Phinney and Chavira (1992) conducted a longitudinal study of 18 African

American, Hispanic, and Asian American high school students. These adolescents were

interviewed to determine their phase of ethnic identity development and then followed

into young adulthood. Most of those adolescents that were in the unexamined or

moratorium phases of development at baseline progressed to a higher phase over time.

Those that were in the achieved phase at baseline were also in the achieved phase at

follow-up (all except one). These findings provide some preliminary evidence for the

developmental progression of ethnic identity and a relatively stable end state of an

achieved ethnic identity (Phinney & Chavira).

 Dubois, Swenson, Tevendale, and Hardesty (2002) found no significant

difference in levels of ethnic identity between the African American and European

children that were in 5th and 6th grade. However, participants in their study that were in

7th and 8th grade did differ. The African American students had significantly higher

ethnic identity than their European American classmates (DuBois, Burk-Braxton, et al.).

This suggests that ethnic identity may increase over time, particularly for ethnic

minorities. Phinney, Ferguson, and Tate (1997) compared 547 8th and 11th graders and

found higher levels of ethnic identity in high school students than middle school students.

This work provides additional evidence for the theory of ethnic identity development

across the span of adolescence.

 The following sections review literature on ethnic identity and various aspects of

mental health functioning. The majority of the research in the following sections has

assessed the overall level of ethnic identity. Exceptions are highlighted, as are the

specific aspects of ethnic identity that were assessed in the various studies. Unless