Profile of Adolescent Depression and Individuation: A validity study

Jennifer A Carlson, Pace University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide evidence in support of the validity of Hart's Profile of Adolescent Depression and Individuation (PADI) instrument through a convergent validity analysis. The established measures, whose constructs were expected to, and did provide validation of the PADI scales, were the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC), The Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT), and The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI). Both empirically and theoretically derived, the PADI is a 70-item self-report measure designed to assess positions an adolescent may assume in response to the challenges of individuation and adolescent development. Positions may be temporary and transient reactions to stage specific developmental demands or become significant aspects of the final personality organization. The scales include three types of depressive experiences: Self-Destructive Depression (Scale I), Lonely/Alienated Depression (Scale III) and Sensitive/Anxious Depression (Scale V). One state assesses attainment of psychic structure: Identity Formation (Scale II), two scales assess varieties of masked depression and counter-depressive reactions: Ruthless/Grandiose (Scale IV) and Stimulation-Seeking (Scale VII), and one measures aspects of the adolescent's bond to their parents: Object Loyalty (Scale VI). Specifically, Pearson's correlation coefficients between each scale of the PADI and scales from the other validated instruments were estimated in order to determine whether there was a significant relationship and whether that relationship was in the expected direction. In addition, 2 by 4 ANOVA's were used to assess the relationship between gender and ego development level and multiple regression analyses were run to determine which, if any, PADI scales made a significant contribution to depression, MAPI Personality Styles, and MAPI Expressed Concerns. Overall, with a few minor exceptions, our hypotheses were supported and the PADI was validated.

Subject Area

Psychotherapy|Psychological tests

Recommended Citation

Carlson, Jennifer A, "Profile of Adolescent Depression and Individuation: A validity study" (2007). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI3280161.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI3280161

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