The Impact of Ease of Online Self-Expression During Adolescence on Identity in Young Adulthood

Abstract

For many young adults today, omnipresent access to and use of digital technologies has formed a core feature of their identity development. However, little research has examined whether attitudes toward engagement with digital technologies during adolescence impact on identity in young adulthood. Using a longitudinal path modeling approach, the current study sought to examine the impacts of online self-expression during adolescence on identity (confusion and confidence), as mediated by peer connectedness. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects persisted over time to influence identity outcomes in emerging adulthood. Data were drawn from the final two waves of the New Zealand Youth Connectedness Project. Adolescent data was collected from 1,809 youth between the ages of 13 and 18 during 2008, and the emerging adult data were collected five years later during 2013 when participants were aged 18–23 years old. Only those who had regular access to the internet (N = 1233) during adolescence were included in the analyses. Key results of the longitudinal serial mediation model include that ease of online self-expression in adolescence was directly associated with higher levels of identity confusion. However, the ease of online self-expression was also cross-sectionally associated with lower levels of identity confusion and higher levels of confidence via a stronger sense of peer connectedness. Further, the ease of online self-expression was indirectly associated with greater confidence and lower identity confusion in emerging adulthood via peer connectedness, confidence, and identity confusion in adolescence. These findings suggest that online self-expression during adolescence may be a double-edged sword in that it increases identity confusion but also provides opportunities for connection in ways that promote identity consolidation (increased confidence and reduced confusion).