Psychopathology and adolescent self-image

Self-image and depressive symptoms among adolescents in a non-clinical sample

The connection between self-image and depressive symptoms in non-clinical adolescent populations has not been well documented in large samples of teenagers. Our purpose was to investigate the correlation between self-image and depressive symptoms. To assess the adolescent's self-concept, we used the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ), and to study their depressive symptoms, we chose the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The sample consisted of 1054 eighth-grade students (465 boys, 589 girls) from normal comprehensive schools in one town with 200 000 inhabitants. The mean age of both gender groups was 14.5 years and they came from all social classes. The results showed a highly significant correlation between OSIQ scale scores and CDI scores. The more problems the adolescents had with their self-image, the greater the number of depressive symptoms. The correlation between the CDI total score and OSIQ scales scores was higher for girls than for boys except for the Superior Adjustment scale. The difference between sexes in the strengths of the correlations was highly significant (P<0.0001) except in the Sexuality scale. Since both the tests have shown to have predictive value for later psychiatric symptoms, further investigation of high-scoring CDI adolescents', and especially girls', self-image problems is important.

The transition to adulthood for youth who have serious emotional disturbance: developmental transition and young adult outcomes

This article reviews studies that depict the developmental transition from adolescence to young adulthood of persons who have experienced serious emotional disturbance (SED) as children or adolescents. The literature demonstrates that their plight in young adulthood is grave. Youth with SED enter the transition phase delayed in their developmental maturation and face additional challenges relative to their nondisabled peers. As a group, they are undereducated, underemployed, and have limited social supports. Homelessness, criminal activity, and drug use are prevalent. This article defines the transitional youth population, describes the developmental tasks of transition, and summarizes the results of longitudinal studies that have tracked functional outcomes of transitional youth into young adulthood. The discussion focuses on the relevance of these findings to service provision.

A study of the relationship between life events and disturbed self image in adolescents

The occurrence and subjective importance of a list of life events were determined in 1296 adolescents and compared with the risk of a disturbed self image, as assessed on the basis of Offer's (1981) questionnaire. A disturbed self image was shown by 24.2 per cent of the sample, and it was significantly associated with a reported excess of events (one standard deviation above the mean), and with the reporting of specific classes of events. These included serious disagreement between parents, sudden decrease in family income, serious abuse either within the family or outside the family, and having had an abortion. The events were sorted and ranked by the observed values of their sample frequency, subjective importance, and assessed risk of a disturbed self image. The rarest and subjectively most important events were often associated with a higher risk of a disturbed self image, and the role of reporting such "exceptional" experiences is discussed.