Does Identity Precede Intimacy? Testing Erikson's Theory on Romantic Development in Emerging Adults of the 21st Century

Erikson stated that healthy identity development during adolescence is a precursor of intimacy in romantic relationships during emerging adulthood. However, from a developmental contextual perspective, there are reasons to question this strict developmental ordering. Using interview and questionnaire data from a longitudinal study on 93 adolescents, the authors tested whether ego development in middle adolescence predicts intimacy in emerging adulthood. Second, the authors examined whether identity achievement at the transition to adulthood mediates this link. Results revealed direct links between early ego development (age 15) and intimacy in romantic relationships (age 25). No paths were found from earlier intimacy to later ego development. No gender differences occurred. Relational identity achievement, an integrative identity construct measured at age 24, fully mediated the association between earlier ego development and later intimacy. This study confirms Erikson's old ideas on the developmental ordering of identity and intimacy for youngsters in the 21st century. Moreover, it highlights the integrative function of relational identity for later mature intimacy

A gender identity development service

We work in the UK service based at the Tavistock Centre in London, offering assessment and intervention for children and adolescents experiencing difficulties with their gender identity development. In addition, we work with children with a transgendered parent. The multidisciplinary team includes clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and child psychotherapists, working in association with two consultant paediatric and adolescent endocrinologists at UCLH who provide regular adolescent liaison clinics. Our assessments consider the holistic context of such a presentation, including the history of the gender dysphoria, the family history and young person’s developmental and medical history, the attitudes of the family and school, and sources of stress and supports. We particularly focus on areas of gender identity such as the young person’s identity statements, cross-dressing, toy and role-play, peer relations, mannerisms and voice, anatomic dysphoria, and rough-and-tumble play (Zucker &?Bradley, 1995). We also include risk assessments around any self-harm and possible suicidal ideation and, with the family’s permission, liaise with any local services and the school. The service operates a network model of care, and team members regularly convene and attend local meetings to discuss the needs of the young person in relation to their gender identity development, and agree roles with all involved professionals. Following our assessment, we might recommend family and/or individual work to monitor the gender dysphoria and address associated difficulties, such as low mood and distress and problems with bullying and stigma in the family, local community or school. We also work closely with schools and local services in order to reduce shame and secrecy, consider the boundaries between what is public and private with regard to information sharing and to manage risk and promote support and coping. Our interventions involve a staged model of care, which include: Stage 1: Following assessment, further therapeutic exploration of the nature of gender identity. In adolescents, reversible physical interventions are considered if their gender identity disorder (GID) persists and shows a high level of consistency. Stage 2: Includes wholly reversible intervention to produce a state of biological neutrality – known as hormone-blocking treatment. This occurs alongside continued psychological exploration, support and physical monitoring by a consultant paediatric endocrinologist.I Stage 3: Is considered if the GID persists during Stage 2. Includes partially reversible interventions, e.g. the administration of cross-sex hormone that masculinises or feminises the body. Stage 4: Includes irreversible interventions, such as surgical procedures. This is not considered before the age of 18, and so the Gender Identity Development Service would facilitate a smooth transition to the adult Gender Identity Service who are able to provide these interventions. Transfer to adult services would usually happen prior to the introduction of cross-sex hormones. The figures usually quoted suggest that for individuals presenting with GID prior to adolescence about 80 per cent do not persist and find a solution other than gender transition. The most common outcome in this group is homosexuality and bisexuality. Conversely for those who present to the service in adolescence the figures are reversed and about 80 per cent pursue physical sex re-assignment. The recent newspaper articles assume that allowing the young person to live in a role of their perceived identity necessarily leads to gender reassignment. Our experience shows that some young people who lived in role from the age of nine or ten changed during their pubertal development. There is currently much debate around the timing of physical interventions. In a number of countries in Europe and America the hormone blocker is being offered in earlier stages of puberty. If the young person decides not to pursue physical gender reassignment the blocker is stopped, and their own sex hormones resume. But the debate revolves around the reversibility of this intervention – physical and also psychological, in terms of the possible influence of sex hormones on brain and identity development. Zucker, K.J. & Bradley, S.J. (1995). Gender identity disorder and psychosexual problems in children and adolescents. New York: Plenum Press

Differences in Mental Health and Ethnic-Racial Identity between White Gender Variant Students and Gender Variant Students of Color

Differences in Mental Health and Ethnic-Racial Identity between White Gender Variant Students and Gender Variant Students of Color Xuxa Sky Lark, Depts. of International Social Justice and French, Arlenis Santana, Dept. of Psychology Graduate Student, & Chloe Walker, Dept. of Psychology Graduate Student, with Dr. Diamond Y. Bravo, Dept. of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, and Dr. Chelsea Derlan Williams, Dr. Amy Adkins, and Dr. Danielle M. Dick, Dept. of Psychology Gender variant college students (i.e., transgender, genderqueer, and questioning) experience increased risk for mental health disparities, discrimination, bullying, family disownment, homelessness, and hate crimes, to name a few (Eisenberg, 2017). Further disparities arise when the intersections of gender and race are both considered; however, few studies have tested ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development among gender variant individuals (Kattari, 2016), which is predominantly tested in cisgender populations (e.g., Aoyagi et al, 2017; Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). This is a notable gap given that ERI is a normative aspect of adolescence and emerging adulthood that is associated with positive development (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). Understanding ERI and mental health among diverse gender variant individuals is important to be able to create effective interventions and resources across ethnic-racial backgrounds that considers individuals’ unique lived experiences (Mossakowski, 2003). To address these gaps, the current study, grounded in the minority stress framework (Meyer, 2003) and ERI frameworks (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014), tested differences in mental health (i.e., anxiety and depression) and ERI (i.e., exploration, resolution, and affirmation) between White gender variant students and gender variant students of color. The sample in the current study was from a larger university-wide study (i.e., Spit for Science; Dick et al., 2014), and consisted of 112 ethnically diverse gender variant students who identified as a White student (n = 72) or identified as a student of color (n = 40) in college. Students ranged in age from 18-24 years old (M = 20.15, SD = 1.61), and were 4.6% transgender women, 11.11% transgender men, 30.16% questioning, and 53.97% genderqueer. The Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R; Derogatis & Cleary, 1977) was used to measure levels of depression and anxiety, and the Ethnic Identity Scale-Brief (EIS-B; Douglass & Umaña-Taylor, 2015) was used to assess ERI exploration, resolution, and affirmation. First, descriptive statistics were conducted to examine correlations among variables (Table 1). Next, hypotheses were tested with five t-tests that tested mean differences in mental health and ERI between gender variant White students and students of color. Findings indicated gender variant students of color (compared to White gender variant students) had significantly higher ERI exploration (t (107) = -6.49, p = .00), ERI affirmation (t (106) = -2.23, p = .03), and ERI resolution (t (106) = -5.61, p = .00). Although gender variant students of color had higher mean levels of anxiety and depression than White gender variant students, this difference was not significant (p \u3e .05). Discussion will center on how ERI may be a protective factor for gender identity-based risk factors among gender variant students of color, which will be a fruitful area for continued investigation and intervention efforts.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1318/thumbnail.jp

‘It’s like equality now; it’s not as if it’s the old days’: an investigation into gender identity development and football participation of adolescent girls

This article explores the influence participating in football has on the development of adolescent girls’ gender identity, an area which currently lacks academic attention. Data were taken from an ethnographic study with a group of adolescent girls and boys and compared to Jeanes’ research. A social constructionist framework was deployed with links to both critical theory and feminist literature. Qualitative and participatory methods were used to fully engage with the complex issue of gender identity. The girls within this study were aware of the normative gender expectations linked to ‘being a female’ but did not find this restrictive. The girls moved between many changing identities and organised their ‘web of selves’ accordingly. The apparent need to measure success by the parameters of male standards created a barrier to girls’ identity development

The Making of Online Identity. The use of creative method to support young people in their reflection on age\ud and gender

In the .GTO.project our ambition is to study how young people (10 to 14 years old) in Estonia and Sweden construct and normalise gender and age, as markers of identity and identity development, in their online interactions. After\ud conducting interview studies on how young people experience on- and offline interactions, and their intertwining, as well as online ethnographic studies of online presentations, we went on with the third phase of the project: creative\ud workshops with young people. In these workshops, young people in groups of four were to create fictitious online characters. In the analysis of these, we focus on how power differentials and identity markers such as age and gender are constructed and negotiated.\u

Male Gender Identity Becoming

У статті розкрито проблему гендерного розвитку чоловіка в онтогенезі в аспекті становлення його гендерної ідентичності. Поетапно розглянуто періоди дошкільного, молодшого шкільного, підліткового та юнацького віку із визначенням новоутворень, пов’язаних із гендером та ідентичністю особистості. The problem of male gender development in ontogenesis in aspect of gender identity becoming is described in the article. Gender and identity neoformations of childhood, teenage and adolescence are set out stepwise

Sex and Gender Through an Analytic Eye: Butler on Freud and Gender Identity

In her book. Gender Trouble, Judith Butler reinforces the conception held by many feminist philosophers that gender identity is not natural but rather culturally-constructed. Butler supports this conception of gender mainly by reading (and misreading) Freud. I will undertake a critical reconstruction of Butler\u27s claims about gender identity which are based on Freud. In order to complete this project, I will outline (J) currents of feminism leading us to this question of the constructedness of gender, (2) Freud\u27s theories, especially his account of sexual development and (3) two of Butler\u27s main criticisms of Freud. Through this exploration, I will explain Butler\u27s use of Freud in constructing a theory ofgender identity

Optimal experience and personal growth. Flow and the consolidation of place identity

This study examined the relationship between flow experience and place identity, based on eudaimonistic identity theory (EIT) which prioritizes self-defining activities as important for an individual's identification of his/her goals, values, beliefs, and interests corresponding to one's own identity development or enhancement. This study focuses on place identity, the identity's features relating to a person's relation with her/his place. The study is also based on flow theory, according to which some salient features of an activity experience are important for happiness and well-being. Questionnaire surveys on Italian and Greek residents focused on their perceived flow and place identity in relation to their own specific local place experiences. The overall findings revealed that flow experience occurring in one's own preferred place is widely reported as resulting from a range of self-defining activities, irrespective of gender or age, and it is positively and significantly associated with one's own place identity. Such findings provide the first quantitative evidence about the link between flow experienced during meaningfully located self-defining activities and identity experienced at the place level, similarly to the corresponding personal and social levels that had been previously already empirically tested. Results are also discussed in terms of their implications for EIT's understanding and enrichment, especially by its generalization from the traditional, personal identity level up to that of place identity. More generally, this study has implications for maintaining or enhancing one's own place identity, and therefore people place relations, by means of facilitating a person's flow experience within psychologically meaningful place

Psychological functioning in adolescents referred to specialist gender identity clinics across Europe : a clinical comparison study between four clinics

Adolescents seeking professional help with their gender identity development often present with psychological difficulties. Existing literature on psychological functioning of gender diverse young people is limited and mostly bound to national chart reviews. This study examined the prevalence of psychological functioning and peer relationship problems in adolescents across four European specialist gender services (The Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and Switzerland), using the Child Behavioural Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR). Differences in psychological functioning and peer relationships were found in gender diverse adolescents across Europe. Overall, emotional and behavioural problems and peer relationship problems were most prevalent in adolescents from the UK, followed by Switzerland and Belgium. The least behavioural and emotional problems and peer relationship problems were reported by adolescents from The Netherlands. Across the four clinics, a similar pattern of gender differences was found. Birth-assigned girls showed more behavioural problems and externalising problems in the clinical range, as reported by their parents. According to self-report, internalising problems in the clinical range were more prevalent in adolescent birth-assigned boys. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of the difference in clinical presentations in gender diverse adolescents and to investigate what contextual factors that may contribute to this