Kelsie K. Allison

Teen-to-teen (t2t) crisis lines are a special type of crisis service where youth volunteers help their peers. Although prior research has examined the experience of adult crisis line responders, no research has examined the experience of adolescents who do this work. In collaboration with two of the largest t2t lines in the U.S., this pilot study is the first examination of t2t crisis line work. Volunteers (ages 14–20) reported: their primary motivation for joining the crisis lines was to help others and give back to the community; responding to a range of peers’ problems on the t2t crisis line, including high-risk suicide contacts; and a range of ways the crisis line work impacted their lives. Findings provide preliminary information about the experience of adolescents engaging in t2t crisis line work. Additional research is needed in larger and more diverse samples to understand the impact of crisis line work for youth.

Ethnic-Racial Identity (ERI) development research has been critical in further understanding youths’ psychological adjustment. The Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS) has been used extensively in this field of research to measure ERI. However, it has not been assessed for full measurement invariance, which is essential to ensure its effectiveness in measuring ERI differences across different ethnic-racial and gender groups. Thus, the current study sought to establish full factorial measurement invariance of the EIS between emerging adult college students across ethnic-racial groups (i.e., Asian American, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and non-Hispanic White/European American) and genders (i.e., male and female). Participants included 7165 students ( M_age = 19.71 years, SD = 1.50) from 31 colleges and universities across various U.S. regions. Results established full factorial measurement invariance for the EIS across groups. Additionally, we examined construct validity by establishing that associations between ERI and psychological adjustment were consistent across groups. Implications and limitations are discussed.

The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have only recently begun to be explored. Among college students, who were faced with sudden and unprecedented changes and challenges, it is likely that COVID-19 detrimentally impacted the establishment of a sense of self, a key developmental task of the college years. However, no research has examined the relationships among COVID-19 related worries, identity distress, and psychological and academic adjustment. To address these gaps in the current study, we examined the prevalence of identity distress, the relationship between COVID-19 related worries and identity distress, and the direct and indirect associations between COVID-19 related worries and psychological and academic adjustment among a sample of 1627 college students ( M _age = 20.51, SD = 2.21). Findings indicated that over a third of the sample reported high levels of identity distress and that COVID-19 related worries were negatively associated, both directly and indirectly through identity distress, with psychological and academic adjustment.

Cultural identity, which represents the degree to which individuals define themselves with the cultural groups to which they belong, is a particularly salient developmental task for ethnic/racial minoritized youth. Two important identity domains of cultural identity, ethnic-racial and U.S. identity, have been consistently associated with psychological and academic adjustment. That said, the majority of this research has been variable centered, limiting the capacity to understand the specific developmental configurations of ethnic/racial and U.S. identity. Addressing this gap, the current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify unique profiles of ethnic/racial identity and U.S. identity across process and content dimensions among a sample of 376 Hispanic/Latinx college students (M_age = 20.58, SD = 2.69) and examine the separate and joint links between ethnic/racial and U.S. identity profile membership and adjustment. The LPA identified three similar profiles for ethnic/racial identity (i.e., Diffused/Negative, Diffused/Neutral, and Developed/Positive), U.S. identity (Diffused/Negative, Diffused/Positive, and Developed/Positive), and ethnic/racial and U.S. identity (i.e., Diffused/Negative, Diffused/Neutral, and Bicultural), highlighting that ethnic/racial and U.S. identity not only share parallel dimensionality but manifest themselves remarkably similar in their configuration across process and content dimensions. Separately, individuals classified in a Developed/Positive profile reported the highest levels of adjustment. Jointly, individuals classified as Bicultural (60.49%) exhibited the highest levels of adjustment. The findings highlight the benefit of a positive bicultural identity that embraces both domains of cultural identity.

Reintegration to civilian life among service members can be understood through the lens of a transformation in an individual’s identity structure. However, limited research has examined the unique impact of military, U.S., and personal identity on mental health and substance use among veterans. The goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between personal, military and U.S. identity dimensions (i.e., commitment, affirmation, and centrality) on substance use and mental health symptoms (i.e., posttraumatic stress, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and depression) in a sample of U.S. military veterans. Within our sample of military veterans (n = 195), a plurality were female (53.3%), White (73.3%), and veterans of the Navy (45.1%) who reported a mean age of 35.12 years (SD = 9.60). Results indicated personal identity commitment, and U.S. affirmation were associated with lower levels of substance use and symptoms of PTSD, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and depression. Military identity centrality was associated with higher levels of PTSD symptoms. Taken together, our findings provide preliminary cross-sectional support for the role that personal, military and U.S. identity play in mental health. Future longitudinal research is necessary to establish the directional relationship between identity (across various domains) and mental health and substance abuse across the transition to civilian life.