The role of identity in the development of depressive, anxiety, and psychosis symptoms in adolescents exposed to childhood adversity
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Abstract
Introduction: Childhood adversity is a major risk factor for psychiatric disorders and has especially been associated with an admixture of depressive, anxiety, and psychosis symptoms. Identity formation, a main developmental task during adolescence, may be impacted by these adverse experiences and act as an important process in the association between childhood adversity and psychopathology. Methods: We investigated the association between childhood adversity, identity formation, and depressive, anxiety, and psychosis symptoms cross‐sectionally in 1913 Flemish adolescents between 11 and 20 years old (mean = 13.76, SD = 1.86). Adolescents completed questionnaires during the first wave of the SIGMA study between January 2018 and May 2019. Results: Childhood interpersonal adversity was associated with increased identity confusion and decreased identity synthesis. Additionally, identity confusion was associated with increased self‐reported levels of psychopathology and potentially mediated the association between childhood adversity and psychopathology. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of promoting healthy identity formation in adolescents with and without exposure to adverse childhood experiences.
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Cites
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“Many studies with adolescents as participants reveal that childhood adversity (i.e., child maltreatment or household dysfunction) is closely related to depression (Lee et al., 2022; Samaey et al., 2023).”
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“More-over, a path analysis pointed to identity structure as a potential mediator in the association between CA and psychopathology, though identity structure did not moderate this association [27].”
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“Conversely, confusion has been linked positively to reduced life satisfaction (Hatano et al., 2022) and psycho-pathology (Samaey et al., 2023).”
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Relations between peer bullying and adolescent depression: the mediating effect of cellphone usage
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Disadvantageous but How Much?: Immigration Paradox From a Different Perspective
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- Authors
- Samaey, C., Lecei, A., Achterhof, R., Hagemann, N., Hermans, K. S. F. M., Hiekkaranta, A. P., Kirtley, O. J., Reininghaus, U., Boets, B., Myin‐Germeys, I., & van Winkel, R.
- Affiliations
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Leiden University (NL)
- King's College London (GB)
- KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Research Group Psychiatry Center for Clinical Psychiatry Leuven Belgium
- Corresponding author
- Samaey, Celine
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Adolescence
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2023-02-03
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 686-699
- ISSN
- 0140-1971 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9254
- OpenAlex
- W4319065985
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 5.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lirias (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Koning Boudewijnstichting
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- childhood adversity, identity construction, identity confusion, identity synthesis, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, psychotic symptoms, adolescent psychopathology, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Child, Humans, Psychotic Disorders, Risk Factors, Young Adult
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