Four types of individuation: Further evidence from two Central-European countries.

Maja Zupancic, Ulrike Sirsch, Žan Lep, Tina Kavcic

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

This study employed the Individuation Test for Emerging Adults-Short (ITEA-S) to identify groups of emerging adults sharing similar individuation profiles (types) in relation to mother and father separately. Two-step clustering procedures of self-report data of Slovenian and Austrian participants suggested four internally replicable types of individuation across parents and countries: dependent, anxious, individuated-related, and individuated-independent. We revealed a moderate cross-parent structural consistency of the types and a fair cross-parent consistency of the participants' type membership within each country. The structural consistency across countries was moderate for the types in relation to mother, but almost perfect in relation to father. Overall, individuals assigned to the anxious type scored the lowest and those classified as individuated-related scored the highest on emotional and psychological well-being (PWB. The results suggest the robustness of the ITEA-S types across parents in the two countries, and their associations with positive outcomes, supporting the validity of the types.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)512-519
Number of pages8
JournalEmerging Adulthood
Volume11
Issue number2
Early online date28 Apr 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 501005 Developmental psychology

Keywords

  • ASSOCIATIONS
  • EMERGING ADULTHOOD
  • MENTAL-HEALTH
  • MODEL
  • SEPARATION-INDIVIDUATION
  • SLOVENE
  • emerging adulthood
  • individuation
  • person-centered approach
  • subjective well-being
  • type consistencies

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