Profiles of Emotional Separation and Parental Trust from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Age Differences and Associations with Identity and Life Satisfaction.

Youth become psychologically independent by emotionally separating from their parents and simultaneously developing a sense of trust in them. While these relational components have been addressed separately, studies focusing on the change in dynamics of these components are lacking. This study examined profiles of parent-youth relationship quality based on emotional separation and parental trust, age differences in the prevalence of these profiles, and age differences in the associations between the profiles, identity, and life satisfaction. Participants included 14,428 youth living in Japan from five age groups (44.8% girls/women; Mage = 20.6 years; range = 12-25 years). Six profiles were identified: healthy-independent, unhealthy-independent, balanced, moderate/ambivalent, connected, and distant. The connected profile was predominant among early adolescents, while the healthy-independent profile was predominant among late adolescents and early and middle emerging adults. Among all age groups, identity synthesis was the highest in the healthy-independent profile, and life satisfaction was the highest and identity confusion was the lowest in the healthy-independent and connected profiles. These findings indicate that young people navigate the process of becoming independent from their parents by balancing emotional separation and parental trust, and this balance relates to identity development and life satisfaction.

Identity processes and identity content valences: Examining bidirectionality.

Developing identities that are well-aligned with sociocultural expectations is a key psychosocial developmental task for adolescents and emerging adults. Most studies have examined identity development focusing on how individuals develop their identities (identity process), such as identity exploration and commitment. Meanwhile, researchers have emphasized incorporating the what of identity development (identity content) with identity processes to further the understanding of identity development in sociocultural contexts. This study focuses on the positive and negative valences of identity defined by desirable and undesirable images shared in sociocultural contexts. We investigated the bidirectional associations of identity exploration and commitment processes with positive and negative identity elements using longitudinal data over three measurement waves. Participants were 2,313 Japanese emerging adults enrolled in higher education (70.95% women; Mage = 20.43). The cross-lagged panel analysis and random-intercept cross-lagged panel analysis were used to estimate associations at both between- and within-person levels. Results indicated that commitment making negatively predicted negative identity elements, whereas identification with commitment positively predicted positive identity elements. Meanwhile, positive identity elements positively predicted identification with commitment only for participants with low levels of negative identity elements, while negative identity elements negatively predicted commitment making and identification with commitment. These associations were found only at the between-person level. The findings highlight that emerging adults develop identities through close interactions in which they engage in identity exploration and commitment processes, as well as construct identity content valences. Developmental sequences of identity, along with their sociocultural contexts and practical implications, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).