Psychosocial Identity, Intimacy and Suicidality in Young Adults

ObjectiveSuicidality in young adults is a serious and growing clinical and social problem. The theory of psychosocial ego development assumes that identity and intimacy are two key factors for adaptation and vulnerability in early adulthood. The aim of the present study was to test whether psychosocial identity and intimacy are related to suicidality in young adults, even when controlling for confounding variables (depressive symptoms, sex, age, health and economic assessment, religious commitment, and pandemic-related distress).MethodRespondents aged 18-25 (n = 607) completed the Identity-Confusion and Intimacy-Isolation subscales from the Modified Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory, as well as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised and answered questions about the pandemic-related distress and various sociodemographic factors.ResultsAt the level of bivariate analyses, both identity and intimacy were negatively associated with suicidal risk in the overall sample and with the frequency of suicidal ideation in the suicide risk subsample (n = 242). Weaker identity, but not intimacy, was associated with belonging to a suicide risk group in multivariable logistic regression. Moreover, ordinal regression showed that, in the subgroup with suicide risk, identity was negatively associated with the frequency of suicidal thoughts.ConclusionsIdentity is a negative correlate of suicidality in young adults. Identity-focused therapy may be a promising target for intervention in suicidal young adults. Identity is negatively associated with suicide risk in young adults.This relationship is significant even when controlling for confounders,The association of intimacy with suicide risk was not significant after adjusting for control variables.