Cohesion and enmeshment revisited: Family differentiation, identity and psychological well-being in two European cultures

We examined the nature and implications of\r\nfamily differentiation among adolescents facing\r\na life transition in 2 European countries with\r\ndiffering family cultures. One hundred and\r\ntwenty-four Italian and 109 U.K. adolescents\r\ncompleted measures of family differentiation\r\n(cohesion and enmeshment), identity threat\r\n(perception of threat to the self associated with\r\nfinishing school), life satisfaction, depressive\r\nsymptoms, and anxiety. Confirmatory factor\r\nanalyses showed that cohesion and enmeshment\r\nwere distinguishable in both countries, orthogonal\r\nin the U.K. but positively correlated in Italy.\r\nFamily cohesion was associated with better\r\npsychological well-being in both countries;\r\nenmeshment was associated with poorer psychological\r\nwell-being in the U.K. but not in\r\nItaly. Structural equation models showed that\r\neffects on well-being were fully mediated by\r\nidentity threat in both cultures.