Mental illness and identity in adolescents with internalizing problems: A qualitative exploration of identity-relevant narratives

E.L. de Moor*, S. Campens, K. Eggermont, L. Raemen, J. Vanderhaegen, L. Vankerckhoven, E. van Laere, A. Bogaerts, N. Koster, S. Branje, L. Claes, K. Luyckx

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Mental illness and identity are related, with issues in identity contributing to the development of psychopathology and vice versa. However, little work has examined how mental illness and identity can become interwoven (i.e., mental illness identity). Mental illness identity may be particularly important during adolescence, as this life phase is marked by the salience of identity and an increase in psychopathology. In the present study, we conducted a qualitative examination of the high point, low point, turning point, and psychopathology-related narratives of 69 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 16.5, 75.4% female, 15.9% male, 8.7% other). The participants were diagnosed with a mood, anxiety, and/or eating disorder, and the majority of them (82.6%) were in treatment at the time of the study. We found that adolescents’ mental illness identity could take different forms and that these forms may be more adaptive or maladaptive depending on the context of each adolescent’s life. Furthermore, mental illness identity was related to several factors within adolescents (e.g., sense of agency) and their environment (e.g., stigma). These findings contribute to our understanding of adolescent mental illness identity and may be used to improve the treatment of their internalizing problems.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 2024

Keywords

  • adolescents
  • internalizing problems
  • mental illness identity

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