Abstract
Background
Despite extensive research examining features of adolescents’ ego-identity development, little research has demonstrated patterns of ego-identity development and its relationship with various individual and environmental factors that are theoretically important for identity development.
Objective
The current study investigated developmental trajectories of ego-identity and the longitudinal relationship between multiple predictors (Korean language proficiency, sex/gender, logged household income, and child maltreatment) and ego-identity development.
Methods
Data from three time points (Time 1 = 9th grade; Time 2 = 11th grade; Time 3 = 12th grade) of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (N = 7053) were used. The mean age of participants in each wave was 15, 17, and 18 years old.
Results
The results showed that the level of ego-identity development varied across times—that the developmental pattern plateaued and decreased slightly after Time 2. A significant association between Korean language proficiency and ego-identity development was found, indicating that individuals who reported a higher level of Korean language proficiency displayed a greater level of ego-identity over the three observation periods. Sex/gender, logged household income, and child maltreatment were significantly associated with ego-identity development at the initial level.
Conclusion
The findings highlight the importance of identifying patterns of ego-identity development and understanding its association with multiple predictors.
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Notes
Identity diffusion means that adolescents have made no identity commitment and exploration. Foreclosure is that adolescents have made identity commitment without exploration. In contrast, the moratorium indicates active exploration without any identity commitment. In identity achievement, adolescents have made identity commitment with active exploration (Marcia, 1966).
The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) estimates the degree of correlation among individuals within the same cluster. The value of the ICC ranges from 0 to 1. A value close to 0 indicates that there are no nesting effects or correlation. Meanwhile, the value close to 1 is evidence of no variance at the individual level. That is, there is no difference among individuals within the cluster (Robson & Pevalin, 2015).
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Choi, J., Kim, K. Longitudinal Investigation of Korean Adolescents’ Ego-Identity Development. Child Youth Care Forum 51, 729–747 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09647-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09647-9