청소년기의 신체적, 심리적 변화와 성 정체감 발달

An Empirical Study of the Physical, Psychological Changes and the Development of Sexual Identity in Adolescence

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between the psychological adjustment to pubertal change and the development of sexual identity in teenage boys and girls. 414(male 203, female 211) middle school and high school students were given self-report measures of depression, body image, sexual behavior, identity crisis, and impulse for escape from the self. The result showed that adolescent girls were significantly more depressed and felt more asham ed of their bodies, and less positive about pubertal changes than did boys. Middle school girls showed the most prom inent negative body image and felt the greatest uneasiness toward recent physical changes, suggesting that in general girls have more difficulties in adjusting to pubertal change in early adoescence. Adolescents experiencing identity crisis were significantly more depressed, had more negative body image, and showed more frequent sexual behaviors than did adolescents who had no identity crisis, suggesting the possibility that such sexual behaviors might be a kind o f attempt to escape from the painful thoughts and emotions related to self. However the other possibility is that adolescents experiencing identity crisis might be more mature in their psychosexual development, therefore engaging in more heterosexual behaviors. Further research is needed to clarify the validity of these two interpretations. It was discussed that these results might have the clinical implication to understand the severe emotional problems and the self-destructive behaviors in the state of identity diffusion