Identity Confusion and Psychopathology in Late Adolescence

Identity Confusion and Psychopathology in Late Adolescence Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of identity confusion with clinical diagnoses and personality pathology. Method: Participants in the first part of the study were 950 high school students or graduates. The participants were 484 males and 466 females ranging in age between 16 and 25 years of age (X = 18.3, sd = 0.8). We first administered the Instrument for Assessing Identity Confusion (IFAIC), and following a random sampling procedure we selected 30 participants with an IFAIC score >= 1 standard deviation above the mean score to constitute the identity confusion group, and 30 participants with an IFAIC score I standard deviation below the mean score to constitute the non-confusion group. The 60 participants included in the second part of the study were clinically assessed by means of SCID-I and SCID-II interviews. Findings: The percentage of the participants receiving at least one axis I diagnoses was 73.3 % in the identity confusion group as opposed to 6.6 % in the non-confusion group. Likewise, participants in the identity confusion group fulfilled more personality disorder criteria than those in the non-confusion group. When the groups were compared for each personality disorder criteria, significant differences were observed in terms of avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive, self-defeating, borderline and schizotypal personality disorders. Conclusion: Findings of the present study do not support the view that identity confusion is a condition emerging exclusively in adolescents with borderline or psychotic personality organization.