Journal of Adolescence 1990, 13, 371-385 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM Rapprochement in late adolescent separation-individuation: a structural equations approach zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe STEPHEN M. QUINTANA” AND DANIEL K. LAPSLEYt Adolescents’ movements toward individuation are believed to be sup- ported by secure attachments to parents. Previous research has found that individuation could be operationalized with indices of connectedness and separateness, but the relationship between these variables has not been fully explored. The present study demonstrated that attachment and dif- ferentiation variables were positively related using different and multiple operationalization procedures. Furthermore, a more comprehensive model of adolescent ego development w as proposed which included parental control, individuation, and ego identity constructs. Results suggest parental control restricts successful individuation, but that adjustment on individuation indices predicts advanced identity development. INTRODCCTION Traditional psychoanalytic theorists have viewed adolescent development from a psychosexual perspective. This perspective argues that the main task of adolescence is the severance of early object ties to parents and the re- placement of these ties with non-incestuous sexual relationships with peers (Freud, 1936). In contrast, more recent theorists view the main task of adolescence as the establishment of a sense of individuality in the con- text of supportive, close parental relationships (Blos, 1962; Josselson, 1980). Attachment to early objects, according to these theorists, are not replaced but rather are transformed into mature, whole object relationships through an adolescent separation-individuation process. Josselson (1988, p. 95) argues: “ Because separation-individuation and relatedness are two sides of the same matrix, to focus on one to the exclusion of the other distorts under- *Reprint requests should be addressed to Dr Quintana at Department of Educational Psychology, EDB 504, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, U.S.A. +University of Notre Dame. Portions of this paper were presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, June, 1986. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 014&1971/90/040371 + 15 $03.00/O 01990 The Association for the Psychiatric Study of Adolescents