Cultural identity formation is a complex developmental task that influences adolescents’ adjustment. However, less is known about individual variations in trajectories of cultural identity processes and how they relate to youth psychosocial outcomes. Using a person-centered approach, this study investigated patterns of change over a year in cultural identity exploration and resolution, respectively, among ethnically diverse adolescents in Italy. The sample included 173 high school students (M_age = 15 yrs, SD = 0.62, range = 14–17; 58.4% female; 26% immigrant background) who had participated in the Identity Project, a school-based intervention targeting ethnic-racial identity development. Longitudinal latent profile analysis revealed only one profile of change for exploration, whereas four unique profiles for resolution emerged (“stable low,” “stable average,” “increase low-to-average,” “increase high-to-higher”). Overall, youth in the resolution-increase profiles reported the best outcomes. The findings highlight the heterogeneity of adolescents’ resolution trajectories and the benefits of an increased sense of clarity concerning one’s cultural identity for positive psychosocial functioning.

文化认同的形成是一项复杂的发展任务，会影响青少年的适应。然而，人们对文化身份过程轨迹的个体差异以及它们与青年社会心理结果的关系知之甚少。本研究采用以人为本的方法，分别调查了意大利不同种族青少年一年来文化身份探索和解决的变化模式。样本包括 173 名高中生 （M_年龄 = 15 岁，SD = 0.62，范围 = 14-17;58.4% 女性;26% 移民背景），他们参加了身份项目，这是一项针对民族-种族身份发展的基于学校的干预措施。纵向潜在剖面分析仅显示一种勘探变化剖面，而出现了四种独特的分辨率剖面（“稳定低”、“稳定平均值”、“从低到平均增加”、“从高到高增加”）。总体而言，分辨率增加概况中的青年报告了最佳结果。研究结果强调了青少年解决轨迹的异质性，以及提高对个人文化身份的清晰感对积极社会心理功能的好处。