anxiety classes predicted initial levels and rates of change of three identity dimensions: commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. Findings indicated that the high anxiety adolescents displayed a more troublesome identity development than their low anxiety peers, since their commitments became weaker with age, and they reconsidered them intensively.

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Notes

  1. In order to test age differences on anxiety we conducted multi-group analyses with cohort as grouping variable. Constraining mean intercepts and slopes across both cohorts did not yield significant decrease in model fit (Δχ² = 2.73, Δdf = 2, ns), which indicated no age differences.

  2. In order to test age differences on identity dimensions we conducted multi-group analyses with cohort as grouping variable. Constraining intercept and slope across both cohorts did not yield significant decrease in model fit on commitment (Δχ² = 0.96, Δdf = 2, ns) and on in-depth exploration (Δχ² = 3.38, Δdf = 2, ns). Significant differences were found on reconsideration of commitment (Δχ² = 15.63, Δdf = 2, p < .01), however they were limited to wave 2, in which older adolescents reported a slight decrease in reconsideration while their younger counterparts remained stable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Sciences, University of Macerata, Italy, P.O. Box: Piazzale Luigi Bertelli (Contrada Vallebona), Macerata, 62100, Italy

    Elisabetta Crocetti

  2. Research Centre of Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, P.O. Box 80140, Utrecht, 3508 TC, The Netherlands

    Theo Klimstra, Loes Keijsers, William W. Hale III & Wim Meeus

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  1. Elisabetta Crocetti
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  2. Theo Klimstra
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Correspondence to Elisabetta Crocetti.

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Crocetti, E., Klimstra, T., Keijsers, L. et al. Anxiety Trajectories and Identity Development in Adolescence: A Five-wave Longitudinal Study. J Youth Adolescence 38, 839–849 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9302-y

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