Journal of Psychosocial Research

Vol. 10, No. 1, 2015, 165-173

Identity Crisis Among Early Adolescents in Relations to

Abusive Experiences in the Childhood, Social Support and
Parental Support
Karthika R. Nair, Justine K. James and K. R. Santhosh

ABSTRACT
The present study inquired if abusive experiences before or during the adolescence
contribute to the severity of identity crisis and if parenting style and social support
reduce the crisis. Sample of 252 adolescents (82 males and 170 females) were collected
from different educational institutions in Palakkad Districts in the state of Kerala,
India. Karthika Identity Crisis Scale (Karthika, 2013), Perceptions of Parents Scales
(Grolnick, Ryan & Deci, 1991) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social
Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988) were used to measure Identity
Crisis, Parental support and social support respectively. A Child abuse checklist
was developed to assess the intensity of child sexual abuse. Correlation analysis
indicated that identity crisis has a moderate positive relationship with abusive
experiences and low negative correlation with perceived social support. As per the
regression analysis, abusive experiences in the childhood can contribute to identity
crisis, but social support can reduce it.

Key words : Sexual abuse, Identity crisis, Parenting Style, Social Support, Adolescence.

INTRODUCTION
Identity development is a lifelong process that begins in childhood and extends till old
age. Identity formation has many components - physical, sexual, social, vocational,
moral, ideological, and psychological characteristics (Rice, 1999). Many series of conflicts
are involved in the process. Adolescence is a period when individuals examine identity
as a process of finding out the fidelity in them, with reference to their peers. Orientation
about the society they have to survive here gets redefined, from a world of parents
and relatives who always attended them, to the world of peers who would attend
them in special situations only.

Corresponding author. Email : justinekjames@gmail.com, santhoshisme@gmail.com

ISSN 0973-5410 print/ISSN 0976-3937 online
©2014 Prints Publications Pvt. Ltd.
168 Karthika R. Nair, Justine K. James and K. R. Santhosh

Adolescence is a period when individuals become confused about their personal

strengths and weaknesses, and does not have a well articulated sense of self. This
temporary instability and confusion, this distress and disorientation, resulting from
conflicting pressures and uncertainty about one’s self and one’s role in society, usually
experienced by the individuals during the period of adolescence is called identity crisis
(Erikson, 1970). Everyone experiences this crisis during adolescence period, although in
many cases this could be unconscious (Erikson, 1963). It is a necessary turning point, a
crucial moment, when development must move one way or another, marshaling resources
of growth, recovery, and further differentiation (Erikson 1968).
It is in 1960’s researchers started to note that there are at least some who do not
experience this crisis. Marcia (1966), in this juncture, introduced a new outlook on
identity formation which includes two phases – phase of crisis and phase of commitment.
In crisis phase, individuals explore alternatives whereas in commitment phase, they
exhibit personal investment for the resolution of the crisis (Santrock, 2005). In order to
achieve a mature identity one has to have experienced a crisis and has to have shown
commitment in the ideology that resolves the crisis (Marcia, 1966). Identity, here, is
ego driven, internal, self-constructed and dynamic organization of aspirations, skills,
beliefs, and individual history (Meeus, 1993).
Identity develops through four qualitatively distinct statuses: diffusion, foreclosure,
moratorium and achievement (Marcia, 1980). Marcia (1966) set up a typology for
understanding how adolescents and young adults deal with the problems they face
during the conflicts of Identity v. Role Confusion.
In the status of identity diffusion, adolescents do not face any crisis, nor would
they have any commitment. They live for the moment and are undecided about their
occupational and ideological choices (Santrock, 2005). They do not have a committed
identity and do not attempt to have one.
In the status of identity moratorium, adolescents do face crisis, but they have not
yet committed to any certain identity. They are undergoing crisis and are actively
searching for an identity. They are often thoughtful individuals, open to experimenting
with new ideas and lifestyles (Baumeister, 1986).
Identity Foreclosed adolescents commit to an identity without experiencing any
crisis i.e. they blindly accepts the identity that has been handed to them, usually by
families and significant others. Here, the adolescents do not explore different approaches,
ideologies, but accepts the predetermined identities that their parents give them.
Identity achieved adolescents have undergone crisis and made a commitment
(Santrock, 2005). They explore different options and confidently commits to an ideology
that fits them. They know not only who they are, they know how they became that,
and that they had a hand in the becoming (Marcia, 1991).

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 Identity Crisis Among Early Adolescents in Relations to Abusive Experiences in the 169
Childhood, Social Support and Parental Support

The evaluation of the recognition an individual receives from his former small society
(of the parents and close relatives) in comparison to the larger society (of the peers) motivates
her or him to get separated emotionally from the parents and to make basic decisions
about the values, goals, and ambitions (Blos, 1962; Baumeister, 1986). Usually, parents
here would feel this as unconstructive. Parents used to undervalue the power the individuals
receive from the experience of crisis to tackle the hardships in the later life. Crisis becomes
doubled when the parents show reluctance to the change of their child to an adult and
restrict them with their growth. As a result of this, only about half of young people have
been found to obtain an achieved identity by early adulthood (Kroger, 2007).
Stressful life events can influence the intensity of identity crisis. Too much exhaustive
(Selye, 1936) trial on the adaption to stress may lead to heavy negative impact on the 11
phenomenology of the individual. Individuals who had experienced such stressful
conditions, which were so tedious to rationalize (Lazarus, 1998) would be immersed in the
crisis, wondering who they really are and what they are supposed to do with their lives
(Jr. Darity, 2008). Such individuals may be unable to access the status of identity achievement,
but gets fixated in the identity moratorium, or may accept the status of identity diffusion.
The fixation can be solved by the social support, especially from the part of the peers, or by
the parental support. An attempt from the part of the parents (or it may be peers too) to
foreclose the crisis, may (cannot say “must”) be an intervention to overcome fixation.
Stressful life events can interfere the status of identity achievement and shift the
individual to the moratorium status or to the diffusion status. Referring to the individuals
who experienced the severity of World War II, Erikson has noted a second set of crisis in
the midlife (Levinson, 1978). Even a change in one’s work status or deviation in the
interpersonal relationship status can bring crisis. Individual without a clear identity
eventually become depressed and lacking in self-confidence as they drift aimlessly,
trapped in the diffusion status. They might heartily embrace what Erikson called a
negative identity, becoming a “delinquent” or a “loser”; as it is better to become that one
is not supposed to be than to have no identity (Erikson, 1963). Adolescent stuck in
diffusion status are highly apathetic and express a sense of hopelessness about the future,
sometimes even become suicidal (Chandler et al, 2003).
If stressful experiences thus can even sabotage the achieved identity, there is no
question of its influence on the individual who has not yet solved the crisis. Abusive
sexual experiences in the childhood is one such traumatic experience to many a children,
but not considered with enough gravity. Such experiences in the childhood, if too much
traumatic and stressful, can curtail the development of an integrated self. Ultimately,
chances of its contribution to the maladaptive identity formation during adolescence are
high because confusion and mistrust becomesprominent (Sapsford, 1997). Such
experiences may also contribute to the irresolvable moratorium; forming fixation in

J. Psychosoc. Res.
170 Karthika R. Nair, Justine K. James and K. R. Santhosh

that status. Or it may make the individual’s identity diffused. Healthy body awareness
shall get stunted while feelings of shame, self-worthlessness, and guilt grow
(Underwood, Stewart, & Castellanos, 2007).
Childhood sexual abuses may be overt (direct physical abuse or contact) such as
penetration and fondling or covert (nonphysical abuse or noncontact) such as spying,
exposing and inappropriate sexual comments for covert abuse. There has been a lot of
discussion about how it correlates with a variety of illnesses and psychiatric diagnoses
(Styron & Janoff-Bulman, 1997). However, little inquiries are done to find out if it
contributes the severity of identity crisis. Such an inquiry seems to be important as
children and adolescents, regardless of their race, culture, or economic status, appear
to be at approximately equal in risk for sexual victimization.
Children who have been sexually abused can suffer a range of psychological and
behavioral problems, from mild to severe, short term and long term (American
Psychological Association, 2012). The social effects of abuse include functioning problems
like rebellion, isolation, antisocial behavior and compulsive social interaction. These
feelings may be vented in social causes. Other survivors may function well, but yet feel
a lack of confidence about their skills (Courtois, 1988). The consequences provide a
latent sign of the impact of the experiences on identity crisis, as speculated above.
Several studies reported that former victims of abuse have experienced of negative
self-image, depression, anxiety, feelings of isolation and stigma, substance abuse, a
tendency towards revictimization, and problems in interpersonal relationships (Browne
& Finkelhor, 1986; Courtosis, 1988). However reactions vary. Some reactions are mild,
while others are life-threatening and severely debilitating. Even though, approximately
40% of all the survivors suffer serious aftereffects (Broune & Finkelhor, 1986). However,
millions of them lead successful lives without any formal therapy (Feinaver, 1989).
According to Courtois (1988) such experiences can bring immediate impacts on
the child’s identity. The child may also experience parentified behavior, where the
child acts older than their years and needs to take care of others in the family (Courtois,
1988). Glaser (2000) states a strong association between child maltreatment and
cognitive, behavioral, emotional and social adaptational failure and psychopathology
in adulthood and childhood. All these direct to speculate a strong association between
the abusive sexual experiences in the childhood and its impact on the identity crisis.
Based on this speculation, the following hypothesis were developed.
H1: Identity crisis in the adolescence has relationship with the abusive experiences
(in the childhood), social support and parental support.
H2: Abusive experiences, social support and parental support factors can contribute
to the identity crisis experienced by the individuals in early adolescence.

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 Identity Crisis Among Early Adolescents in Relations to Abusive Experiences in the 171
Childhood, Social Support and Parental Support

METHOD
Sample
The sample consisted of 252 emerging adolescents (82 Males & 170 Females; age group:
10 years to 13 years) from different educational institutions at Palakkad District, in the
State of Kerala, India. During the emergence of adolescence, children undergo a variety
of inter-related and intra-related changes, as it is a period of transition. Crisis in this
period is speculated to be more severe than later part of the adolescence. Challenges
are multidimensional. Physically, there are changes associated with puberty; cognitively
the child moves from the period of concrete operations to the period formal operations;
socially the orientation will become more peer-focused; and, educationally, in our
society, there is the transition occurs from elementary to secondary education.
MEASURES
Karthika Identity Crisis Scale: Karthika Identity Crisis Inventory developed by Karthika
(2013) measures the level of Identity Crisis experienced by the adolescence. The scale
consisted 25 items in five sub scales. Response options are arranged in a five point
Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly disagree). The subscales
of the inventory are self esteem (a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her
own worth), need for autonomy (heightened aversion towards restrictions and
unfulfilled experience of freedom), need for affiliation (urge to acquire love and care
and dissatisfaction in present relationships), fidelity (self-imposed and assumed
degrading about the self, specifically from parents) and narcissism (inability to control
emotions and tendency to behave aggressively with others). The scale has an alpha
coefficient () of internal consistency ranging from 0.64 to 0.89.
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS): MSPSS, developed by
Zimet, Dahlem, and Farley (1988), assesses perceptions of social adequacy from family,
friends and significant others. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was obtained for the scale
as a whole as well as for each subscale. For the significant other, family and friends
subscales, the values were 0.91, 0.87, and 0.85 respectively. The reliability of the total
scale was 0.88. The Test-retest reliability for the Significant other, Family, and Friends
subscale were 0.72, 0.85, and 0.75 respectively. For the whole scale, the value obtained
was 0.85.
Perceived parenting style questionnaire: The child POPS was developed, by Grolnick,
Ryan, and Deci (1991). It assesses children’s perceptions of their parents’ involvement
and the degree to which the children perceive their parents to provide autonomy
support. The scale has 22 items with 11 mother items and 11 father items. Each item
had four dimensions: Mother Involvement and Mother Autonomy support, as well as,
Father Involvement, and Father autonomy support. The scale is found to be reliable

J. Psychosoc. Res.
172 Karthika R. Nair, Justine K. James and K. R. Santhosh

and valid (Robbins, 1994).

Sexual abuse checklist: Sexual abuse check list was prepared by the experimenters for
the purpose of the study. The checklist consisted of 33 items, each of which denotes
probable abusive experiences. The higher the score in the check list, the greater will be
the abusive experiences.
RESULTS
To find out if identity crisis in the adolescence has relationship with the abusive
experiences (in the childhood), social support and parental support, correlation analysis
is done. Summary of the results is given in table 1
Table 1
Correlation analysis – Relationship between identity crisis, abusive experience,
social support and parental support
Variables Parenting Social Abusive Identity
Style Support Experiences Crisis
Parenting Style 1.00
Social Support -0.09 1.00
Abusive Experiences 0.25 **
-0.17** 1.00
Identity Crisis 0.07 -0.21** 0.53** 1.00

**p < 0.01; *p < 0.05.

Identity crisis indicate a low negative correlation (r = -0.21, p < 0.01) with social
support and a moderate positive correlation with abusive experiences (r = 0.53, p < 0.01).
Identity crisis did not show a significant relationship with parenting style.
To find out if abusive experiences and social support factors can predict the identity
crisis experienced by the early adolescents, regression analysis was administered. The
results are summarized in table 2.
Table 2
Regression analysis – Contribution of abusive experiences, social support and
parental support factors to identity crisis of the adolescents.
DV Predictors  t F R2  R2 VIF

Social support -0.12 2.30 *

1.03
Identity Crises 35.47** 0.30 0.29
Abusive experiences 0.53 9.52 **
1.02
**p < 0.01; *p < 0.05.

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 Identity Crisis Among Early Adolescents in Relations to Abusive Experiences in the 173
Childhood, Social Support and Parental Support

The model (F = 35.47, p < 0.01; R2 = 0.3; R2 = 0.29) after regression analysis
indicated that social support ( = - 0.12, t = 2.3, p < 0.05) and abusive experiences
( = 0.53, t = 9.52, p < 0.01) are acting as predictors. Hence, social support enhancement
can be an intervention to reduce the identity crisis, but abusive experiences may strongly
contribute to the identity crisis.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Identity crisis is a necessary turning point, a crucial moment, when development must
move one way or another, marshaling resources of growth, recovery, and further
differentiation (Erikson 1968). After around 10 years old, a sense of autonomy will be
developed in children, which enable them feel different from their parents. As it is a
new feeling, the children will try to work on with it curiously. These new found
activities may not always be perfect, and many a time used to be filled with errors.
Consequences may be heavy criticisms and lack of recognition. Crisis for identity in
children begins from here. The inquiry put forwarded by the present investigation is
if certain factors around the children can influence this crisis in a positive or negative
way. Factors considered were abusive experiences in the childhood, social support
and parental support. As per the results, parental support has less to do with identity
crisis. Social support can reduce the crisis. But abusive experiences in the childhood
can contribute to identity crisis heavily.
Identity development is, indeed, a lifelong process. Identity, as Josselson (1987)
defines, is a dynamic fitting together of parts of the personality with the realities of
the social world so that a person has a sense both of internal coherence and meaningful
relatedness to the real world. Our identity encompasses the choices we make, our
priorities and the basic tenets that guide our life (Erikson, 1968; Josselson, 1987). It
becomes a way to organize our experiences, to understand ourselves and others in
relation to us. Erik Erikson in the 1940s coined the term identity crisis which meant the
temporary instability and confusion adolescents experience as they struggle with
alternatives and choices. Abusive experiences in the childhood are stressors that increase
this instability and confusion. Sufficient social support could enable the individual to
overcome the crisis with less stress.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Karthika. R. Nair, M.Sc. Psychology — Department of Psychology, Pondicherry University, R. V. Nagar,

Kalapet, Puducherry, India-605014.
Justine. K. James, Ph.D., Assistant Professor — Christ University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India - 560029.
K.R. Santhosh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor — Department of Psychology, Jain University, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India - 560002.

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