Identity Processes and Coping Strategies in College Students: Short-Term Longitudinal Dynamics and the Role of Personality

Coping strategies and identity processes are hypothesized to influence one another over time. This three-wave longitudinal
study (N = 458; 84.9% women) examined, for the first time, how and to what extent identity processes (i.e., commitment making, identification
with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration) and coping strategies (i.e., problem
solving, social support seeking, and avoidance) predicted one another over time. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that processes
of identity exploration seemed especially to be intertwined with different coping strategies over time, suggesting that identity
exploration may resemble problem-solving behavior on the pathway to an achieved identity. Commitment processes were found
to be influenced by certain coping strategies, although identification with commitment also negatively influenced avoidance
coping. These temporal sequences remained significant when controlling for baseline levels of Big Five personality traits.
Hence, evidence was obtained for reciprocal pathways indicating that coping strategies and identity processes reinforce one
another over time in college students.