Identity processes in Filipino emerging adults: Parental influences and mental health outcomes

• Main Author: Pesigan, Ivan Jacob A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2013
• Subjects: Identity (Psychology)—Philippines; Filipinos—Mental health; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/8648
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study focused on a process-oriented approach to identity development (Luyckx et al., 2008) using a Filipino emerging adult sample, integrating mental health as identity outcomes and parental influences as antecedents. Furthermore, the role of identity as a mediator between parental influences and mental health outcomes was examined. Two types of parental influences (parental psychological control and parental support), two types of mental health outcomes (depression and psychological well-being), and five dimensions of identity development (commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration) were assessed. Respondents (N = 778) were asked to complete an online survey. Recursive path analysis showed that exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, ruminative exploration and identification with commitment mediated the relationship between parental influences and mental health outcomes. The mediation analysis suggests that identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, and exploration in depth could partially account for how parental support influences adult well-being. Similarly ruminative exploration could partially explain why and how parental psychological control carries over into depression and well-being. Relevance of the findings on identity development and parenting will be discussed.