Adolescent Depression and Individuation, Parental Representation and Stages of Ego Identity Among Female High School Students
Abstract
"Adolescence is the last and the concluding stage of childhood" (Erikson, 1956, p. 66). It is a time of rapid development that occurs globally across an individual. Traditionally thought of as the time of identity formation (Rutter, Graham, Chadwick, & Yule, 1976), the adolescent attempts to separate from her parents and prepare for adulthood. Developmental changes occur cognitively, socially, and psychologically. Adolescence can be described as "the adjustment of the child's personality to puberty, or at least an attempt at one," (Bernfeld, 1938, p. 243). The vicissitudes of adolescence create emotional turmoil which may lie at the root of adolescent psychopathology, and as such "adolescence is a period of great psychological upheaval and disturbance" (Rutter et al., 1976, p. 35). How an adolescent copes with these developmental challenges is determined by many factors, some of which may foster and others which may hinder the adolescent's development (Bernfeld, 1938).
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Freedman, Jacqueline D, "Adolescent Depression and Individuation, Parental Representation and Stages of Ego Identity Among Female High School Students" (2014). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI3581146.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI3581146
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