Crisis and vulnerability in adolescent development

Abstract

It was argued that adolescent development should be studied from a more relational and structural approach (cf. Damon and Hart, 1982). In the first study of 5986 Chinese students, two distinct self-concept dimensions were included and their relations to one another and to locus of control, extraversion, and test anxiety were compared across six primary and secondary grade levels. This was in contrast to past studies' focus on the overall change of single or global aspects of self-concept. It was found that self-concept of academic ability increased with age, whereas self-concept of appearance decreased with age. Both self-concepts were closely related. Locus of control was more related to self-concept appearance, and test anxiety to self-concept of academic ability. Extraversion was related only to self-concept of appearance. These relations existed mainly in adolescents (especially girls) and not in younger children. Midadolescence was found to be a critical period as both self-concepts showed quite drastic changes. Tentative evidence showed that the transition from sixth to seventh grade tended to have a dampening effect on the two self-concepts. Results from a second study of 701 secondary school students that included more self-concept dimensions lent further support to the findings of the first study. Crisis and vulnerability in adolescent development are discussed in the qualitative analysis of the relational changes.