How Individual Coping,Mental Health,and Parental Behavior Are Related to Identity Development in Emerging Adults in Seven Countries

Abstract

So far, there is a dearth of research comparing identity processes across cultures and its contributing factors. In this study, the association of individual and family factors with identity processes was analyzed in 2,113 emerging adults (M = 22.0 years; 66% female) from France, Germany, Greece, Peru, Pakistan, Poland, and Turkey. Exploration and commitment levels were highest in non-Western countries like Peru, Turkey, and Pakistan, whereas emerging adults in France scored lowest in exploration and commitment and reported highest levels in identity distress, internalizing/externalizing symptoms, and identity diffusion. Identity distress, coping with identity distress, parental behavior, and mental health were regressed on identity processes (exploration breadth/depth, commitment, and ruminative exploration). Distinctive patterns emerged; high identity distress, high identity diffusion, and high maternal anxious rearing in all countries were related to ruminative exploration. Findings were interpreted with a focus on universal and distinctive pathways in different countries in changing times.