Possible Selves and Internalizing and Externalizing Psychopathology:
Patterns of Associations in Youths With and Without Criminal Convictions
Gwen Lewis & Robin BanerjeeUniversity of Sussex
Background• a third of young offenders in community and custodial
contexts have mental health needs (Harrington & Bailey, 2005)
• links with negative health outcomes (Piquero, Shephard, Shepheard & Farrington, 2011; Wiesner, Kim & Capaldi, 2005)
• links with negative social outcomes (McClusky, Mc Cluskey & Bynum, 2006; Piquero, Farrington, Nagin & Moffit, 2010).
• role of self-concept separately studied in psychopathology and youth offending (Abrams & Hyhn, 2009; Garaigordobil, Dura & Perez, 2005)
• but little attention to the interplay of self-concept constructs, youth offending and mental health.
Possible Selves and Youth Offending• Possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986):
o expected selveso future hoped for and feared selveso particularly salient during adolescence
• Delinquent youths have: Less achievement orientated possible selves (Lewis, 2010;
Oyserman & Markus, 1990) More negative possible selves (Oyserman & Markus, 1990) Less balance between hoped and feared selves (Oyserman
& Saltz, 1993) Underdeveloped strategies to attain possible selves
(Abrams & Aguilar, 2005).
Possible Selves and PsychopathologyExternalizing problems and possible selves:• esteem enhancement models of delinquency (Cohen, 1955):
o self-devaluating experiences negative self attitudes reassert a positive sense of self via non-normative, defensive, and
aggressive strategies
• cognitive theories of antisocial personality disorder (Beck, Freeman & Associates, 1990) and biases in social information processing (e.g., Crick & Dodge, 1994)
Internalizing problems and possible selves: • Cognitive perspectives on anxiety and depression (Beck, 1967; Clark
& Wells, 1998)o internalizing disorders involve negative views of self, world and
future as well as increased fears
Aims• Associations between possible selves and psychopathology in
young men with convictions for – or at risk of – criminal offences
• Strategies for achieving hoped-for and avoiding feared selves expected to be linked with psychopathology
• Appraisals of possible selves expected to be linked with psychopathologyo Positive beliefs about hoped-for selves should predict lower psychopathologyo Greater perceived likelihood of, and worry about, feared selves should predict
higher psychopathologyo Possibility of moderation by conviction status?
Sample• 95 males aged 16-22 year old (Mean 18 years)
• Ethnicity: 33% White, 53% Black, 10% Mixed, 2% Asian, 2 % Other
• Recruited from:o Community schemes for youths at risk of crime (N=67)o NACRO training centres for at risk of/involved in the
criminal justice system (N=14)o Young Offenders Institute (N =14)
• Criminal convictions – 34% had convictions and 66% did not
Research MethodologySelf report questionnaires:
up to three expected, hoped and feared possible selves appraisals of hoped-for and feared selves in terms of:
perceived importance, capability to achieve/avoid possible selves likelihood of possible selves becoming reality time spent thinking about possible selves
strategies to achieve avoid possible selves. Externalizing and internalizing psychopathology - Adult
Self Report (ASR) (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003).
ResultsConvictions and Psychopathology• Youths with convictions: higher on rule-breaking psychopathology
Content of Possible Selves• trend toward less achievement orientated possible selves among those with
convictions
Expected Selves‘I expect to be employed full time’
‘In jail’
‘Get rich’
‘Have a child’
Hoped Selves
‘Become a professional music engineer’
‘Stop getting in
trouble with the
police’
‘Stay healthy’
‘To give my son
a better life’
Feared Selves
‘Unemployed’
‘I’m afraid of becoming to paranoid’
‘Back in prison’
‘Becoming
homeless’
Appraisals of Possible SelvesHoped For Selves• Composite score for: importance, capability, likelihood, and
time spent thinking about hoped-for selves, a = .72
• Composite appraisal score negatively predicted Internalizing
(b = -.25, p = .029) but not Externalizing (p > .10)
• No evidence of moderation by conviction status (interaction terms, p > .10)
Feared Selves• Time spent thinking about feared selves predicted Externalizing (b = .27, p
= .045) and Internalizing (b = .30, p = .021)• Capability of avoiding feared selves predicted Externalizing (b = -.25, p
= .031) and Internalizing (b = -.31, p = .009)
• Importance of avoiding feared selves significantly higher on average for those with convictions
AND• Conviction status moderated the relationship between importance ratings
and psychopathology (interaction terms, ps < .05)o Importance of avoiding feared selves associated with lower
externalizing and internalizing, but only in those with convictions
(rs = -.38 and -.42, ps < .05)
Strategies to Attain or Avoid Possible Selves Strategy to Attain
Hoped For Self
Strategy to Avoid
Feared Self No Yes t No Yes t
Externalizing .65 (.38) .47 (.39) 2.17* .55 (.37) .50 (.42) 0.65
Rule Breaking .62 (.36) .43 (.41) 2.15* .48 (.38) .49 (.43) -0.08
Aggressive .69 (.46) .50 (.39) 1.98* .62 (.39) .51 (.44) 1.30
Internalizing .60 (.51) .37 (.35) 2.27* .51 (.47) .35 (.36) 1.91
Withdrawn .61 (.57) .33 (.38) 2.37* .52 (.51) .31 (.37) 2.21*
Anxious/Depressed .58 (.48) 38 (.38) 2.21* .51 (.45) .38 (.38) 1.44
• no interactions with conviction status
Implications• utility of possible selves interventions to increase school
involvement (Oyserman, Terry & Bybee, 2002) and address drug abuse (Buirs & Martin, 1997).
• targeted possible selves interventions to equip young people experiencing psychopathology with strategies to:o achieve their hoped selves o avoid repeated delinquent experiences.
• key focus on increasing self-efficacy and the development of
attainable hoped selves, rather than simply arousing fear
• Young offenders often showed intricate conceptualisations of themselves in the future
• possible benefits of providing a ‘hook’ (e.g., sport) to promote desistance from crime and offer avenues for alternative positive self definition
(see Lewis & Meek, 2012)
A Hopeful Note...
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Piquero, A. R., Shephard, I., Shepheard, J, P. & Farrington, D. P. (2011). Impact of offending trajectories on health: Disability, hospitalisation and death in middle aged men in the Cambridge study in delinquent development. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 21 (3), 189-201.
Wiesner, M. Kim, H. K. & Capaldi, D. M. (2005). Developmental trajectories of offending: Validation and prediction to young adult alcohol use, drug use and depressive symptoms. Development & Psychopathology, 17 (1), 251-270.
