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

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.

Personality development from adolescence to emerging adulthood: Linking trajectories of ego development to the family context and identity formation.

“…In adolescence, these youth were between Level 3, Self-Protective, and Level 4, Conformist, and they remained near self-protective as they transitioned to emerging adulthood. Although the frequency of this group was quite small in the present sample, it is a theoretically important group that has been previously identified and examined in detail by Billings et al, 2008. Future research with larger samples is necessary to better understand the factors that inhibit personality development in this group.…”

“…There has been some research on individual trajectories of ego development. Hauser and colleagues (Billings, Hauser, & Allen, 2008; Hauser et al, 1991; Henninghausen, Hauser, Billings, Schultz, & Allen, 2004) have described six theoretical trajectory types for how individuals change in ego development over time, three of which represent stability (stable high, moderate, and low) and three represent change (increase, decrease, and fluctuating). Empirically, they have found evidence for all of the trajectory classes except for decreasing, with the stable moderate trajectory being the most common among healthy adolescents.…”

Diverse Patterns in the Development of Depressive Symptoms Among Emerging Adults

“…Emerging adulthood is now largely conceptualized and researched as distinct from both adolescence and later adulthood (Arnett, 2007;Billings, Hauser, & Allen, 2008;Steger, Oishi, & Kashdan, 2009; for a different perspective, see also Bynner, 2005). Emerging adults can be described as experiencing aspects of adulthood and adolescence simultaneously.…”

Sensation seeking, coping with stress, and readiness to engage in therapy: Does ego development influence the psychosocial functioning of substance-abusing mothers?

“…Higher ego development was also negatively correlated with defensive coping techniques, including regression, isolation, and projection. In other studies (Billings, Hauser, & Allen, 2008;Hennighausen, Hauser, Billings, Schultz, & Allen, 2004), individuals who displayed higher levels of ego development through early adulthood were rated as less hostile, more socially adept, and more able to engage in collaborative conflict resolution than individuals who remained arrested in early stages of ego development. Further, research with non-substance-abusing samples has shown a curvilinear relationship between ego development and internalizing disorders, including anxiety and depression (Noam, Young, & Jilnina, 2006).…”