Brief Report

Emerging Adulthood
2021, Vol. 9(6) 749­–756
Validation of the Individuation Test ª 2018 Society for the
Study of Emerging Adulthood

for Emerging Adults–Short (ITEA-S) and SAGE Publishing

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in Austrian and German Emerging Adults DOI: 10.1177/2167696818818344
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Luka Komidar1 , Maja Zupančič1, and Ulrike Sirsch2

Abstract
Individuation Test for Emerging Adults–Short (ITEA-S) is a self-report instrument for measuring five aspects of individuation in
emerging adulthood. The test consists of two equivalent forms for assessing individuation in relation to mother and father separately.
In this study, we adapted the ITEA-S for use in Austrian and German emerging adult populations. In both samples, the two ITEA-S
forms demonstrated satisfactory factorial validity and internal consistency. The scores on the five scales were meaningfully related to
the Emotional, Functional, and Conflictual Dependence Scales of the Psychological Separation Inventory and also to life satisfaction as
measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale. The results of the multiple-group factor analyses supported the hypotheses of full
metric and scalar invariance for both ITEA-S forms across the Austrian and German samples of emerging adults.

Keywords
emerging adulthood, individuation, validity, measurement invariance, cross-cultural assessment

Demographic data in contemporary Western-type societies show involves a resolution of a complex dialectical interaction
a delayed attainment of objective markers of adulthood (e.g., between establishing an individuated self and reestablishing a
moving out of parents’ home, employment, starting a family) sense of relatedness to parents on a symmetrical adult-to-
in young people. The “postponed” transitions to adult roles are adult level (Grotevant & Cooper, 1986; Kins, Beyers, & Soe-
associated with a prolonged identity exploration, self-focusing, nens, 2012; Smollar & Youniss, 1989). The process of healthy
considering various life possibilities, feeling in-between adoles- resolution unfolds gradually from dealing with separation
cence and adulthood (Arnett, 2000), and restructuring relation- issues in adolescence (e.g., differentiating one’s self from idea-
ships with parents (Tanner, 2006). All these characterize the lized internal representations of parental figures, stressing
developmental period of emerging adulthood as termed by nondependence on parents and their approval) toward self-
Arnett (2000) and can also be observed among many Austrians delineation, self-reliance, self-governance (e.g., Lamborn &
and Germans from their late teens to their 30s (e.g., Reitzle, Groh, 2009), and renegotiation of relationships with parents
2006; Seiffge-Krenke, 2016; Zupančič, Komidar, & Puklek Lev- into relationships between equals in emerging adulthood
pušček, 2014; Zupančič & Sirsch, 2018). (e.g., Tanner, 2006). According to Tanner, the process of recen-
When becoming adults, young people have to gain auton- tering in emerging adults evolves from their embeddedness into
omy and rebuild their relationship with parents to prepare the family of origin toward self-sufficiency, self-directedness,
themselves for a self-reliant and autonomous life, as empha-
sized by the individuation theory (Youniss & Smollar, 1985),
the autonomy–relatedness perspective (Grotevant & Cooper, 1
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana,
1986), as well as by the self-determination theory (Deci & Slovenia
Ryan, 2000) and the model of recentering (Tanner, 2006). 2
Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and
Thus, separation-individuation in relation to parents, an intrap- Intervention, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
sychic process of attaining individuality and autonomy while
Corresponding Author:
maintaining interpersonal closeness to parents (Grotevant & Luka Komidar, PhD, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of
Cooper, 1986; Youniss & Smollar, 1985), remains one of the Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
central developmental tasks in emerging adulthood. The task Email: [email protected]
2750 Emerging Adulthood
Emerging 9(6)
Adulthood

involvement in prolonged education, jobs, and intimate rela- Method

tionships, accompanied by a shift of power and responsibility
in parent–child relationships, which restructure into mutually
Participants
respectful and connected relationships. The final samples consisted of 480 (Austrian sample; the initial
To overcome the limitations of using adolescent measures n was 505) and 224 participants (German sample; the initial n
of separation-individuation (henceforth individuation) with was 240). The characteristics of both samples are presented in
emerging adults (e.g., focusing on separation dynamics, while Table 1.
disregarding self-reliance and mutually mature closeness in
parent–child relationships; for a discussion, see Komidar, Instruments
Zupančič, Sočan, & Puklek Levpušček, 2014), we created and
validated the Individuation Test for Emerging Adults (ITEA; Individuation Test for Emerging Adults-Short (ITEA-S). The ITEA-S
Komidar et al., 2014) for assessing individuation in relation (Komidar et al., 2016) is a 21-item self-report questionnaire
to mother and father separately. The ITEA consists of five designed to measure five domains of individuation in relation
scales: Seeking Support (when facing difficult problems and to mother (ITEA-S-M form) and/or father (ITEA-S-F form)
important decisions), Connectedness (to parents), (perceived in emerging adulthood: Support Seeking (ITEA-S-M/F with
parental) Intrusiveness, Self-Reliance (in relation to parents), Slovene data; a ¼ .92/.90), Connectedness (a ¼ .84/.84), Intru-
and Fear of Disappointing the Parent. We previously demon- siveness (a ¼ .87/.87), Self-Reliance (a ¼ .80/.82), and Fear of
strated satisfactory psychometric properties of the scales Disappointing the Parent (a ¼ .83/.82). The participants
(Komidar et al., 2014) as well as their concurrent and longitu- respond to the items on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (com-
dinal associations with achieved criteria for adulthood and pletely untrue) to 5 (completely true).
components of subjective well-being (Zupančič & Kavčič, We used the English version of the ITEA-S (see Komidar et al.,
2016; Zupančič et al., 2014). 2016, for a detailed description of the translation process) for the
Our ongoing goal is to adapt the ITEA for use in different
cultural/linguistic environments and facilitate cross-cultural Table 1. Characteristics of the Austrian and German Samples of
studies on individuation in emerging adulthood. As cross- Emerging Adults.
cultural comparisons require measurement invariance across Austrian Sample German Sample
the studied cultures, which is more likely achieved by using Demographic Variable (N ¼ 480) (N ¼ 225)
a psychometrically robust instrument (Meade & Bauer,
2007), we developed the ITEA-Short (ITEA-S; Komidar, Gender—f (%)
Female 311 (64.8) 138 (61.3)
Zupančič, Puklek Levpušček, & Bjornsen, 2016) on Slovene
Male 269 (35.2) 87 (38.7)
and U.S. emerging adults. The validation analyses showed Age (years)—M (SD) 24.1 (3.3) 24.7 (3.1)
improved construct validity for both (mother and father) forms Employment status—f (%)
and country versions compared to the ITEA. We also estab- Student only 118 (24.6) 54 (24.0)
lished partial measurement invariance across the Slovene and Student and working 270 (56.3) 116 (51.5)
U.S. samples. Employed 77 (16.0) 49 (21.8)
For studying the concurrent validity of the ITEA-S, we pre- Unemployed 15 (3.1) 6 (2.7)
Finished education—f (%)
dominantly used the Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI;
Less than secondary school 18 (3.7) 23 (10.2)
Hoffman, 1984) which focuses on disengagement from (exces- Secondary school 283 (59.0) 95 (42.2)
sive) dependence on parents in the development of an individ- More than secondary school 179 (37.3) 107 (47.6)
uated self. Along with the PSI, we aimed to further investigate (university)
the criterion validity of the ITEA-S by examining its associa- Romantic relationship status—f (%)
tions with emerging adults’ cognitive evaluations of their life, Yes 300 (62.5) 134 (59.6)
that is, global life satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & No 180 (37.5) 91 (40.4)
Living situation—f (%)
Griffin, 1985). As both autonomy and relatedness to parents
Alone (out of parents’ home) 73 (15.2) 36 (16.0)
contribute to emerging adults’ adjustment and subjective Partly alone, partly in my 20 (4.2) 11 (4.9)
well-being (Kins et al., 2012; Lamborn & Groh, 2009; parents’ home
Zupančič et al., 2014; Zupančič & Kavčič, 2016), we expected In a student apartment or 131 (27.3) 75 (33.3)
positive associations of connectedness and self-reliance as well dormitory
as negative associations of individuation difficulties with life With my partner (out of 127 (26.5) 65 (28.9)
satisfaction. parents’ home)
In my parents’ home 113 (23.5) 30 (13.3)
The aims of this study were to assess the factorial validity
Other 16 (3.3) 8 (3.6)
and reliability of both ITEA-S forms on Austrian and German Perceived adult status—f (%)
emerging adult samples, to test the measurement invariance of Yes 192 (40.0) 87 (38.7)
both ITEA-S forms across the country groups, and to investi- Partly 263 (54.8) 124 (55.1)
gate the criterion validity of the German ITEA-S Scales against No 25 (5.2) 14 (6.2)
psychological separation and satisfaction with life.
Komidar et al. 751
3

translation of the test into German; the translation was conducted completed the ITEA-S, the PSI (97.7%/99.1% [Austria/Germany]
by two independent Austrian developmental psychologists who in relation to biological mother and 91.3%/91.1% in relation
are fluent English speakers. This preliminary German translation to biological father), and the SWLS. The study was carried
was then back-translated to English. Differences were discussed out in accordance with the APA Ethical Guidelines.
with the authors of the original version to prevent any differences
in the meaning between the German and the Slovene version.
Results and Discussion
Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI). The PSI (Hoffman, 1984) Factorial Validity and Reliability of Both ITEA-S Forms for
was translated into German and specifically adapted within a
the Austrian and German Emerging Adults
broader project focusing on 18- to 29-year-olds in Slovenia and
Austria (Zupančič & Sirsch, 2013). The PSI is a self-report ques- All confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted in
tionnaire intended to assess four types of (in)dependence in rela- Mplus 7.2 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012). Because the major-
tion to each parent. As in previous validation studies of the ity of the items had moderately nonnormal distributions, we
ITEA-S (Komidar et al., 2016; Komidar et al., 2014), we used chose the robust maximum likelihood estimator (MLM). For the
only three scales: Functional Dependence (13 items; mother/ mother form, the skewness values ranged from –1.10 to 1.34 (Q1
father form: a[Austrian] ¼ .88/.89, a[German] ¼ .87/.87) refers ¼ –0.72, Q3 ¼ 0.44), and for the father form, they ranged from –
to the perceived inability to manage personal affairs without the 1.43 to 2.24 (Q1 ¼ –0.63, Q3 ¼ 1.09). The kurtosis values ranged
assistance of parents; Emotional Dependence (17 items; a[Aus- from –1.19 to 1.01 (Q1 ¼ –0.93, Q3 ¼ 0.26) in the mother form,
trian] ¼ .90/.90, a[German] ¼ .89/.87) measures an excessive while in the father form, they ranged from –1.32 to 4.52 (Q1 ¼ –
need for parental emotional support, closeness, and approval; 1.12, Q3 ¼ 1.25). To assess goodness of fit of our models to the
Conflictual Dependence (25 items; a[Austrian] ¼ .89/.88, data, we used the comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker–Lewis
a[German] ¼ .89/.89) reflects excessive negative feelings index (TLI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA),
toward parents (e.g., guilt, anxiety, mistrust, anger). Participants and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). The fol-
respond to the items on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (com- lowing cutoff values were considered as indicating acceptable fit
pletely untrue) to 5 (completely true). Higher scale scores indi- (Marsh, Hau, & Wen, 2004): CFI and TLI � .90, RMSEA and
cate higher levels of dependence. SRMR � .08. We set the scales of the latent factors by fixing the
loadings of the first items to 1.
Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The SWLS (Diener et al., The fit of the five-factor model for both ITEA-S forms in
1985; German adaptation: Glaesmer, Grande, Braehler, & both samples could be characterized as acceptable (Table 2).
Roth, 2011) includes 5 items that are scored on a 7-point The standardized loadings (Table 3) are very similar across
Likert-type scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly both forms and samples; in the Austrian sample, they range
agree). Participants assess how satisfying they judge each of from .62 to .91, and in the German sample, they range from
the 5 items, referring to aspects of their life in general. .55 to .90. The scales of both ITEA-S forms exhibited satisfac-
Research has demonstrated good psychometric characteristics tory internal consistency across the samples (.80 to .89). The
of the scale across countries (e.g., Kins & Beyers, 2010; Pavot correlations between the ITEA-S factors in both samples are
& Diener, 1993, 2008; Zupančič et al., 2014). In the present reported in Table 4.
study, the internal reliability was satisfactory in both the Aus-
trian (a ¼ .84) and the German sample (a ¼ .89). Measurement Invariance of ITEA-S Across Austrian and
German Emerging Adults
Procedure To assess measurement invariance of both ITEA-S forms across
the groups of Austrian and German participants, we carried out
Data were collected by contacting and asking psychology students
from the University of Vienna (both Austrians and Germans) to
Table 2. Fit Indices for the 21-Item Five-Factor Model of ITEA-S on
participate in the study and to spread the invitation among their the Sample of Austrian and German Emerging Adults.
friends and acquaintances. By using such snowball sampling tech-
nique, we recruited participants from a broad range of study majors ITEA-S Form w2 df CFI TLI RMSEA 90% CI RMSEA SRMR
as well as employed and unemployed emerging adults.
Austrian sample
The data of Austrian and German emerging adults (the latter Mother 602.6 179 .91 .90 .071 [.065, �.077] .070
studying and living in Austria or in Germany) were gathered by the Father 599.7 179 .91 .90 .072 [.066, �.079] .069
same online application. We used a JavaScript validation script that German sample
did not let participants to proceed to the next page if they did not Mother 385.2 179 .92 .91 .072 [.062, �.081] .074
respond to all of the items on the current page (for details about the Father 414.3 179 .90 .88 .078 [.068, �.088] .079
procedure, see Komidar et al., 2016; Komidar et al., 2014). Note. CFI ¼ comparative fit index; df ¼ degrees of freedom; ITEA-S ¼ Indivi-
First, the participants provided data on their demographic duation Test for Emerging Adults–Short Form; RMSEA ¼ root mean square
characteristics and indicated their self-perceived developmental error of approximation; SRMR ¼ standardized root mean square residual; TLI
status (not an adult, adult in some respects, adult). Then, they ¼ Tucker–Lewis index.
4752 Emerging Adulthood
Emerging 9(6)
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Table 3. Structure of the ITEA-S Obtained by CFA on the Austrian and German Samples and Cronbach’s a Coefficients.

Standardized Loadings and Cronbach’s a Coefficients

ITEA-S-M ITEA-S-F

ITEA-S Factor and Items (Items From the Mother Form) AUT GER AUT GER

Support Seeking a ¼ .88 a ¼ .89 a ¼ .87 a ¼ .89

When I have problems in my relationships with people, I ask her for advice. .72 .73 .66 .65
When something goes wrong, I call her. .86 .81 .84 .84
When I am in doubt about important decisions, I turn to her. .85 .87 .85 .90
When I’m in distress, I turn to her. .81 .86 .81 .83
If I have problems, I usually count on her help. .62 .65 .62 .73
Connectedness a ¼ .86 a ¼ .88 a ¼ .88 a ¼ .86
She respects my wishes. .70 .79 .75 .72
I like to chat with her. .80 .78 .83 .73
She understands my problems. .73 .83 .79 .82
I can talk openly to her. .87 .85 .84 .85
Intrusiveness a ¼ .86 a ¼ .85 a ¼ .87 a ¼ .84
I think she wants to know too much about me. .72 .66 .69 .70
I think she wants to know too much about my friends. .74 .66 .78 .72
I think she asks too many questions about my work or studies. .75 .78 .75 .70
I think she tries to control too much of my life. .67 .71 .74 .67
She asks more questions about my personal life than I want to disclose. .83 .86 .86 .81
Self-Reliance a ¼ .83 a ¼ .80 a ¼ .80 a ¼ .80
When I have a problem, I try to find a solution without her help. .72 .75 .68 .73
I can make important decisions without her help. .79 .71 .69 .72
I can manage most things in my life without her help. .71 .55 .64 .59
If I have problems in my personal life, I solve them independent of her. .75 .81 .81 .78
Fear of Disappointing the Parent a ¼ .85 a ¼ .87 a ¼ .88 a ¼ .89
When I do something wrong, I worry about her response. .68 .73 .77 .79
If I had problems at work or school, I would worry that I would disappoint her. .86 .89 .87 .86
I fear that I could disappoint her. .91 .85 .90 .90
Note. The items in German are presented in Appendix Table A1. CFA ¼ confirmatory factor analysis; ITEA-S ¼ Individuation Test for Emerging Adults–Short
Form; ITEA-S-F ¼ ITEA-S father form; ITEA-S-M ¼ ITEA-S mother form; AUT ¼ Austrian sample; GER ¼ German sample.

Table 4. Descriptive Statistics for the ITEA-S Scales, Correlations Among the ITEA-S Factors, and Correlations Between the Mother and
Father Forms for the Austrian and German Samples of Emerging Adults.

1 2 3 4 5 M (mother) SD (mother)

Austrian sample
1. Support Seeking (.33*) .78* �.02 �.61* .29* 3.48 1.03
2. Connectedness .79* (.29*) �.34* �.25* .00 3.91 0.92
3. Intrusiveness �.26* �.47* (.43*) �.31* .29* 2.09 0.97
4. Self-Reliance �.53* �.16* �.08 (.60*) �.24* 3.74 0.93
5. Fear of Disappointing the Parent .13* �.11 .35* �.26* (.53*) 2.69 1.16
M (father) 2.83 3.48 1.65 3.98 2.71
SD (father) 1.09 1.05 0.87 0.87 1.23
German sample
1. Support Seeking (.46*) .71* �.01 �.70* .19* 3.26 1.03
2. Connectedness .84* (.53*) �.25* �.42* �.16* 3.77 0.98
3. Intrusiveness �.28* �.50* (.58*) �.26* .30* 2.03 0.92
4. Self-Reliance �.66* �.39* .14 (.67*) �.23* 3.83 0.80
5. Fear of Disappointing the Parent .04 �.23* .39* �.10 (.49*) 2.55 1.12
M (father) 2.76 3.52 1.64 3.94 2.68
SD (father) 1.08 0.94 0.76 0.79 1.16
Note. Intercorrelations for the ITEA-S-M are presented below the diagonals, and intercorrelations for the ITEA-S-F are presented above the diagonals. Correla-
tions between the corresponding mother and father scales are parenthesized and presented in the diagonals. ITEA-S ¼ Individuation Test for Emerging Adults–
Short Form.
*p < .05.
Komidar et al. 753
5

Table 5. Measurement Invariance Statistics for Country of Origin Groups (Austria, Germany).

Model Difference Test

Type of invariance w2 df CFI TLI RMSEA SRMR Dw2 Ddf p

Mother form (ITEA-S-M)

Configural 993.6* 358 .91 .90 .071 .071
Metric 1019.0* 374 .91 .90 .070 .074 22.6 16 .12
Scalar 1036.2* 390 .91 .91 .069 .074 14.2 16 .58
Factor means 1047.1* 395 .91 .91 .069 .076 10.6 5 .10
Father form (ITEA-S-F)
Configural 1016.3* 358 .91 .89 .074 .072
Metric 1034.3* 374 .91 .90 .073 .073 14.5 16 .56
Scalar 1050.6* 390 .91 .90 .071 .073 13.4 16 .64
Factor means 1058.0* 395 .91 .90 .071 .074 6.8 5 .31
Note. CFI ¼ comparative fit index; ITEA-S ¼ Individuation Test for Emerging Adults–Short Form; ITEA-S-F ¼ ITEA-S father form; ITEA-S-M ¼ ITEA-S mother
form; RMSEA ¼ root mean square error of approximation; SRMR ¼ standardized root mean square residual; TLI ¼ Tucker–Lewis index; configural invariance ¼
equal form; metric invariance ¼ equal factor loadings; scalar invariance ¼ equal indicator intercepts; Dw2 ¼ nested w2 difference (Satorra–Bentler scaled chi-
square); Ddf ¼ degrees of freedom for the model difference test.
*p < .05.

Table 6. Pearson’s Correlations of the ITEA-S Scales With the Three PSI Scales and the SWLS in Austrian and German Samples of Emerging
Adults.

Emotional Dependence Conflictual Dependence Functional Dependence SWLS

ITEA-S Scale
AUT GER AUT GER AUT GER AUT GER

Support Seeking
Mother .50* .71* �.29* �.41* .59* .75* .09* .25*
Father .71* .53* �.31* �.32* .79* .76* .10* .27*
Connectedness
Mother .41* .53* �.58* �.63* .35* .49* .27* .42*
Father .51* .59* �.58* �.47* .50* .48* .20* .32*
Intrusiveness
Mother �.01 �0.13 .53* .47* �.06 �0.15 �.22* �.29*
Father .10 .16 .47* .47* .14* .24* �.13* �.24*
Self-Reliance
Mother �.38* �.55* .07 .27* �.45* �.61* .08 �.02
Father �.64* �.39* .10 .36* �.61* �.52* .04 �.04
Fear of Disappointing the Parent
Mother .44* .16 .35* .35* .21* .17 �.17* �.31*
Father .45* .35* .28* .44* .42* .33* �.13* �.07
Note. ITEA-S ¼ Individuation Test for Emerging Adults–Short Form, PSI ¼ Psychological Separation Inventory, SWLS ¼ Satisfaction With Life Scale; AUT ¼ Aus-
trian sample; GER ¼ German sample.
*p < .05.

multiple-group CFAs and tested the hypotheses regarding equal- German emerging adults. Therefore, we tested the factor means
ity of factor loadings (i.e., metric invariance) and equality of invariance models to examine the group mean differences on the
item intercepts (i.e., scalar invariance). We did not test the five factors for both ITEA-S forms. Imposing the constraint of
hypothesis regarding equal item residual variances (strict invar- equal factor means did not result in significant changes in model
iance) because it is generally considered less important (e.g., fit (Table 5), which means that the Austrian and German emer-
Bentler, 2005) or not recommended (Selig, Card, & Little, ging adults exhibited similar levels of all five aspects of indivi-
2008). Imposing the constraints of the metric and scalar models duation in relation to mother and father.
did not result in statistically significant changes in model fit in
either ITEA-S form (Table 5). That means there is full measure-
ment invariance of both ITEA-S forms across both country Concurrent Validity of the ITEA-S Scale Scores
groups, which enables meaningful comparisons of the mean The associations of the ITEA-S Scales with the PSI Scales (both
scale scores of both ITEA-S forms between the Austrian and forms) and the SWLS (Table 6) across the samples indicate an
6754 Emerging Adulthood
Emerging 9(6)
Adulthood

adequate concurrent validity of the ITEA-S. The pattern of the among all of the individuation domains. Combined with
ITEA-S Scale score correlations with measures of emerging relatively low standard deviations, the results present self-
adults’ psychological (in)dependence in relation to mother and reliance as something subjectively achieved among the emer-
father (the PSI Scales) in both samples was very similar to the ging adults in our study. Nevertheless, their perceptions of
pattern obtained in the original study on Slovene and U.S. emer- strong self-reliance do not necessarily mean they also evaluate
ging adults (Komidar et al., 2016). Namely, Conflictual Depen- it favorably. As findings from 500 German 12- to 16-year-olds
dence was positively associated (.47 to .53) with the perceptions about becoming adult (Dreher & Dreher, 2002) showed, inde-
of parents as intruding into the emerging adults’ privacy and/or pendence was the highest ranked positive aspect, and responsi-
trying to psychologically control them (Intrusiveness) but nega- bility was regarded as the most important negative one
tively related to experiences of mutually positive, mature, and (because of anxiety to fail). A small number of participants also
trustful relationships with parents (Connectedness ¼ �.47 to mentioned responsibility as a positive aspect and independence
�.63). Seeking parental opinion, advice, and emotional support as a negative one. Thus, a high or low level of self-reliance can
in difficult situations (Support Seeking) was positively corre- be related to higher or lower levels of satisfaction with life,
lated with Functional (.59 to .79) and Emotional Dependence depending on individuals’ perceptions of personal resources
(.50 to .71). Similar but lower correlations of Connectedness to master life or developmental tasks of emerging adulthood.
were found with Functional (.35 to .50) and Emotional Depen- The ITEA-S may present an important assessment tool for
dence (.41 to .59). Self-Reliance showed negative associations personal–emotional counseling and may also be useful for coun-
with these aspects of dependence (�.45 to �.61 for Functional selors who work with emerging adults (and their parents) within
and �.38 to �.64 for Emotional Dependence). Finally, emerging a multicultural population. Namely, the instrument appears gen-
adults’ feelings of anxiety, worry, guilt, and resentment (Fear of eralizable across several cultural contexts, that is, Slovenia, the
Disappointing) were positively (low to medium correlations in United States (Komidar et al., 2016), Turkey (Karataş, Levpuš-
terms of Cohen’s, 1992, descriptions of effect sizes) related with ček, & Komidar, 2017), Austria, and Germany (as shown in the
all three aspects of dependence. present study). As several problems in emerging adulthood, such
With few exceptions, the correlations of the ITEA-S-M Scale as adjustment to university life, academic achievement, moving
scores and the emerging adults’ perceived dependence on their out of parental home, starting a full-time job, or depressive
mother appear somewhat stronger in the German than in the symptoms, may arise from individuation difficulties (e.g., Kins
Austrian sample. Interestingly, the negative associations of Ger- et al., 2012; Lamborn & Groh, 2009; Zupančič et al., 2014), the
man emerging adults’ Self-Reliance in relation to mother (as ITEA-S could be applied to identify potential sources (e.g., pre-
well as positive correlations of Support Seeking) with perceived occupation with relatedness to parents at the expense of indepen-
Emotional (�.55) and Functional Dependence (�.61) from her dence or the other way around, struggling with both autonomy
are quite similar to the negative associations of Austrian emer- and closeness issues) of specific problems. Furthermore, such
ging adults’ Self-Reliance in relation to their father with per- identification would provide support to the counselor in focusing
ceived Emotional (�.64) and Functional Dependence (�.61) on critical aspects of young people’s individuation.
from him. Additionally, in the Austrian sample, perceived There are several limitations to our validation study. Snow-
Self-Reliance was not related to Conflictual Dependence as in ball sampling did not result in completely representative sam-
the German sample. The correlations of the ITEA-S Scale scores ples of the Austrian and German emerging adult population
with life satisfaction appeared somewhat higher for the Germans (both were overrepresented by females and predominantly
than the Austrians (except for Fear of Disappointing the Parent). included working students). In addition, our German sample
The small country differences across the mentioned associations was smaller than the Austrian, and the German participants
may point out culture differences in the primary socialization were recruited by German emerging adults studying in Austria.
(e.g., different roles mothers and fathers might have within the Because the ITEA-S and the PSI have several common fea-
family in those two countries), differences in characteristics of tures (i.e., same number of anchors and anchor labels), and the
the sample (e.g., amount of contact with each parent, attachment responses were gathered from the same participants, the corre-
styles), and/or effects of some other moderating variables. lations of the ITEA-S with the PSI Scale scores could be
Consonant with the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, affected by the common method bias (CMB, e.g., Podsakoff,
2000), relatedness expressed by positive relationships with par- MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003). The presence of very
ents (Connectedness) and seeking their support in critical situa- weak correlations may provide some assurance that the corre-
tions was positively associated with life satisfaction as a lations were not affected by CMB. However, the CMB can
marker of subjective well-being (low to medium correlations). either inflate or deflate the studied associations. Therefore,
As expected, perceived psychological control (Intrusiveness) we also compared the correlations between the ITEA-S and the
and feelings of anxiety (Fear of Disappointing), which both PSI factors obtained by the CFAs (separately for mother and
suggest individuation difficulties, were negatively related to father forms). In the first model, the items of both instruments
the SWLS scores (low to medium correlations; Table 6). Unex- were allowed to load on their theoretical constructs, while in
pectedly, Self-Reliance was not significantly related to satis- the second model, all items were additionally allowed to load
faction with life. However, the mean scores for Self-Reliance on a general common method variance factor (Podsakoff
in relation to both parents across the two samples were highest et al., 2003). As the interfactor correlations from the first model
Komidar et al. 755
7

closely resembled the correlations presented in Table 6, and Author Contributions

more importantly, because the majority of the correlations from Luka Komidar contributed to conception and design, acquisition, anal-
the second analysis enabled similar interpretations as correla- ysis, and interpretation. Maja Zupančič contributed to conception and
tions in Table 6, we surmise that the effect of the CMB on the design and interpretation. Ulrike Sirsch contributed to conception and
results of our concurrent validity analysis was not substantial. design, acquisition, and interpretation. Luka Komidar drafted the
Another limitation of this study lies in the use of only a few manuscript. Luka Komidar, Maja Zupančič, and Ulrike Sirsch criti-
relevant measures for assessing concurrent validity and in reli- cally revised the manuscript, gave final approval, and agree to be
ance on data collected with community samples of emerging accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy.
adults. Addressing other relevant criterion measures, such as
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
indicators of identity development, various aspects of psycho-
logical adjustment, quality of close relationships, and different The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
components of subjective well-being, in particular, dimensions
of psychological (Eudaimonic) well-being (e.g., Ryff & Singer, Funding
2008), would provide further evidence for the validity of the
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the
ITEA-S. Likewise, the ability of the ITEA-S Scales to differ-
research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research
entiate among groups of normative emerging adults, those was funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (within the program
experiencing clinical levels of various psychological symp- Applied Developmental Psychology P5-0062 and the Bilateral project
toms, and individuals with chronic illnesses still awaits further BI-AT 16-17-016 between Slovenia and Austria).
inquiry. In addition to the dimension-centered approach to indi-
viduation, we advocate the person-centered approach to deter- Open Practices
mine emerging adults’ latent profiles of individuation.
Identifying groups with similar individuation profiles may
prove especially beneficial in psychological practice. All data have been made publicly available via the Open Science
Framework and can be accessed at https://osf.io/9wr3a/. The design
Appendix and analysis plans for the experiments were not preregistered. The
complete Open Practices Disclosure for this article can be found at
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/2167696818818344.
Table A1. The ITEA-S Items in German (the Mother Form). This article has received the badges for Open Data.

1. Sie respektiert meine Wünsche. ORCID iD

2. Ich glaube, dass sie zu viel über mich wissen will.
Luka Komidar https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1360-0040
3. Wenn ich Probleme in meinen Beziehungen mit anderen habe,
frage ich sie um Rat.
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Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. Luka Komidar is an assistant professor of psychological meth-
(2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical odology at the Department of Psychology, University of Ljubl-
review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of jana. His recent research involves test development/adaptation
Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903. and using computerized methods for psychological assessment.
Reitzle, M. (2006). The connections between adulthood transitions
and the self-perception of being adult in the changing contexts of Maja Zupančič is a full professor of developmental psychol-
East and West Germany. European Psychologist, 11, 25–38. ogy at the Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2008). Know thyself and become what Her recent research mainly involves psycho-social develop-
you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. ment in emerging adulthood and the role of personality traits
Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 13–39. in adaptation through the life-span.
Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2016). Experiencing the transition to adulthood in
Germany: Including emerging adults of the “forgotten half.” In R. Ulrike Sirsch is an assistant professor at the Department of
Žukauskiene (Ed.), Emerging adulthood in a European context Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and
(pp. 79–93). New York, NY: Routledge. Intervention at the Faculty of Psychology, University of
Selig, J. P., Card, N. A., & Little, T. D. (2008). Latent variable struc- Vienna, Austria. Her main research interest deals with psy-
tural equation modelling in cross-cultural research: Multigroup and cho-social development of emerging adults on their way to
multilevel approaches. In F. J. R. van de Vijver, D. A. van Hemert, adulthood (including parents’ role).