The Role of Social Support in Identity Processes and Posttraumatic Growth: A Study of Victims of Intimate Partner Violence.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of social support for posttraumatic growth (PTG) and identity processes in a sample of 217 women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), recruited from women shelters, social support centers, and through counseling psychologists. The results of the study highlight the important role of social support in seeking positive personal resolutions after experiencing traumatic events of IPV. It indicates that social support, but not social nonsupport, predicts higher levels of PTG and the development of new positive identities. In particular, social support was positively associated with the manifestation of all five identity processes, that is, with identification with commitment, commitment making, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration. Furthermore, contextual and socioeconomic factors, such as time after last violence, relationships with the perpetrator, place of residence, education, and age of the victims of IPV were also related to identity processes. Severity of the violence, time after the last violence, education, and personal income were related to PTG. Thus, this study indicated that there are significant contextual and socioeconomic differences in the PTG and reconsideration of one's identity. Recommendations for practitioners and future research have been suggested.

Individual Development and Adaptation (IDA): A Life-Span Longitudinal Program Suited for Person-Oriented Research.

In this article, we give a presentation of the longitudinal research program Individual Development and Adaptation (IDA) that can be helpful as a template for researchers considering to launch their own longitudinal studies, and that opens the door to IDA for researchers looking for suitable data to be analyzed within their own project or in collaboration with IDA. We also introduce the holistic-interactionistic theoretical framework of IDA and the associated person-oriented approach - an approach that is especially suited for analyzing the rich IDA data set with its broad coverage of different areas of adjustment and related factors. The paper provides an overview of the essential features of the IDA database, as well as of ongoing and planned IDA research.

Revitalizing the typological approach: Some methods for finding types.

The purpose is to discuss and exemplify how a typological approach could be designed for studying phenomena believed to be best understood within a person-oriented theoretical framework. The focus is mainly restricted to the case of studying the typological structure of a sample at a single point in time, and restricted to analyzing variable profiles where each variable has a "negative" and "positive" endpoint. An artificial data set and an empirical data set were analyzed using two different methodological approaches, one more explorative (using LICUR, a cluster analysis-based procedure) and one more model-based (using the MCLUST procedure). For the artificial data set, the LICUR procedure was successful in finding the true classification structure but the MCLUST procedure performed surprisingly badly. For the empirical data set, both procedures produced rather similar solutions and they showed moderate validity. However, the LICUR solution appeared to be slightly superior. It was argued that applying a sound classification methodology and carefully validating the resulting classifications are extremely important, even more so in a developmental context. It was also argued that, in a number of situations, a more explorative approach could be more useful than a standard model-based one.

The interpretation of single individuals' measurements.

This article concerns the interpretation and construction of measurements for single observational units, including the creation of scales or indexes to improve the quality of the measurements. The focus is on the individual as the observational unit in psychology, but to present a broader perspective related measurement issues in official statistics are also discussed. It is concluded that when individual measurements are to be interpreted, measurement precision must be given priority and taken into account in the research design. Unfortunately, most measures in psychology are not highly reliable, and examples are given demonstrating that such measures do not normally allow the researcher to make inferences about single individuals. Methods for testing questionnaires in a cognitive laboratory that have been developed within survey research can provide useful tools to increase both reliability and validity of single questions/items.

Predicting life satisfaction during middle adulthood from peer relationships during mid-adolescence.

The immediate advantages of adolescent friendships and disadvantages of peer rejection are well documented, but there is little evidence that these effects extend into adulthood. This study tested the hypothesis that peer relationships during adolescence predict life satisfaction during middle adulthood, using data from a 30-year prospective longitudinal study. Participants included 996 (49.5% female) 8th grade students from a community sample of Swedish youth. Self-reports of friendship and peer reports of rejection were obtained when participants were age 15. Self-reports of global life satisfaction and perceived relationship quality were collected at age 43 for women and age 48 for men. Path analyses tested a direct-effects model that examined links from adolescent friendship participation and peer rejection to middle adulthood outcomes, and a buffered-effects model that examined links from adolescent peer rejection to middle adulthood outcomes, separately for those with and without friends during adolescence. Strong support emerged for the buffered-effects model but not the direct-effects model. Adolescent friendship participation moderated associations between adolescent peer rejection and adult global life satisfaction and between adolescent peer rejection and adult perceived relationship quality such that peer rejection predicted poorer adult outcomes for youth without friends but not for youth with friends. The findings suggest that the risks of peer rejection-and benefits of friendship-extend from adolescence well into middle age.

From crime scene actions in stranger rape to prediction of rapist type: single-victim or serial rapist?

The differences in crime scene actions in cases of stranger rape committed by convicted offenders were examined between 31 single-victim rapists and 35 serial rapists. Data were collected from police files, court verdicts, psychiatric evaluations, and criminal records. Findings indicate that the serial rapists were more criminally sophisticated than the single-victim rapists, during their first and second rapes. The single-victim rapists were significantly more likely to engage in the interpersonal involvement behavior of kissing the victim, and to engage in pre-assault alcohol use, than the serial rapists. There was, however, no significant difference in physically violent or sexual behaviors. To investigate the possibility of predicting rapist type, logistic regression analyses were performed. Results indicate that three behaviors in conjunction, kissed victim, controlled victim, and offender drank alcohol before the offense, predicted whether an unknown offender is a single-victim or serial rapist with a classification accuracy of 80.4%. The findings have implications for the classification of stranger rapists in offender profiling.

Cross-contextual stability of bullying victimization: a person-oriented analysis of cyber and traditional bullying experiences among adolescents.

Using a person-oriented approach the study examined whether bullying victimization at school continued into cyberspace victimization in a large sample of high school students in Lithuania (N = 1667, 58% girls), age 15-19 (M = 17.29, SD = 0.95). Three forms of traditional bullying (verbal, physical and relational) and seven forms of cyberbullying victimization through cell phones and computers were included in the analysis. The findings revealed that 35% of traditional bullying victims were also bullied in cyberspace. In particular, adolescents who experienced predominantly verbal and relational bullying at school, showed a higher risk of victimization in cyberspace a year later, while this was not observed for predominantly physical forms of traditional bullying. The findings point to the importance of a cross-contextual perspective in studies on stability of bullying victimization.

The role of task persistence in young adolescence for successful educational and occupational attainment in middle adulthood.

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the importance of task persistence in young adolescence for successful educational and occupational attainment in middle adulthood. Data from age 13 (N = 1,092) and adult age (age 43 for women, N = 569 and age 47 for men, N = 393) were taken from the Swedish longitudinal research program entitled "Individual Development and Adaptation." In line with previous research, task persistence was found to be related to changes in grades between age 13 and age 16, over and above other childhood factors. Task persistence at age 13 was also a significant predictor of both income and occupational level in middle adulthood for the men, controlling for a number of childhood factors (including intelligence), and even when educational attainment in adulthood was taken into account. Finally, task persistence was related to educational attainment in adulthood. The authors suggest that task persistence is a second fundamental factor besides general mental ability, influencing attainment within the area of working life and education. The influence of task persistence is discussed in form of personality-environment selection mechanisms.

Mediation and causality at the individual level.

Within a person-oriented research paradigm the focus is on individuals characterized by patterns of information that are regarded as indivisible wholes. It is then not sufficient to carry out standard variable-oriented mediation analysis. The procedure suggested by von Eye, Mun, and Mair (2009) for pattern-oriented mediation analysis is much better aligned to this person-oriented framework. An important new feature in their approach is that it can detect mediator configurations that prohibit predictor and outcome connections at a pattern level. Two extensions of their procedure are suggested, namely (1) the use of cluster analysis to arrive at the categories and (2) the use of other models for estimating the expected frequencies. It is pointed out that in their context a functional relations perspective might be more relevant than the standard causality perspective.

Types and continua in developmental psychopathology: problem behaviors in school and their relationship to later antisocial behavior.

In the study of developmental psychopathology a dimensional, variable-oriented approach dominates over a typological approach. With the person-oriented research paradigm providing the metatheoretical framework, pros and cons of these two approaches are discussed, and it is pointed to different methodological realizations of the typological approach, and to the contexts where they might be appropriate. It is also pointed out that the two important and underused concepts of equifinality and multifinality with advantage can be incorporated in a person-oriented approach. An empirical example is given of the study of the structure of early adolescent problem behaviors and their relationship to later criminality where dimensional as well as typological analyses are carried out. The usefulness of the typological approach in studying the development and early manifestations of the personality disorder psychopathy is also discussed. It is concluded that the usefulness of a typological approach appears to be underestimated.

Predictors and outcomes of persistent or age-limited registered criminal behavior: a 30-year longitudinal study of a Swedish urban population.

This study uses data from the longitudinal research program Individual Development and Adaptation, where an entire school-grade cohort of children in a middle-size Swedish city (n approximately 1.300) has been followed from ages 10 to 43 and 48 for women and men, respectively. Our findings indicate that the patterns of offending across the life-course differ between genders, where males seem to initiate their offending earlier than females. Further, there are very few women on a persistent offending-trajectory. Focusing on precursors to as well as consequences of offending as indexed in official registers, our results indicate that individuals in the persistent offender group have the most pronounced adjustment problems in school- as well as in middle age. Individual characteristics and behaviors (e.g., aggression, hyperactivity, antisocial behavior) vary systematically between individuals with different developmental offending patterns. The combination of an unstable upbringing and own antisocial behavior seems to be especially predictive for criminality. For persistent offenders, the prevalence of alcohol and psychiatric problems at adult age is high for males and extremely high for females (nine out of ten and six out of ten for each of the two problem types for females). Further, the importance for adjustment of the two-dimensional variation in the number of crimes committed during adolescence and adult age seems to have been surprisingly well captured by the "crude" division into the four offender groups that were used.

Stability and change in health-related behaviors of midlife Swedish women.

We investigated the dimensions and stability in health-related behaviors (HRBs) among midlife Swedish women, and the factors that predicted change in those behaviors. At age 43, 569 women from a representative longitudinal sample completed questionnaires about lifestyle (diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol) and participated in medical screening. Four years later we mailed a follow-up questionnaire. HRBs clustered in two dimensions: healthy eating and addictions. There was a high degree of stability in HRBs; all women slightly increased their HRBs over time. After controlling for previous HRBs, we found that education, marital status, and having children at home were significant predictors of HRBs 4 years later.

Behavioral profiles in 4-5 year-old children: normal and pathological variants.

Normal and psychopathological patterns of behavior symptoms in pre-school children were described by a classification approach using cluster analysis. The behavior of 406 children, average age 4 years 9 months, from the general population was evaluated at home visits. Seven clusters were identified based on empirically defined dimensions: attention, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, social relationship problems, sleeping problems, eating problems, depression and anxiety. Clusters scoring high in inattention, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and social relationship problems but low in depression and anxiety were found and could indicate early onset conduct disorder. The approach of analysing patterns of symptoms expands the basis on which normal and psychopathological patterns are distinguished.

Research strategies in developmental psychopathology: dimensional identity and the person-oriented approach.

This article deals with alternative research strategies for developmental psychopathology. It argues that most applications of statistical methods in empirical research are variable centered, not person oriented. As a result, conclusions are often drawn that fail to do justice to the diverse nature of populations. It is recommended that we take seriously the importance of the implications of data aggregation. The difficulties of making inferences from a more aggregated level of analysis to a less aggregated level are explained and exemplified. We explain that a set of variables displays dimensional identity if the variable relationships remain unchanged across the levels or categories of other variables. Data examples of intelligence divergence and of Child Behavior Checklist subpopulation differences show that lack of dimensional identity can lead to incorrect conclusions. Schmitz' theorems on aggregation and the validity of results at the aggregate level for individuals are illustrated using data from a study on the development of alcoholism and discussed from a person-oriented perspective. Statistical methods suitable for person-oriented data analysis are reviewed.