The relationships among caregiver and adolescent identity status, identity distress and psychological adjustment

The present study addresses the relationships of caregiver identity status on their adolescent children's identity distress and psychological symptom severity among a sample of adolescents (age 12–19) in treatment at a community mental health center (N = 60 caregiver–child dyads). A significant proportion of caregivers (10%) and their adolescent children (21.7%) met DSM-IV criteria for Identity Problem. Caregiver identity commitment, significantly predicted adolescent identity distress over and above the adolescents' identity variables, while caregiver identity exploration significantly predicted adolescent psychological symptom severity. These findings and implications are discussed in further detail.