Dynamics of perceived parenting and identity formation in late adolescence

Identity formation is a dynamic process of person–context interactions, and part of this context are parents, even in late adolescence. Several theories on parent–adolescent relationships share the idea that parents influence the process of identity formation. However, up to now, empirical evidence, particularly longitudinal evidence for this link is limited. Therefore, this study aims to examine short-term changes in parenting and identity formation during late adolescence and to test the transactional process involved. Moreover, we focused on gender differences. Late adolescents were measured twice with a 1-year interval. Analyses using latent change models largely showed that parenting predicted the explorative phases of identity formation (i.e., exploration in breadth and commitment making), while evaluative phases of identity formation (i.e., exploration in depth and commitment identification) predicted more supportive parenting. Gender differences emerged, with respect to both parents’ and adolescents’ gender. These results clearly show that parenting and identity formation are dynamically interlinked, and underscore that parents keep being an important source of socialization for their developing children, even in late adolescence.