Social Support, Personal Identity, and Externalizing Behaviors in Adolescence

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among social support, identity, and externalizing problem behaviors in adolescence. To do so, a sample of 500 (250 females, 250 males) students between the ages of 12 and 13 was selected through multi level sampling. Social support was operationalized in terms of family support, teacher support, and peer support. Externalizing problem behavior was operationalized in terms of aggressive behavior, rule breaking behavior, and attention problems. Personal identity was measured by Erickson Psychosocial Stage Inventory. Structural equa-tion models indicated that identity confusion partially mediates the relationship between social support and early adolescent problem behavior. Two out of the three social support sources, namely, family support and teacher support had negative significant effect on externalizing prob-lem behavior. The present findings suggested that social support as an contextual factor and personal identity as an intrapersonal factor may play important roles in adolescents’ problem behavior.