Self, identity, and negative youth adaptation: Introduction to the special issue

Research on adolescent identity and negative adaptations has progressed considerably in the past few years. A significant body of work casts additional light on the role identity plays in development and how this process is related to negative developmental outcomes. The articles assembled for this Special Issue represent a broad cross-section of studies that help illuminate how identity scholars approach the topic of identity formation conceptually and how they elaborate the psychological mechanisms through which identity influences deviant adaptations. In this commentary, we provide a brief overview of identity and its relations to deviant adaptations. We then highlight the key themes in the articles including a discussion of some of the conceptual and methodological challenges faced by identity researchers.