IDENTITY CONFUSION, DEPRESSION, AND RESILIENCE IN ADOLESCENTS: THE MODERATING ROLE OF PERSONAL CONTROL

Abstract

There has been extensive research on the relationship between identity confusion and depression. However, there are still uncertainties about the effects of identity confusion on depression due to mixed findings in the literature, alluding to possible additional pathways between identity confusion and depression. Despite adolescence being the optimal timeframe to investigate this pathological relationship, and the pressing need to protect adolescents from depression, such studies on adolescents remain scarce. Using a Singapore sample of 650 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years old, this study addresses these gaps by examining how personal control, a resilience trait, possibly mitigates the adverse effects of identity confusion on four aspects of depression: depressive symptoms, presentations of Major Depressive Disorder, suicide ideation, and suicide or self-harm attempt. This study’s results confirm the positive association between identity confusion and depression. However, personal control only moderated the relationship between identity confusion and depressive symptoms, and not the other depression aspects. These findings warrant greater focus on the complex effects of identity confusion on depression during adolescence. Moreover, the results highlight the benefits in exploring the experience of identity development, as well as developing healthy levels of personal control in clinical interventions for adolescents experiencing symptoms of depression.