1. Introduction The purposes of this study were to compare the distribution of Dutch and Italian adolescents across identity statuses; to test whether the profile (in terms of personality characteristics, internalizing problem behaviors, and parental relationship) of identity statuses was comparable among the two nationalities. In order to reach these aims we considered a recent identity model (Crocetti, Rubini, & Meeus, 2008), that expands Marcias (1966) theory. This model is finalized at capturing the dynamic by which identity is formed and changed over time. It consists of three processes: Commitment: firm choices that adolescents have made with regard to various developmental domains; In-depth exploration: the extent to which adolescents evaluate their current commitments; Reconsideration of commitment: efforts to change exiting commitments because they are no longer satisfactory. From the combination of these processes is possible to empirically derive five identity statuses (Crocetti, Rubini, Luyckx, & Meeus, 2008; Meeus, van de Schoot, Keijsers, Schwartz, & Branje, in press): achievement, early closure, moratorium, searching moratorium, diffusion. Method Sample A total of 3496 (46% males; Mage = 14) adolescents from the Netherlands (N = 1521) and Italy (N = 1975) and from early (aged 10-14 years) and middle adolescent (aged 15-19 years) cohorts, participated in the study. Measures Identity: Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS; Crocetti et al., 2008b; in press); 3 processes; 69 < α <.89; Personality: Big Five questionnaire (Gerris et al., 1998): extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience;.65 < α <.85; Depression: Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1985);.88 < α <.92; Generalized anxiety symptoms: GAD subscale from the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (Birmaher et al., 1997);.76 < α <.86; Parental trust: trust subscales from the short version of Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987; Nada-Raja et al., 1992);.77 < α <.88; Conclusion This study highlights large differences in the identity statuses between Italian and Dutch adolescents. This indicates the possible presence of some barriers to identity development among Italian adolescents, perhaps associated with the extended length of the transition to adulthood that occurs later in Italy than in the Netherlands. Elisabetta Crocetti 1, Seth J. Schwartz 2, Alessandra Fermani 1, Theo Klimstra 3, Barbara Pojaghi 1, Wim Meeus 3 1 University of Macerata, Italy; 2 University of Miami, USA; 3 University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Contact: elisabetta.crocetti@unimc.it Poster can be downloaded at http://www.elisabettacrocetti.comelisabetta.crocetti@unimc.ithttp://www.elisabettacrocetti.com Main references Crocetti, E., Rubini, M., Luyckx, K., & Meeus, W. (2008a). Identity formation in early and middle adolescents from various ethnic groups: From three dimensions to five statuses. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 983-996. Crocetti, E., Rubini, M., & Meeus, W. (2008b). Capturing the dynamics of identity formation in various ethnic groups: Development and validation of a three-dimensional model. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 207-222. Crocetti, E., Schwartz, S., Fermani, A., Meeus, W. (in press). The Utrecht Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS): Italian Validation and Cross-National Comparisons. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. Meeus, W., van de Schoot, R., Keijsers, L., Schwartz, S. J., & Branje, S. (in press). On the progression and stability of adolescent identity formation. A five-wave longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle- to-late Adolescence. Child Development. A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Identity Statuses between Two European Countries Results Results indicated large differences by nationality in the distribution of participants across the identity statuses both in the early (χ2 (4, N = 1817) = 206.40, p <.001) and in the middle adolescent (χ2 (4, N = 1479) = 129.57, p <.001) age groups. Cross-sectional age comparisons revealed identity regressions within the Italian sample, with a decrease in the number of achieved Italians and an increase in the number of diffused youth. The opposite effect emerged within the Dutch sample. Findings revealed that, using a cluster analytic procedure, it was possible to derive, both in the Dutch and in the Italian samples, five identity statuses: Analyses of covariance were conducted on personality, internalizing problem behaviors, and parent– adolescent relations dimensions, with the five identity clusters and nationality as independent variables and gender and age as covariates. Main findings indicated that the achievement status was the most adaptive one. On the contrary the moratorium status was the most troubled one. Significant identity status X nationality interactions indicated that the profile of the searching moratorium status, in terms of personality characteristic, internalizing problem behavior, and parent- adolescent relationships, was found to be more adaptive in the Italian context. Univariate Analyses of Covariance and Post Hoc Cluster Comparisons Based Upon Tukey Tests for the Five Identity Statuses Note. All differences were significant at p <.001. A cluster mean is significantly different from another mean if they have different superscripts. Response scales: Personality (1-7), Internalizing problem behaviors (1-3), Parent- adolescent relationship (1-6).