Citation

Sugimura K, Crocetti E, Hatano K, Kaniušonytė G, Hihara S, Zukauskienė R. J. Youth Adolesc. 2018; 47(4): 749-759.

Affiliation

Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities St. 20, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10964-018-0819-4

PMID

29468505

Abstract

Emotional separation and parental trust in parent–adolescent relationships are important factors for adolescent identity formation. However, prior research findings on emotional separation are inconsistent. This study aimed to conduct a more rigorous examination of the associations of emotional separation and parental trust with identity synthesis, confusion, and consolidation by applying a bi-factor model to identity, using adolescent samples from Lithuania (N = 610; 53.9% female; M age  = 14.92), Italy (N = 411; 57.4% female; M age  = 15.03), and Japan (N = 759; 43.7% female; M age  = 14.13). Structural equation modeling revealed that emotional separation and parental trust were consistently associated with identity consolidation across the three countries, rather than associated with identity synthesis and identity confusion. Furthermore, the patterns of associations of emotional separation and parental trust with identity synthesis and identity confusion differed across the three nations. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of the role of emotional separation and parental trust in adolescent identity formation by suggesting the importance of the identity consolidation in the association between parent–child relationships and identity formation across three countries.

Keywords

Identity Emotional separation Parental trust Adolescence Cross-cultural perspectives

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescence; Cross-cultural perspectives; Emotional separation; Identity; Parental trust