Determinants of adolescent identity development: a cross-sequential study of boarding school boys

A sociometric measure of identity status was developed based on Marcia's (1966) four ordinal levels of ego identity achievement: Identity Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, and Diffusion. Boarding school adolescent boys (N = 197) rated their dormitory mates on each dimension twice with an interval of six months. Results indicate age differences in identity status for young adolescents, identity development associated with time, and a strong relation between adolescent behavior problems and levels of identity status. Efforts to relate identity status to child-rearing values, social problem-solving, stress, health concerns, and independence were inconclusive.