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Self-cognitions and expressed negative emotions during midadolescence: Contributions to young adult psychological adustment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

J. Heidi Gralinski ,
Andrew W. Safyer ,
Stuart T. Hauser  and
Joseph P. Allen
J. Heidi Gralinski*
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Andrew W. Safyer
Affiliation:
Boston University
Stuart T. Hauser
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Joseph P. Allen
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
*
J. Heidi Gralinski, Judge Baker Children's Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
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Abstract

This study explored developmentally salient cognitive and emotional facets of personality during adolescence and their contribution to psychological functioning in young adulthood. Specifically, we examined the of relations among two kinds of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction during midadolescence and assessed their longitudinal contribution to young adult symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as self-worth. We drew upon a dataset that included both a group of youngsters who had been psychiatrically hospitalized at age 14 and a normative comparison group of high school students studied over an 11-year period. Findings demonstrated that the magnitude of particular actual-ideal discrepancies, expressed negative emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differed between the groups. Contrary to expectation, actual-ideal self-discrepancies were not related to expressed negative emotions during midadolescence. For the psychiatric group, however, both self-discrepancies and expressed negative emotions made unique contributions to individuals' general sense of self-dissatisfaction. Moreover, particular types of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, specific expressed emotions, and self-dissatisfaction differentially predicted symptoms of hostility and depression, as well as diminished self-worth in young adulthood, albeit differently for the two groups. The importance of cognitions and emotions in the course diverse developmental pathways and future directions of the study are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 7 , Issue 1: Emotions in Developmental Psychopathology , Winter 1995 , pp. 193 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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