Adolescent identity development in context
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Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
1Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Abstract:
One of the key developmental tasks in adolescence is to develop a coherent identity. Studies have increasingly begun to go beyond the study of mean level identity change and examine the underlying mechanisms of identity development at the intraindividual, microlevel, that is, at the level where development is taking place: within the person, in here and now experiences and relationships. Identity development during adolescence is characterized by both systematic maturation and substantial stability. Life events and transitions, as well as accumulating real-time experiences, might play a role in identity development. Optimal development of identity is embedded in high-quality family relationships and friendships in which constructive narrative processes take place.
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