Identity formation and psychopathological symptoms in adolescence: Examining developmental trajectories and co-development

Identity development is a prominent task during adolescence, and the way adolescents develop their identity is an important factor in psychopathology. The present study aimed to identify different identity trajectory classes and investigated how these classes are related to psychopathological symptoms (i.e., depressive symptoms; eating disorder symptoms; somatic symptoms and related thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and substance use). A total of 599 Flemish adolescents aged 12–18 at Time 1 (41.3% female; M_age = 14.93) participated at three annual measurement points. Five identity trajectory classes emerged using latent class growth analysis (achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, carefree diffusion-increasing exploration, troubled diffusion). In addition, multigroup latent growth curve modeling demonstrated the co-development of identity trajectory classes with psychopathology. Adolescents in classes reflecting maladaptive identity functioning, such as moratorium and troubled diffusion, displayed significantly more psychopathological symptoms. These findings indicate the importance of targeting identity functioning in the prevention and intervention of psychopathology among adolescents.