Possible Selves and Internalizing and
Externalizing Psychopathology:
Patterns of Associations in Youths
With and Without Criminal Convictions
Gwen Lewis & Robin Banerjee
University of Sussex
g.lewis@tees.ac.uk
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 selves
o future hoped for and feared selves
o 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 Psychopathology
Externalizing 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
psychopathology
o Positive beliefs about hoped-for selves should predict lower psychopathology
o Greater perceived likelihood of, and worry about, feared selves should predict
higher psychopathology
o 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 Methodology
Self 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).
Results
Convictions 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
Hoped Selves
Feared Selves
Expected Selves
‘In jail’
‘Become a
professional music
engineer’
‘I’m afraid of
becoming to
paranoid’
Appraisals of Possible Selves
Hoped 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
Strategy to Avoid
Hoped For Self
Feared Self
No
Externalizing
Yes
t
No
Yes
t
.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
.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)
.51 (.45)
.38 (.38) 1.44
Internalizing
•
2.21*
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
A Hopeful Note...
• 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)
References
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