Abstract
<p>BackgroundDifferences in the affective organisation of the self-concept are a transdiagnostic marker of mental health problems in adults. Adolescence is a critical period for the development of the self-concept but we know little about the self-concept’s affective organisation during this critical developmental window. This study examined the architecture of the adolescent self-concept across five domains, focusing on four critical metrics: overall negativity; positive and negative redundancy (use of the same descriptive content across self-domains); and compartmentalization (the extent to which negative and positive content is segregated). MethodAdolescents at high (n=202, Mage = 17.16, SD = 0.62, 84.2% female, 2% other, 73.3% White British) and low (n=117, Mage = 17.08, SD = 0.57, 77.8% female, 71.8% White British) risk of affective disorder completed an Adolescent Self-Structure Task – a card-sorting task in which they were asked to characterise five pre-defined self-domains with respect to a set of positive and negative trait attributes. ResultsCompared to those at low risk, adolescents at transdiagnostic risk of affective disorder used a greater proportion of negative trait words to characterise their overall self-concept, showed greater negative redundancy and compartmentalization, and reduced positive redundancy across self-domains. They also characterised their ‘Core Self’ in more negative terms.ConclusionsFindings demonstrate how the organisation of an emerging sense of self during adolescence may constitute a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for poor mental health. Efforts to improve positive self-evaluations across different domains may be effective in improving adolescent mental health.</p>