Profiles of Adolescent Identity Development: Response to an Intervention for Alcohol/Other Drug Problems

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine identity development among adolescents participating in an after-school alcohol/other drug (AOD) abuse intervention program (8 females and 12 males, ages 14–17) to identify how identity development was associated with intervention success. To achieve this goal we (a) garnered information from two identity interviews conducted during the first week of the intervention and 6 to 8 weeks later; (b) adopted a qualitative, person-centered analytical strategy to identify identity profiles; and (c) examined the intervention response of the adolescents, as recorded in intervention documents, in the different identity profile groups. Analyses revealed five identity profiles wherein adolescents differed in their responses to the “identity challenges” encountered in the intervention. Implications for AOD interventions are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent identity formation
• troubled youth
• intervention response
• person-centered approach

Notes

This project was funded in part by the Texas Tech University Graduate School and College of Human Sciences.