TY - JOUR
T1 - Ego development and psychosocial functioning in young adults with and without psychiatric history
AU - Ribeiro, Luisa A.
AU - Hauser, Stuart T.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This research was supported by a grant from the Fundac¸ão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (SFRH/BPD/ 26352/2006) awarded to the first author. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the staff working in the ‘‘Paths over Time Project’’ for their contribution in data collection and coding. Thanks are also due to the researchers involved in the project for their helpful comments. This article is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Stuart Hauser,
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - Ego development has been associated with positive outcomes, namely, with a better psychosocial adjustment and establishment of satisfactory relationships. However, ego development and psychosocial functioning are independent domains and a developed ego does not guarantee successful adaptation. Moreover, it is not clear whether ego development differentially influences psychosocial functioning in clinical and normative samples. The present study investigated the impact of ego development on the psychosocial functioning of young adults with (high-risk) and without (normative) psychiatric history. Results show an association between those two variables, especially strong for the high-risk group. High-risk individuals with successful psychosocial functioning exhibited levels of ego development more similar to those of normative young adults than to those of the remaining high-risk individuals. Moreover, as predicted, ego development mediated the relationship between psychiatric history and psychosocial functioning. Further support was found for the protective role of ego development, especially for individuals with psychiatric history.
AB - Ego development has been associated with positive outcomes, namely, with a better psychosocial adjustment and establishment of satisfactory relationships. However, ego development and psychosocial functioning are independent domains and a developed ego does not guarantee successful adaptation. Moreover, it is not clear whether ego development differentially influences psychosocial functioning in clinical and normative samples. The present study investigated the impact of ego development on the psychosocial functioning of young adults with (high-risk) and without (normative) psychiatric history. Results show an association between those two variables, especially strong for the high-risk group. High-risk individuals with successful psychosocial functioning exhibited levels of ego development more similar to those of normative young adults than to those of the remaining high-risk individuals. Moreover, as predicted, ego development mediated the relationship between psychiatric history and psychosocial functioning. Further support was found for the protective role of ego development, especially for individuals with psychiatric history.
KW - Ego development
KW - High-risk young adults
KW - Psychosocial functioning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=76049096259&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10804-009-9072-0
DO - 10.1007/s10804-009-9072-0
M3 - Article
SN - 1068-0667
VL - 16
SP - 263
EP - 269
JO - Journal of Adult Development
JF - Journal of Adult Development
IS - 4
ER -