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Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Adolescence
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Adjustment of female adolescents leaving home for the military: Links

with earlier individuation
Efrat Sher-Censor*, David Oppenheim
Center for the Study of Child Development, University of Haifa, Haifa, Mount Carmel 31905, Israel

a b s t r a c t

Keywords: The study examined the associations between female adolescents’ individuation during
Female adolescents mid-adolescence and their adjustment two years later to leaving home for mandatory
Individuation military service. Forty nine daughter–mother dyads participated. Individuality and
Parent–adolescent communication
connectedness during adolescent–mother interactions were observed at age 16. Two years
Home leaving
later girls reported on their psychological distress and negative expectations regarding the
upcoming conscription, and both daughters and mothers reported on maternal support of
daughters’ autonomy. Controlling for these concurrent perceptions, girls’ higher
connectedness was associated with less psychological distress and their higher individu-
ality in the context of low to medium connectedness was related to more negative
expectations. These findings contribute to the literature on home leaving by showing that
early individuation may play a role in female adolescents’ adjustment to this transition.
Ó 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.

Leaving home is considered as one of the markers of the developmental transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Identifying factors that are related to adjustment to this transition is therefore important, and our study focused on observed
individuation in the adolescent–mother relationship and its role in promoting later adjustment. Individuation is considered
a central developmental task during adolescence, and involves developing individuality (i.e. awareness of being separate,
with independent thoughts, feelings and behaviors), while maintaining connectedness (i.e., being emotionally involved,
sensitive and respectful) to parents (Grotevant & Cooper, 1998). To the best of our knowledge, the association between
adolescents’ observed individuation and their adjustment to home leaving has not been studied. The present study observed
Israeli female adolescents’ individuation at age 16 and their adjustment two years later to upcoming leaving home, in the
special ecological context of conscription to a two-year mandatory military service.
Adjustment to home leaving is likely to be influenced by adolescents’ individuation. Developmental and clinical
perspectives emphasize the importance of individuation for both intrapersonal and interpersonal well-being of adolescents
(Grotevant & Cooper, 1998; Minuchin, 1974; Olson et al., 1983). Adolescents’ balance between individuality and connectedness
in their relationship with parents is considered a basis for identity exploration and consolidation and participation in
successful adult relations outside the family (Allen, Hauser, Bell, & O’Connor, 1994; Grotevant & Cooper, 1986, 1998). Several
studies on observed adolescent–parent communication support this view. Grotevant and Cooper (1985) found that taking
part in at least one family dyadic relationship which is characterized by moderate to high levels of individuality and of
connectedness was associated with adolescents’ higher role taking and more advanced identity status as well as with better
communication with peers (Cooper & Cooper, 1992). Allen and colleagues documented that adolescents who exhibited
individuality while maintaining connectedness during conversation with their parents showed more advanced ego

* Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States.
E-mail address: efratsc@ucr.edu (E. Sher-Censor).

0140-1971/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.12.001
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626 E. Sher-Censor, D. Oppenheim / Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632

development, less depressive affect, and higher self esteem two years later (Allen, Hauser, Bell, et al., 1994; Allen, Hauser,
Eickholt, Bell, & O’Connor, 1994). More recently Scharf and Mayseless (2008) showed that individuality in the context of
connectedness observed among female adolescents when interacting with their parents was associated with better quality
adolescent romantic relationships. Finally, Best, Hauser, and Allen (1997) found that parents’ balance between individuality
and connectedness during communication with their adolescents predicted the adolescents’ higher ego resiliency a decade
later, expressed in flexible adaptation to changes and challenges in life.
The competencies of adolescents and young adults described above, such as better communication with peers, better
emotional adjustment, and adapting flexibly to changes and challenges, are important components of adjustment to military
service. Such adjustment entails the challenges of a physical separation from family and friends, an adaptation to a new,
emotionally and physically demanding environment, and fitting in with new peers. We therefore hypothesized that
adolescents’ balance between individuality and connectedness during adolescence would be related to better adjustment to
upcoming home leaving for military service two years later.
Our study focused on female adolescents and their mothers. Gender theorists (Gilligan, 1982; Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum,
2006) suggest that as a result of socialization processes, boys and girls diverge in their ways of relating to others and of
defining themselves. While socialization of males focuses on separateness and differentiation, females learn to define
themselves in terms of closeness and connectedness to others. Developing individuality in the daughter–mother relationship
might be particularly challenging, because both partners were socialized to emphasize connectedness in their relationships.
Also, if female adolescents are socialized to emphasize cohesiveness in their relationships and to define themselves in terms
of the quality of these relationships, then difficulties in maintaining connectedness to their mother could have particularly
negative effects on their emotional adjustment. To address these issues, individuality, connectedness, and their interaction
were explored as predictors of the adjustment of adolescent girls to upcoming conscription.
The extant literature on home leaving documented links between adjustment to this transition and parental support of
adolescents’ autonomy, which is complementary to adolescents’ individuation. Parental autonomy support facilitates
adolescents’ individuality and at the same time helps to maintain a positive relationship, reciprocated by the adolescents as
they manifest their individuality while maintaining connectedness to the parent (Allen, Hauser, Bell, et al., 1994). Perception
of more parental autonomy support was found to be related to concurrent better adjustment to leaving home, in terms of
better social adaptation to life in college, better well-being and higher academic achievement (Ratelle, Larose, Guay, &
Senécal, 2005; Strage & Brandt, 1999). Parental support for adolescents’ autonomy also predicted better coping and adjust-
ment of Israeli male adolescents to their service in the military (Mayseless & Hai, 1998; Mayseless, Scharf, & Sholt, 2003).
Finally, a recent study on Belgian 22-year olds, the common age of home leaving in Belgium, indicated that more perceived
parental support for autonomy was associated with better well-being of young adults who left home (Kins, Beyers, Soenens, &
Vansteenkiste, 2009). Since concurrent perceived parental autonomy support was consistently associated with better
adjustment to home leaving in previous studies, we included in our study assessments of concurrent perceived maternal
autonomy support.
The current study extended this previous research in several ways. First, while in most Western countries home leaving is
usually to attend post-high-school education, or to join the world of work, for Jewish Israeli adolescents the transition after
graduating from high school is to military service. The military service in Israel is universal, mandatory, and triggered by age
(18 years), and therefore is not affected by the adolescents’ psychological readiness to ‘‘leave the nest’’, as may be the case
with adolescents leaving home for college. The transition to the military differs from the transition to college also because the
military is more physically and emotionally demanding than college, and in many respects (such as obeying orders and
wearing uniform) it contradicts the adolescents’ developmental needs for support for their individuality (Gal, 1986). Our
study also extends to female adolescents Mayseless and colleagues’ studies (Mayseless & Hai, 1998; Mayseless et al., 2003) on
the adjustment to the military of Israeli male adolescents.
Second, the existing literature on adjustment to home leaving relies on self reports, most of which involve reports of
adolescents regarding both their perceptions of their relationship with their parents and their adaptation to home leaving.
The shared source of variance could inflate the associations between measures. In the current study, observations were used
to assess the adolescents’ individuation, adolescents and mothers reported on maternal autonomy support, and adolescents
reported on their adjustment, thus minimizing shared source variance. Finally, we assessed the adolescents’ individuation
two years before their conscription, thus making it less likely that individuation would be affected by the upcoming sepa-
ration (Sullivan & Sullivan, 1980).
We focused on the adjustment of girls during the month before their conscription, which in the stress and coping literature
is considered as an ‘‘anticipatory stage’’ (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985). This stage is characterized by relatively high uncertainty,
since the adolescents are about to face a new and unfamiliar situation. Indeed, Israeli adolescents tend to report elevated
stress and fear before their conscription (Ezrahi & Gal, 1995; Mayseless, Gal, & Fishoff, 1989). It was important to focus on
adjustment to this stage, because the way adolescents perceive their future military service and the stress they experience
during this period could have significant implications for their adaptation to the army service, as has been shown in studies
demonstrating that adolescents’ optimism and positive expectations regarding college predicted better adjustment to college
(Brissette, Scheier, & Carver, 2002; Jackson, Pancer, Pratt, & Hunsberger, 2000).
Two aspects of adjustment were examined. First, since the ‘‘anticipatory stage’’ could be stressful, girls’ psychological
distress was assessed. Second, negative expectations regarding military service were defined as perception of the future
military service as difficult and threatening. These expectations were examined following the studies on leaving home to
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E. Sher-Censor, D. Oppenheim / Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632 627

college mentioned above, which indicated that adolescents’ less negative expectations before the transition were associated
with less psychological symptoms after the transition to college as well as better academic, social and emotional adjustment
to college (Jackson et al., 2000; Zirkel & Cantor, 1990).
Finally, the Israeli army enables adolescents to prioritize the positions in which they would like to serve prior to
conscription. Only some are notified before recruitment as to which position they will fill, and are given information
regarding this position. Having such knowledge is likely to be associated with experiencing the conscription as less threat-
ening and difficult, and therefore it could be associated with less negative expectations regarding the military service and
with less psychological distress (Israelashvili & Wegman-Rozi, 2007). Thus, girls’ knowledge regarding their assigned position
was assessed.
In summary, the current study examined the links between adolescent females’ individuation, as observed during
interactions with their mothers, and later adjustment to upcoming conscription to military service. We hypothesized that
female adolescents’ balance between individuality and connectedness would be associated with better adjustment, as
reflected in less psychological distress and less negative expectations regarding the future conscription. The hypothesis was
examined while controlling for concurrent perceptions of the girls and their mothers regarding maternal support of
autonomy and for girls’ knowledge regarding their assigned position, which we hypothesized would also be positively related
to adjustment.

Method

Participants

Seventy-one female adolescents and their mothers participated at the first phase of the study, which took place when the
girls were approximately 16 years old (M ¼ 16.5, SD ¼ .43). The girls lived in a large urban area in Israel and came from intact,
middle-class families. Ninety-five percent were born in Israel, and 5% were born in Western Europe or U.S. but were raised in
Israel. According to maternal reports, in the year prior to the study the families did not experience any of the following
negative life events: death of a relative, severe illness or injury of a family member, or a terror attack.
During the girls’ last semester in 12th grade, the families were contacted and invited to participate in an additional phase
of the study. The girls provided their expected date of conscription. About a month before this date, they were contacted again
to schedule the visit. Conscription dates often shift due to military considerations. Thus, at this point 14 adolescents were
unexpectedly already conscripted. Eight adolescents refused to participate, leaving a sample of 49 adolescent–mother dyads
for the second phase.
The mean number of children in the participating families was 3.00 (range 2–5, SD ¼ .82). Twelve girls (24.5%) were first
born. Mothers’ mean age at time of recruitment was 48.06 years (ranging from 37 to 58, SD ¼ 4.69). The mean number of years
of education of mothers was 15.54 (ranging from 12 to 22, SD ¼ 2.62). These demographic variables were not associated with
any of the study variables.
There were no significant differences in the study’s measures between those who participated in Time 2 and those who did
not (all ps > .51). All families remained intact, except for one family, in which the parents divorced. There were no changes in
the results when this family was not included in the data analyses.

Procedure

Time 1 was part of a larger study (Sher-Censor, 2007) that involved two home visits with each family. During one home
visit, mothers and daughters were asked to have a 7 min conversation involving planning a vacation. These conversations
were videotaped. Mothers reported on family demographics. At Time 2 adolescents and mothers completed questionnaires
during a home visit, on average 23.00 months SD ¼ 5.16) after their initial participation.

Measures

Time 1

‘‘Plan a vacation’’ conversation. Mothers and daughters were asked to plan a two-week vacation with no budget limitations, to
select a destination, and to make travel arrangements and plans for each day. The conversations were videotaped. This task
has been used in studies on parent–adolescent communication (see e.g., Grotevant & Cooper, 1985; Noller, Feeney, Sheehan, &
Peterson, 2000).
Girls’ communication during the conversation was coded using the Individuality and Connectedness Q-Sort (ICQ; Bengtson
& Grotevant, 1999). The ICQ is designed to assess individuality and connectedness in dyadic communication. Individuality is
defined as being aware of own point of view and taking responsibility for communicating it clearly as well as the ability to
express differences between the self and other. Connectedness is defined as a sensitivity to and respect for the beliefs, feelings
and ideas of the other as well as by responsiveness or openness to the ideas of others. The ICQ includes 35 items such as
‘‘States own opinion directly’’; ‘‘Initiates compromise’’, ‘‘Keeps the same opinion or suggestion when challenged by partner’’,
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628 E. Sher-Censor, D. Oppenheim / Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632

and ‘‘Uses derogatory or criticizing remarks or tone’’. After watching the videotape, the coders sorted these items into 7 piles
in each of which 5 items are placed. The piles range from 1 (most undescriptive or most unsalient of the individual’s behavior)
to 7 (most descriptive or salient in describing the individual’s behavior) yielding a score of 1–7 for each item.
Individuality and connectedness scores were computed by correlating the above array of scores with criterion sorts for
individuality and connectedness provided by Bengtson and Grotevant (1999). Thus, scores could range from 1.00 to 1.00. A
higher positive correlation between an adolescent’s array of scores and the individuality criterion sort reflected more indi-
viduality. A higher positive correlation between an adolescent’s array of scores and the connectedness criterion sort reflected
more connectedness. The ICQ is based on the ‘‘Family Discourse Code’’ (Condon, Cooper, & Grotevant, 1984), and its authors
report good construct validity (see Bengtson & Grotevant, 1999). In the current study, a blind coder coded the adolescents’
communication. Twenty-three (32%) conversations were also coded by the first author to establish reliability. The correlations
between the two coders’ arrays of scores ranged from .54 to .94, with a mean of .82 (all ps < .001).

Time 2

The brief symptom inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983). The BSI was used to assess girls’ psychological distress. This
widely used measure includes 53 items reflecting a range of psychological symptoms. Girls rated the extent of experiencing
each problem (e.g., sadness, nervousness) during the preceding month, using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (‘‘not at
all’’) to 4 (‘‘a great deal’’). The total symptomatology score was used with higher scores reflecting more psychological distress.
Cronbach’s alpha was .94.

The cognitive appraisal self report questionnaire (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985). The short Hebrew version was used to assess girls’
negative expectations. The questionnaire includes 7 items regarding appraisals of threats and challenges in stressful situa-
tions. In the current study it was worded to assess appraisals regarding upcoming military service (e.g. ‘‘To what extent do you
think the service in the army will be difficult for you?’’; ‘‘To what extent do you think the service in the army will make you
feel humiliated and helpless?’’). Girls rated their appraisals using a scale ranging from 1 (‘‘not at all’’) to 5 (‘‘very much’’). An
index of negative expectations was constructed by averaging the 7 items, after reversing the 3 positively worded items (e.g.,
‘‘To what extent do you think you will be able to cope with the demands of the military service?’’). Higher scores reflected
more negative expectations. The Hebrew version has shown good internal reliability and construct validity (e.g., Mayseless
et al., 2003). Cronbach’s alpha in the current sample was .66.

The mother–father–peers (MFP) questionnaire (Epstein, 1983). The Autonomy Granting Scale of the MFP was used to assess the
perceptions of mothers and daughters regarding maternal support of adolescents’ autonomy. The scale consists of 9 items
pertaining to maternal encouragement of independence and expression of adolescent’s self-reliance (e.g., ‘‘My mother
encourages me to make my own decisions’’; ‘‘My mother encourages me to do things my way’’). Mothers and daughters
described maternal behaviors using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (‘‘very seldom’’) to 5 (‘‘very often’’). Higher scores reflected
more autonomy granting. The questionnaire has been employed in several studies of Israeli adolescents, usually demon-
strating good internal reliability and construct validity (Scharf, 2007; Seginer, Vermulst, & Shoyer, 2004). Yet, similar to the
study of Mayseless et al. (2003) on Israeli adolescents and their parents, Cronbach’s alphas in the current sample were
somewhat low (a ¼ .61 and a ¼ .60 for the adolescents’ and the mothers’ reports, respectively).

Index of knowledge regarding the assigned position in the army. Girls were asked if they knew to which position they were
assigned on a 3-point index: 1 (‘‘I do not know to which position I will be assigned’’), 2 (‘‘I know that I will be assigned to one
out of several positions’’) and 3 (‘‘I know my assigned position’’).

Results

Means and standard deviations for the study variables are presented in Table 1. Intercorrelations between the variables are
presented in Table 2. Higher individuality was related to lower connectedness and to more negative expectations regarding
the military service. Higher connectedness was correlated with less psychological distress and with mothers’ perceptions two
years later of more autonomy supporting. Of note is that perceptions of adolescents and mothers regarding maternal
autonomy support were positively correlated. Adolescents’ perceptions of more maternal autonomy support were related to
less negative expectations. More negative expectations regarding the military service were related to more psychological
distress. Finally, adolescents who knew more regarding their assigned position had less negative expectations regarding the
military service.

Individuation at age 16 and adolescents’ adjustment at age 18

Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted: One for adolescents’ psychological distress and one for their
negative expectations regarding military service. To examine the unique contribution of individuation at age 16 to the
variance of girls’ adjustment above and beyond the contribution of the concurrent measures, Time 2 measures
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E. Sher-Censor, D. Oppenheim / Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632 629

Table 1
Descriptive statistics.

Variable n Mean SD
Time 1
Individuality 49 .46 .19
Connectedness 49 .41 .22

Time 2
Mother’s autonomy support (A) 49 4.09 .45
Mother’s autonomy support (M) 48 4.14 .43
Knowledge regarding assigned position 49 2.53 .77
Psychological distress 49 .69 .45
Negative expectations 49 2.37 .51

Note. A ¼ adolescents’ report; M ¼ mothers’ report.

(knowledge regarding assigned position and concurrent perceptions of maternal autonomy support) were entered in
Block 1. Time 1 individuation predictors were entered in Block 2. Since we were interested in examining the balance
between individuality and connectedness, the interaction between them was tested in Block 3. Individuality and
connectedness were centered to reduce problems of collinearity (Holmbeck, 2002), and an interaction term based on the
centered scores was constructed. When the interaction term significantly predicted adjustment, it was analyzed further
by examining the relevant simple slopes (Schubert & Jacoby, 2004). Because there were significant moderate correlations
between some of the independent variables, the regression models were checked for multicollinearity. An examination
of the tolerance values for each variable, the variance inflation factors and the condition indices did not reveal signs of
multicollinearity.
As can be seen in Table 3, girls’ connectedness at age 16 predicted their psychological distress after controlling for the three
concurrent measures. Higher connectedness to the mother was related to less psychological distress two years later. No other
effects in this model were significant.
Also shown in Table 3, individuality and connectedness during mid-adolescence increased the explained variance of
negative expectations regarding the military after controlling for concurrent knowledge and maternal autonomy support.
Higher individuality was associated with more negative expectations. The interaction between individuality and connect-
edness, however, was significant. In other words, the association between individuality and negative expectations was
different according to the various levels of adolescents’ connectedness. We next examined the simple slopes for the asso-
ciation between individuality and adolescents’ negative expectations at 1 SD below the mean, at the mean score, and 1 SD
above the mean of adolescents’ connectedness (Schubert & Jacoby, 2004). As can be seen in Fig. 1, higher individuality
predicted more negative expectations only when girls’ connectedness was low (b ¼ .41, p ¼ .03) or medium (b ¼ .33, p ¼ .02).
When girls’ connectedness scores were high, their individuality was not significantly associated with negative expectations
(b ¼ .23, p ¼ .27).

Discussion

Our findings generally supported the hypothesis that female adolescents’ individuation observed during interactions with
their mothers at age 16 would be associated two years later with their adjustment to upcoming home leaving for military
service. Girls who showed higher connectedness towards their mothers at age 16 were at an advantage two years later, in
terms of experiencing less psychological distress. Individuality and the interaction between individuality and connectedness
were not associated with psychological distress. This is consistent with the study of von der Lippe (1998) who found that
higher connectedness in girls was significantly associated with higher ego development but failed to find significant relations
between girls’ individuality and ego development.

Table 2
Intercorrelations among the study variables.

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time 1
1. Individuality – .29* .14 .21 .10 .20 .38*
2. Connectedness – .07 .35* .10 .28* .09

Time 2
3. Mother’s autonomy support (A) – .49* .15 .15 .31*
4. Mother’s autonomy support (M) – .19 .12 .16
5. Knowledge regarding assigned position – .11 .42*
6. Psychological distress – .31*
7. Negative expectations –

Note. A ¼ adolescents’ report; M ¼ mothers’ report; N ¼ 49, except for mother’s reports, for which N ¼ 48.
*p < .05.
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630 E. Sher-Censor, D. Oppenheim / Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632

Table 3
Hierarchical regressions predicting psychological distress and negative expectations (N ¼ 48).

Psychological distress Negative expectations

2
Variables in regression b DR b DR2
Step 1 .09 .24*
Knowledge regarding assigned position .14 .38*
Mother’s autonomy support (A) .27 .27
Mother’s autonomy support (M) .28 .04

Step 2 .14* .10*

Individuality .13 .34*
Connectedness .34* .03

Step 3 .03 .06*

Individuality  Connectedness .26 .34*

Total R2 .26 .40

Final model F (6,41) ¼ 2.38* F (6,41) ¼ 4.52*

Note. A ¼ adolescents’ report; M ¼ mothers’ report. *p < .05.

Adolescent girls with higher individuality scores, when faced two years later with the potentially stressful situation of
leaving home and being conscripted to the army, reported more negative expectations regarding their military service, but
only when their connectedness scores were low or medium. For girls who expressed high connectedness to their mother,
individuality was not related to their negative expectations. In other words, our study suggests that high individuality is less
adaptive for female adolescents in the context of low or medium connectedness. These results are in accordance with the
individuation model (Grotevant & Cooper, 1998), they add to the accumulating findings regarding poorer developmental
outcomes for adolescents who do not maintain a balance between individuality and connectedness (Allen, Hauser, Bell, et al.,
1994; Allen, Hauser, Eickholt, et al., 1994; Scharf & Mayseless, 2008), and extend them to the context of adaptation to
upcoming home leaving. The support of the individuation model was not full, however, because while we found that higher
individuality in the context of medium or low connectedness was related to more negative expectations, we did not find that
high individuality in the context of high connectedness was associated with less negative expectations.
The association between high connectedness and less psychological distress as well as the moderating role of connect-
edness in the association between individuality and negative expectations, highlight the important role of connectedness in
girls in late adolescence. These findings, along with the fact that higher individuality in the context of higher connectedness
was not associated with negative expectations, could reflect the socialization of girls to emphasize closeness and mutuality in
their relationships more than differentiation from others, and to organize their sense of self around the quality of their
relationships (Gilligan, 1982; Ruble et al., 2006). Since the study was limited to female adolescents, we can only speculate
whether the results apply to male adolescents. In particular, because individuality is emphasized in male socialization
(Gilligan, 1982; Ruble et al., 2006), it would be interesting to examine whether connectedness plays a similar role in boys’
adjustment and if high individuality in the context of high connectedness, which was not associated with adjustment for
females, would be associated with adjustment for males. Studies assessing the implications of observed male adolescents’
individuality and connectedness towards their parents for their adjustment to home leaving are therefore needed.
Finally, our findings indicated that having knowledge regarding the position to which the adolescents were assigned was
valuable for them. The more knowledge the adolescents had concerning their future position in the army, the less negative
were their expectations regarding the conscription. Having more information may have decreased the uncertainty entailed in

3
2 .7
2 .4
Negative expectations

2 .1
1 .8
1 .5
1 .2 Low connectedness

0 .9 Medium connectedness
High conectedenss
0 .6
0 .3
0
Low individuality High individuality
Individuality scores

Fig. 1. Relations between girls’ individuality at age 16 and their negative expectations two years later at low, medium and high levels of connectedness at age 16.
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E. Sher-Censor, D. Oppenheim / Journal of Adolescence 33 (2010) 625–632 631

the conscription, and increased girls’ sense of efficacy. This finding is consistent with previous studies on coping showing that
having more information regarding upcoming stressors such as conscription (Israelashvili & Taubman, 1997; Israelashvili &
Wegman-Rozi, 2007) and surgery (Suhonen & Leino-Kilpi, 2006) enhances a sense of cognitive control and of readiness to
cope with the stressor.
Several limitations point to directions for future research. First, although we included self report measures of maternal
autonomy support at Time 2, we did not directly assess adolescents’ individuation at that time point. Therefore, it is possible
that the longitudinal links we found do not reflect a direct effect of early individuation on later adjustment but are mediated
through later individuation. Future research may benefit from repeated assessment of individuation in the adolescent–
mother relationship and exploration of the association of early versus later individuation with adolescents’ adjustment.
Second, we focused on girls’ individuation in their relationship with their mothers. Previous studies suggest that indi-
viduation in the adolescent–father relationship plays an important role in adolescents’ adaptation (Allen, Hauser, Bell, et al.,
1994; Scharf & Mayseless, 2008). It is therefore important for future research to explore the implications of individuation with
each parent for late adolescents’ adjustment.
Last, the associations found in previous studies (Brissette et al., 2002; Jackson et al., 2000; Scheier & Carver, 1992) between
adolescents’ adjustment before and after leaving home for college imply that the expectation the adolescents had regarding
their future military service and their psychological distress shortly before conscription could have significant implications
for their adaptation to the military service. Given the links we found between early individuation and adjustment prior to
conscription, it is possible that individuation may also have implications for adaptation to the military service once it begins.
This was not assessed in the present study, and therefore additional research is needed to examine the implications of the
individuation process for actual adaptation to the challenges posed by military service.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participating families, as well as Sivan Avivi, Ruth Blankstein, and Dov Brami for their help in
collecting and coding the data. Part of this work was presented in April 2009 at the Biannual meeting of The Society for
Research in Child Development, Denver, Colorado.

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