Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Continuity and Change from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Adolescence-limited vs. Life-course-persistent Profound Ego Development Arrests

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Participants (n = 36) with consistent Pre-conformist ego development levels during multiple adolescent assessments were studied to determine whether and how their ego levels had changed at age 25. Those (n = 12) whose ego levels remained at the Pre-conformist level were assigned to a life-course-persistent profound ego development arrest trajectory group; those (n = 24) whose ego levels reached the Conformist or Post-conformist level at age 25 were assigned to an adolescence-limited profound ego development arrest trajectory group. Analysis of predictors and age 25 correlates of group membership revealed that selected age 14 family interaction behaviors differentiated the two groups. At age 25, members of the adolescence-limited group showed superior performance on several measures of interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., Bell, K. L., & O’Connor, T. G. (1994). Longitudinal assessment of autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-family interactions as predictors of adolescent ego development and self-esteem. Child Development, 65, 179–194. doi:10.2307/1131374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1968). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

  • Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. The American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bakken, L., & Huber, T. (2005). Ego development at the crossroads: Identity and intimacy among black men and white women in cross-racial relationships. Journal of Adult Development, 12, 63–73. doi:10.1007/s10804-005-1322-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billings R. L., & Bursik, K. (2008). Ego development, self-discrepancy, and mood symptoms in emerging adulthood (Manuscript in preparation).

  • Block, J. (1978). The Q-sort method of personality assessment and psychiatric research. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bursik, K. (1991). Adaptation to divorce and ego development in adult women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 300–306. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.60.2.300.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bursik, K., & Martin, T. A. (2006). Ego development and adolescent academic achievement. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16, 1–18. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2006.00116.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Candee, D. (1974). Ego development aspects of new left ideology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 620–630. doi:10.1037/h0037437.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colby, A., & Kohlberg, L. (1987). The measurement of moral judgements (Vols. 1 and 2). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., Conger, K. J., Matthews, L. S., & Elder, G. H. (1999). Pathways of economic influence on adolescent adjustment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 519–541. doi:10.1023/A:1022133228206.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., Wallace, L. E., Sun, Y., Simons, R. L., McLoyd, V. C., & Brody, G. H. (2002). Economic pressure in African American families: A replication and extension of the family stress model. Developmental Psychology, 38, 179–193. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.38.2.179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cramer, P. (2000). Development of identity: Gender makes a difference. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 42–72. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1999.2270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R. (1983). SCL-90 administration and scoring manual. Towson, MD: Clinical Psychometric Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • García Coll, C., Crnic, K., Lamberty, G., Wasik, B. H., Jenkins, R., García, H. V., et al. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67, 1891–1914. doi:10.2307/1131600.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grotevant, H. D. (1998). Adolescent development in family contexts. In W. Damon & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (Vol. 3, 5th ed., pp. 1097–1149). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T. (1976). Loevinger’s model and measure of ego development: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 83, 928–955. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.83.5.928.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T. (1993). Loevinger’s model and measure of ego development: A critical review, II. Psychological Inquiry, 4, 23–30. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0401_4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T. (1999). Understanding resilient outcomes: Adolescent lives across time and generations. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9, 1–24. doi:10.1207/s15327795jra0901_1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T., Allen, J. P., & Golden, E. (2006). Out of the woods: Tales of resilient teens. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T., Houlihan, J., Powers, S. I., Jacobson, A. M., Noam, G., Weiss-Perry, B., et al. (1987). Interactions sequences in families of psychiatrically hospitalized and non-patient adolescents. Psychiatry, 50, 308–319.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T., Houlihan, J., Powers, S. I., Jacobson, A. M., Noam, G. G., Weiss-Perry, B., et al. (1991a). Adolescent ego development within the family: Family styles and family sequences. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 14, 165–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T., Powers, S. I., & Noam, G. G. (1991b). Adolescents and their families: Paths of ego development. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, S. T., Powers, S. I., Noam, G. G., Jacobson, A. M., Weiss, B., & Follansbee, D. J. (1984). Familial contexts of adolescent ego development. Child Development, 55, 195–213. doi:10.2307/1129845.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hennighausen, K. H., Hauser, S. T., Billings, R. L., Schultz, L. H., & Allen, J. P. (2004). Adolescent ego-development trajectories and young adult relationship outcomes. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 24, 29–44. doi:10.1177/0272431603260920.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hesse, E. (1999). The adult attachment interview: Historical and current perspectives. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 395–433). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang, S., & Shaver, P. R. (2004). Individual differences in emotional complexity: Their psychological implications. Journal of Personality, 72, 687–726. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00277.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kegan, R., Lahey, L., & Souvaine, E. (1998). From taxonomy to ontogeny: Thoughts on Loevinger’s theory in relation to subject-object psychology. In P. M. Westenberg, A. Blasi, & L. D. Cohn (Eds.), Personality development: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical investigations of Loevinger’s conception of ego development (pp. 39–58). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobak, R. R., & Sceery, A. (1988). Attachment in late adolescence: Working models, affect regulation and representations of self and others. Child Development, 59, 135–146. doi:10.2307/1130395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lanning, K., Colucci, J., & Edwards, J. A. (2007). Changes in ego development in the wake of September 11. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 197–202. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2005.12.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego development: Conceptions and theories. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loevinger, J., Cohn, L. D., & Bonneville, L. P. (1985). Ego development in college. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 947–962. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.48.4.947.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loevinger, J., & Wessler, R. (1970). Measuring ego development: Construction and use of a sentence completion test (Vol. 1). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loevinger, J., Wessler, R., & Redmore, C. D. (1970). Measuring ego development: Scoring manual for women and girls (Vol. 2). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mallory, M. E. (1989). Q-sort definition of ego identity status. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 18, 399–411. doi:10.1007/BF02139257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551–558. doi:10.1037/h0023281.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D. P. (1998). Ego, trait, identity. In P. M. Westenberg, A. Blasi, & L. D. Cohn (Eds.), Personality development: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical investigations of Loevinger’s conception of ego development (pp. 27–38). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mistry, R. S., Vandewater, E. A., Huston, A. C., & McLoyd, V. C. (2002). Economic well-being and children’s social adjustment: The role of family process in an ethnically diverse low-income sample. Child Development, 73, 935–951. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00448.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Harrington, H., & Milne, B. J. (2002). Males on the life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial pathways: Follow-up at age 26 years. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 179–207. doi:10.1017/S0954579402001104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Noam, G. G., Young, C. H., & Jilnina, J. (2006). Social cognition, psychological symptoms, and mental health: The model, evidence and contribution of ego development. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Theory and method (Vol. 1, 2nd ed., pp. 750–794). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redmore, C., & Waldman, K. (1975). Reliability of a sentence completion measure of ego development. Journal of Personality Assessment, 39, 236–243. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa3903_4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, L. H., & Selman, R. L. (1998). Ego development and interpersonal development in young adulthood: A between-model comparison. In P. M. Westenberg, A. Blasi, & L. D. Cohn (Eds.), Personality development: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical investigations of Loevinger’s conception of ego development (pp. 181–202). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selman, R. L. (1980). The growth of interpersonal understanding: Developmental and clinical analyses. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selman, R. L., & Schultz, L. H. (1990). Making a friend in youth: Developmental theory and pair therapy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strodtbeck, F. L. (1958). Husband-wife interaction over revealed differences. American Sociological Review, 16, 468–473. doi:10.2307/2088277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadsworth, M. E., Raviv, T., Compas, B. E., & Connor-Smith, J. K. (2005). Parent and adolescent responses to poverty-related stress: Tests of mediated and moderated coping models. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 283–298. doi:10.1007/s10826-005-5056-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westenberg, P. M., & Gjerde, P. F. (1999). Ego development during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood: A 9-year longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Personality, 33, 233–252. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1999.2248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westenberg, P. M., Hauser, S. T., & Cohn, L. D. (2004). Sentence completion measurement of psychosocial maturity. In M. J. Hilsenroth, D. L. Segal, & M. Herson (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment: Personality assessment (Vol. II, pp. 595–616). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M. S. (1985). Ego development in adult women. Journal of Personality, 53, 561–574. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1985.tb00383.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The investigators and analyses contributing to this paper were supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health R01 MH44934-12, “Adolescent Paths to Successful Midlife Adjustment.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Judge Baker Children’s Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Rebecca L. Billings

  2. Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA

    Rebecca L. Billings

  3. Judge Baker Children’s Center, Harvard Medical School, 53 Parker Hill Avenue, Boston, MA, 02120, USA

    Stuart T. Hauser

  4. Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

    Stuart T. Hauser

  5. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Joseph P. Allen

Authors
  1. Rebecca L. Billings
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stuart T. Hauser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joseph P. Allen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stuart T. Hauser.

Additional information

This article is an expansion of a paper given by the authors at a Festschrift in Honor of Daniel Offer, M.D., November 9–10, 2006 at Child Psychiatry Department, University of Illinois Medical School Chicago, IL.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Billings, R.L., Hauser, S.T. & Allen, J.P. Continuity and Change from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Adolescence-limited vs. Life-course-persistent Profound Ego Development Arrests. J Youth Adolescence 37, 1178–1192 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9317-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9317-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation