African American Racial Identity Across the Lifespan: Identity Status, Identity Content, and Depressive Symptoms

Cluster analytic methods were used to create 4 theorized ethnic identity statuses (achieved, foreclosed, moratorium, and diffused) among 940 African American adolescents (13-17 years old), college students (18-23 years old), and adults (27-78 years old). Evidence for the existence of 4 identity stat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChild development Vol. 77; no. 5; pp. 1504 - 1517
Main Authors Yip, Tiffany, Seaton, Eleanor K., Sellers, Robert M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2006
Blackwell Publishers
Blackwell Publishing
Blackwell
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Adults
African Americans
Age Groups
Biological and medical sciences
Black American people
Child development
Cluster analysis
Cluster Grouping
College students
Comparative Analysis
Depression
Depression (Psychology)
Depression - diagnosis
Depression - ethnology
Depressive disorders
Ethnic identity
Ethnicity
Family studies
Female
Group identity
Humans
Identity
Identity diffusion
Identity statuses
Individual Differences
Interaction
Life span
Lifetime
Male
Medical sciences
Mood disorders
Personal development
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Race
Racial Identification
Racial identity
Self Concept
Social Identification
Social Status
Status
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Youth
Human
Mood disorder
Social group
Adolescent
Race
Depression
Social belonging
Ethnic group
Social identity
African American
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Summary:Cluster analytic methods were used to create 4 theorized ethnic identity statuses (achieved, foreclosed, moratorium, and diffused) among 940 African American adolescents (13-17 years old), college students (18-23 years old), and adults (27-78 years old). Evidence for the existence of 4 identity statuses was found across the 3 age groups. The distribution of individuals differed by age group, with the older participants disproportionately occupying the more mature statuses. Identity status was related to identity content such that achieved individuals reported higher levels of racial centrality and private regard. Finally, there was a significant interaction between developmental age group and identity status for depressive symptoms such that diffused college students reported higher symptoms than achieved college students. No status differences were found for the other 2 age groups.
Bibliography:istex:6A7706BF9961EB2F02CE38F8D139973094A754FE
ArticleID:CDEV950
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Data collection for portions of this project was funded by a National Institute of Mental Health Grant (NIMH 5 R01 MH 061967‐03) awarded to the third author. The first author was supported as a postdoctoral fellow with a National Science Foundation Grant (NSF SES‐0409492) during the preparation of this article. The second author was also supported as a postdoctoral fellow with a National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Training Grant (NIMH T32 MH 067555). We would like to acknowledge Tabbye Chavous, the RILS project, and the African American Family Project for assistance with and utilization of their data sources. We also thank the MIBI group for their feedback during the preparation of this article.
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ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00950.x