Revised description and measurement of ego development in early adolescence: An artifact of the written procedure?

The applicability of the Loevinger conception of ego development was explored for the period of early adolescence. Recent modifications of the earliest ego levels are summarized, and a new version of the measure is presented: the Sentence Completion Test for Children and Youth (SCT-Y). Questions were considered about the reliability and validity of this new instrument. The main question addressed was whether an oral administration would yield essentially different responses and significantly differing ego-level scores as compared to the standard written administration in an early adolescent sample (9.5 through 15.5 years of age; N = 120). The results indicated that an oral administration of the SCT-Y did not yield essentially different responses or significantly differing ego-level scores, regardless of the respondent's age, gender reading/writing skills, and preference for either presentation made. The findings indicate that the revision of the ego development construct and measure for (early) adolescence does not seem to be an artifact of the written procedure.