Cognition, Brain, Behavior. An Interdisciplinary Journal Copyright 2013 ASCR Publishing House. All rights reserved.

. ISSN: 1224-8398 Volume XVII, No. 3 (September), 201-214

PSYCHOSOCIAL MATURITY STATUSES AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT IN ADOLESCENCE

Eva PAPAZOVA*, Radostina ANTONOVA
Institute of population and human studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

ABSTRACT The psychosocial maturity status in adolescence can be covered by three indicators: subjective age, problem behavior and psychosocial maturity (Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 2000). The aim of the article is to determine the statuses of psychosocial maturity in adolescents from orphanages, segregated Roma school, mixed school and Bulgarian school. 309 adolescent subjects are studied. Achenbach and Edelbrock Children Behaviour Checklist scale (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1979, 1991), Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory, (Rosenthal et al., 1981), and Subjective Age Questionnarie (Montepare et al.,1989) are used. The results show that the adolescents from the Bulgarian school were characterized by a mature status of psychosocial development, the adolescents from the segregated Roma school were characterized by an immature status of psychosocial development, and so did the adolescents from the mixed school. KEYWORDS: psychosocial maturity statuses, subjective age, problem behavior, social environment, adolescents, Roma children

In the process of Bulgaria's accession to the European Union, one of the most important conditions for membership is the respect for human rights, including those of ethnic minorities. In this respect in the years of democracy in Bulgaria (e.g., since 1989) we started increasingly stronger to speak about the integration of minority groups. The ministry of Education and Science has taken a number of measures to ensure integration process in education (Tomova, 2011).

Corresponding author: E-mail: eva.papazova@gmail.com

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There are a number of problems at Bulgarian schools regarding the integration of minorities, and especially of Roma children, which are expressed in different ways: Children who go to school, but did not benefit from preschool training, which creates problems in the process of adaptation; Insufficient knowledge of Bulgarian language, which makes communication in the school environment difficult, respectively, the process of teaching in it; Many children do not attend or have dropped out of school that leads to high illiteracy rate among minority groups; Irregular attendance at school due to economic reasons and low motivation for education. The Bulgarian education system is not yet ready to address these problems. Its not able to provide a quality education for children from disadvantaged Roma minority groups. Therefore, its not surprising that most of Roma children enrolled in the first grade in a mixed Bulgarian school for various reasons drop out by the end of basic educational course (Krasteva, 2008). A big part of pupils entering school are children from ethnic minorities, and this trend will increase in the future. In its turn, the psychological literature did not reveal studies that discuss the relationship between a psychosocial mature school environment and school drop-out or segregation of Roma children in Bulgaria. By the mid-90s of the 20th century the existence of segregated "Roma" schools in Bulgaria is not noticed. Their existence is associated with the presence of Roma neighborhoods in almost all big Bulgarian cities, and the enrollment of the children in the primary education is linked to their neighborhood. The established "segregated" schools are not thought as a problem of the Bulgarian society and of the educational system as a whole. It should be noted that along with the "segregated" schools in Bulgaria there exist "mixed" schools as well - with both Bulgarians and Roma children. At the orphanages there are as well abandoned Roma children that predominate and lives together with the Bulgarian children. However, the maturity of children in this kind of social environment has not been yet studied by psychologists and social researchers. That is the aim of this article. Psychosocial maturity Biological models of maturity are concerned with the development over time of structures necessary for species survival and for growth and maintenance in the modal environment. Sociological models are based on the importance of societal survival. Survival of the society is ensured by effective, stable social relationships and transmission of shared values to the young. Distinctively psychological models outline the development of structures concerning the self, relations with others, and the domain of work; and the development of an overarching system of values.
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There is a small amount of research concerning adolescent subjective levels of maturity, such as their subjective age or what adolescents feel is their chronological age (Galambos et al., 1999). Psychosocial maturity includes two main components of development: autonomy (self-functioning) and social responsibility (contributing to public welfare) (Greenberger & Sorensen, 1974). Both aspects of psychosocial maturity should be encouraged during youth in order to become an adult with the ability to achieve personal objectives and the goals of society. The concept of psychosocial maturity captures the capacity to function effectively and independently in a social environment, capacity to form effective social relationships, and to invest in the survival of society (Greenberger & Sorensen, 1974). Psychosocial maturity is a term used to describe the individual basic level of adaptive functioning and socio-emotional competence (Galambos & Costigan, 2003). Psychosocial maturity includes acquisitions in several areas of development that are consistent with the three dimensions of maturity. These acquisitions include the ability to function independently, ability to communicate and interact with others and the ability of social responsibility. Effective individual functioning refers to the minimal behaviors necessary for the functioning of an individual in isolation from others. Information refers to knowledge which is necessary for growth and maintenance in the environment. The most basic information concerns health, safety, and subsistence opportunities (work opportunities). In a complex society such as ours, specific knowledge stored in the individual and information about where to get information are both important. The formation and maintenance of effective social relationships is another major dimension of psychosocial maturity. Such relationships depend largely on mutual predictability. It might seem that predictability requires only that a person's behavior be consistent over time. However, in large societies where people who do not know each other or know each other only slightly must interact, and interactions with a particular person are often nonrecurrent, consistency is not a sufficient definition of predictability. Consequently, predictability also depends on the fact that people can assume or anticipate, with a high degree of certainty, the existence of specific attitudes and values in others with whom they interact (Greenberger et al., 1971). As well, psychosocial maturity is often considered as a marker of successful transition to adulthood. Important components, as already stated, are (a) autonomy or independent functioning, (b) hard work or productivity, (c) identity or a coherent Self-concept, (d) intimacy or good relationships with others (Erikson, 1963; Rosenthal, Gurney, & Moore, 1981). The achievement of psychosocial maturity happens to a person in their '20s - a period which is called emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). Data on random samples of approximately 3,000 fifth grade students and 3,000 11th grade students, and another sample of 1,500 blacks at each grade level
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show that girls, whites, and children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds obtain higher maturity scores than boys, blacks and children from lower social classes. Differences in psychosocial maturity due to sex increase from grade 5 to grade 11. Differences due to race and social class narrow over these years. Psychosocial maturity accounts for about 16% of the variance in academic achievement (standardized test scores) at grade 5, but for only 6% of the variance in achievement at grade 11 (Greenberger et al., 1971). Psychosocial maturity statuses The observations on teenagers of the same age have shown large interindividual difference in their biological and psychological maturity. Moreover, there may be large intra-individual variations in relation to different aspects of adulthood, such as when biological maturity lags or is more advanced than psychological. In the second case we are talking about pseudomaturity. Galambos and Tilton-Weaver hypothesized that pseudomaturity may be determined by relatively high levels of subjective age (i.e., adolescents feel older than their chronological age), as well they are characterized by problem behavior and lower levels of psychosocial maturity (Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 2000). Researchers speculate that mature adolescents have optimal adaptation to the environment and their physical, subjective and behavioral levels of maturity are in line with the social environment. Also, adolescents who are engaged in school are usually more mature (Eccles et al., 1993). Galambos and Tilton-Weaver proposed that the status of maturity in adolescence may be covered by three sets of measurements: subjective age, problem behavior and psychosocial maturity (Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 2000). As already mentioned, psychosocial maturity describes the individual basic level of adaptive functioning and socio-emotional competence (Galambos & Costigan, 2003). On its turn, subjective age is an aspect of Self-concept that shows how old one feels, regardless of his/her actual chronological age (George, Mutran, & Pennybaker, 1980; Wylie, 1974). Perception of a given age shows how people position themselves within their life cycle. And finally, problem behavior is understood broadly as behavior which results in limiting the personal development and endangers the mental and physical health of individuals (Compas et al., 1995). Immature adolescents are characterized by low levels of psychosocial maturity, low problem behavior and lower subjective age. They are distinguished with a constellation of qualities more typical for children than for adolescents. The adolescent with status pseudomaturity are characterized by low levels of psychosocial maturity and a high index of problem behavior and subjective age. In turn, mature adolescents have higher levels of psychosocial maturity, feel older than their peers and are characterized by relatively lower levels of problem behavior. These three statuses of psychosocial maturity are characterized by relative stability during adolescence (Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 2000).
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Psychosocial maturity statuses are depicted in Table 1.

Table 1. Description of the psychosocial maturity statuses (Galambos & Tilton-Weaver, 2000)
Immature adolescents Pseudomature adolescents Mature adolescents Psychosocial maturity low scores low scores high scores Problem behavior low scores high scores low scores Subjective age low scores high scores high scores

So far, we clarified the nature of psychosocial maturity and discussed the statuses of psychosocial maturity. It remains to discuss briefly the other two constructs that form the statuses - subjective age and problem behavior. Subjective age Subjective age (sometimes we treat it as the age we perceive ourselves and operationalize or measure it as a "cognitive age") is an aspect of Self-concept that shows how old one feels, regardless of his/her actual chronological age (George et al., 1980; Wylie, 1974). Perception of a given age shows how people position themselves within their life cycle. Subjective age may contribute more than chronological age for understanding how mature and older people perceive themselves and how they behave according to these understandings (Wilkes, 1992). People of all ages evaluate their subjective age as different from their chronological age and often perceive themselves as younger than their chronological age (Bultena & Powers, 1978; Markides & Boldt, 1983). The difference between subjective age and chronological age increases with age. Middle-aged people evaluate themselves as younger with 5-15 years by their chronological age, and more than half of adults over 60 feel younger with 16-17 years (Underhill & Caldwell, 1983). Other studies that support the importance of subjective age, reported that 60-75 percent of people aged over 60 feel younger than their chronological age (Bultena & Powers, 1978; Markides & Boldt, 1983). People at 20 years of age feel at their age or slightly older, but after age of 30 and older years average person feels younger than his/her chronological age (Hubley & Hultsch, 1994; Montepare, 1996; Montepare & Clements, 2001). Adolescence is the only period in life when people constantly feel older than their chronological age (Galambos et al., 1999; Montepare & Lachman, 1989). In a sample of 17-29 year old Galambos and colleagues (Galambos et al., 2005) documented a negative correlation between subjective age and chronological age, and demonstrate that the turning point occurs around 25.5 years of age when older people begin to feel younger.

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Problem behavior Studies in childhood and adolescence question the antisocial orientation of the problem behavior. According to Herbert, behavioral problems can be conceptualized as "adaptation strategies that the child is taught based on its failures and those of others in an attempt to cope with the demands of life" (Herbert, 1987). Different directions in psychology recognize the need of pressure and social control, which helps the child to fit in the social order. Herbert focuses on this fact and indicates insufficient socialization as a cause problem behavior in adolescence and childhood, leading children to differ from generally accepted social standards. The researchers introduced the term "risk behavior", in order to distinguish from the stigmatization and moralization involved in the classification of problem behavior (Jessor, 1987; Compas et al., 1995). Risk behavior is understood broadly as behavior which results in limiting the personal development and endangers the mental and physical health of individuals (Compas et al., 1995). As an illustration of this type of behavior, researchers are trying to make systematization and to distinguish: the accidental experimentation from the sustainable over time patterns of risk and / or problematic behavior; the problems that have their roots in adolescence from those rooted in earlier periods of development; and the problems that adolescents experience and are time relative in nature from those with long-term impact (Lerner & Galambos, 1998; Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Less is known about the course of development of internalizing problems than externalizing problems in adolescence. The inverted upside down U-shaped curve of externalization in adolescence, which reaches its peak during the middle years of adolescence and then declines, does not equally describe the age changes in internalizing problems. For example, the prevalence of depression increases in early adolescence and continues to grow across the lifespan, although not as dramatically in adulthood (Avenevoli & Morris, 2001). Gender differences in levels of depression in adults (meaning that it is more common in women) are not present during adolescence (Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994). Psychopathology such as behavioral disorders and depression are associated with poor academic performance and behavior among adolescents. However, externalized problem behavior is most closely associated with low academic achievement, attention problems and hyperactivity (Hinshaw, 1992; Kellam et al., 1991; Rabiner et al., 2000). The above analysis of literature focuses in detail on each of the three components of the statuses of psychosocial maturity - psychosocial maturity, problem behavior and subjective age. In the Bulgarian literature there are no studies that directly assess the statuses of psychosocial maturity. Indirectly, the
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investigation of Papazova and Antonova focuses on problem behavior in adolescence (Papazova & Antonova, 2012). It reveals that in adolescence the most problematic environment is the school and / or social environment in orphanages, and with least problems it is in Bulgarian schools. Mixed schools are characterized by a pronounced externalization problem behavior and segregated Roma schools are characterized by strongly internalized problem behavior (Papazova & Antonova, 2012). From here we can assume that in the Bulgarian school the adolescents are most likely to be more mature than their peers from orphanages, mixed schools and segregated Roma schools. In the last three types of institutions it is most likely to encounter adolescents with immaturity or pseudomaturity statuses. So, the objective of our study is to determine the psychosocial maturity statuses in adolescents from orphanages, segregated Roma school, mixed school and Bulgarian school. Our aims are to determine the statuses of psychosocial maturity of adolescents in those four types of institutions and to compare the psychosocial maturity of adolescents from these groups. HYPOTHESYS The adolescents from the Bulgarian school will feature psychosocial status of maturity and the teenagers from the orphanages status immaturity. Adolescents from segregated Roma school and mixed school will have the status of psychosocial immaturity or pseudomaturity. METHOD The following three methods are used: Children Behaviour Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1979, 1991). For the purposes of the study we used 4 of the 8 subscales of the questionnaire - social withdrawal, anxiety/depressive symptoms, criminal tendencies and aggressive behavior. The method is adapted for the Bulgarian population by G. Balev (1996). Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (Rosenthal et al., 1981), adapted for the Bulgarian population from E. Papazova. We used 4 of the subscales of the questionnarie - Autonomy, Productivity, Identity, and Intimacy. And, Subjective Age Questionnarie (Montepare et al., 1989), adapted for the Bulgarian population from E. Papazova. The three questionnaires were administered anonymously in groups during class. As the survey was anonymous, we didnt ask for informed consent from the adolescents, neither from their parents. As well we didnt ask for the ethnic origin of the adolescents, since we were interested mostly in the social environment they belong to. The study was conducted during the period March 2011-October 2011.
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Respondents: The sample consists of 309 adolescents (aged from 14 trough 19 years old; mean age 16, 35; standard deviation 1,16). 102 of them are pupils from 31st school "I. Vazov ", Sofia, which is a Bulgarian school, 51 are students from the 135th school "Jan Amos Comenski", Sofia, which is a mixed school with pupils from the Bulgarian and Roma origin, 89 are pupils from school "Nayden Gerov", Plovdiv, which is segregated Roma school and 67 adolescents are from 5 orphanages in the country - "Luba Teneva", Berkovitsa; "Asen Zlatarov", Sofia; "Constantsa Lyapcheva", Dolna Banya; "Bulgarka", Stara Zagora; "Hr. Smirnenski", Balvan village, Veliko Tarnovo. In Bulgarian schools are studying adolescents from Bulgarian ethnicity and in Roma segregated schools study only adolescents from Roma ethnic origin. At the so called in Bulgaria "mixed" schools study both Bulgarians and Roma children, and the schools are situated mostly in the suburbs. At the orphanages the social environment is also mixed, since abandoned Roma children predominate and live together with the Bulgarian children. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In order to obtain the statuses of psychosocial maturity for the full sample and for the four subgroups we calculated the overall scores of problem behavior, psychosocial maturity and subjective age in the studied sample. From the 72 items questionnaire, that measures the psychosocial maturity (Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory, Rosenthal et al., 1981), we summed the values of the 4 subscales that we used - Autonomy, Productivity, Identity and Intimacy. From the scale for the measurement of the subjective age (Subjective Age Questionnarie; Montepare et al., 1989) we summed the 5 items. And, from the 112 items scale that measures the problem behavior (Children Behaviour Checklist; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1979, 1991), we summed the values of the 4 subscales - social withdrawal, anxiety/depressive symptoms, criminal tendencies and aggressive behavior. The mean scores and standard deviations of psychosocial maturity statuses for each of the subgroups are presented in Table 2. For the purposes of statistical analysis we performed the test of homogeneity of variance, which showed significant differences in variance in different groups, namely - Bulgarian schools, mixed schools, segregated schools and orphanages. Since there were differences in variance instead of ANOVA we applied Welch test for samples with different variance. The Welch test revealed significant differences between the indicators (see Table 2).

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Table 2. Value of Welch statistics, mean scores and standard deviations of psychosocial maturity, problem behavior and subjective age in the four groups
N subjective age Bulgarian school orphanages segregated Roma school mixed school problem behavior Bulgarian school orphanages segregated Roma school mixed school psychosocial maturity Bulgarian school orphanages segregated Roma school mixed school 102 67 89 51 102 67 89 51 102 67 89 51 M 20.56 16.44 15.22 18.54 27.64 38.7 29.5 29.74 125.64 122.16 119.64 122.64 SD 3.41 4.71 4.9 4.11 9.96 15.12 15.15 11.39 6.47 6.17 9.51 7.79 9.6 0.001 9.23 0.001 29.68 0.001 Welch p

We conducted post hoc test Games Howell in order to check in which among the four groups on the ground of school and / or social environment there are differences in the three indicators. The post hoc test Games-Howell showed that in terms of subjective age Bulgarian school (x = 20.56; p > 0.001) is with significantly higher subjective age than mixed school (M = 18.54; p > 0.05), orphanages (M=16.44; p>0.001) and segregated Roma school (M = 15.22; p > 0.001). It should be emphasized that the segregated Roma school (M = 15.22; p > 0.001) was significantly different from the mixed school (M = 18.54; p > 0.05) with a lower subjective age or greater immaturity. There was no significant difference between orphanages, segregated Roma school and mixed school. With respect to problem behavior the Games-Howell test showed that there are important differences only between orphanages and all other groups formed on the ground of social and / or school environment. The orphanages (M = 38.70; p > 0.001) are characterized by a significantly greater problem behavior to the mixed school (M = 29.74; p > 0.001), followed by segregated Roma school (M = 29.50; p > 0.001) and Bulgarian school (M = 27.64; p > 0.001). There are no statistically significant differences between the Bulgarian school, segregated Roma school and mixed schools.

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Similarly, with respect to psychosocial maturity the Games-Howell test found that there are significant differences only between the Bulgarian school and all other groups formed on the ground of social and / or school environment. The Bulgarian schools (M = 125.64; p > 0.001) were characterized by significantly higher psychosocial maturity than the mixed school (M = 122.67; p > 0.05), the orphanages (M = 122.16; p > 0.001) and the segregated Roma school (M = 119.64; p > 0.001). There are no statistically significant differences between orphanages, segregated school and mixed school. Thus, based on the three statistical tests it can be concluded that adolescents from the Bulgarian school are characterized by the highest levels of psychosocial maturity, the lowest levels of problem behavior and the highest values of subjective age, which qualifies them with the status of a mature psychosocial maturity. In turn, adolescents from orphanages are close to pseudomature status as they are characterized by low levels of psychosocial maturity and high levels of problem behavior compared to their peers, but their subjective age is not high, but low. Thus, adolescents from orphanages cannot be classified and are not distinguished by any one of the three statuses of psychosocial maturity. Finally, mixed school and segregated Roma school are characterized by low values on all three indicators - psychosocial maturity, problem behavior and subjective age - which sets them in an immature status of psychosocial maturity. Thus, our hypothesis was fully confirmed for the studied population. IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION The conducted study allowed to identify and analyze the statuses of psychosocial maturity in Bulgarian school, segregated Roma school, mixed school and orphanages. The obtained results allow to state that: Teenagers from the Bulgarian school are characterized by a mature status of psychosocial maturity Adolescents from segregated Roma school are characterized by an immature status of psychosocial maturity Adolescents from mixed school are characterized by an immature status of psychosocial maturity And the adolescents from orphanages cannot be classified with a status of psychosocial maturity. It should be noted that from the three indicators that determine the statuses of the psychosocial maturity - subjective age, problem behavior and psychosocial maturity - the subjective age excel in this study with the greatest variability. The
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subjective age showed not only that the adolescents from the Bulgarian school are the most mature and with a highest subjective age, but also that teenagers from the segregated Roma school are significantly less mature and with lower subjective age than their peers from the mixed school. These findings could be important for a future research. Another study from the same authors showed that the environment in mixed schools is more aggressive than in segregated schools (Papazova & Antonova, 2012), but both environments are psycho-socialy immature We should say that the path of integration of Roma children in Bulgaria is this - moving them from segregated to mixed schools, notwithstanding, that they could become subject of aggression and discrimination by their Bulgarian peers. In other words, for the better integration of Roma children in our educational system we need special programs for the prevention of aggressive behavior in classrooms in which Bulgarian and Roma pupils study together. Here we should specifically stress that the path of integration of Roma children from segregated Roma schools with immature environment passes through the Bulgarian school. Therefore, the desegregation of education on the basis of Roma origin is detrimental to psychosocial development of adolescents. Moreover, in Bulgaria Roma people are frequently stigmatized, because of their origin as uneducated. Other investigations show similar results. For example, in 1999 R. Harvey conducted a study related to stigmatization among African-American students in different social contexts - in universities with the presence of predominantly AngloSaxon Americans and with prevalence of African Americans. The results showed that African-Americans in the predominantly "white" universities scored significantly higher rates on the scale which measured the perception of stigmatization (Harvey, 2001). In the period 2002-2005, the Health and Social Development Foundation implemented several projects jointly with the 28th High School (mixed school where are studying children from a neighborhood with compact Roma population "Faculteta" in Sofia), funded by PHARE LIEN that aims the approbation and adaptation of successful programs for integration of Roma children in the Bulgarian educational system. One of the most important conclusions from these projects is that the main predictor for successful integration of Roma children in Bulgarian educational system and to prevent their early dropout is a pre-preparation system (starting from the age of 4) of these children together with their parents. In other words, educational programs for early child development for the children are needed to develop appropriate cognitive and behavioral skills combined with training for their parents to develop effective parental skills to support the educational process of the children. Second predictor is a specialized training for teachers, as systematic work in classes with mixed ethnic composition in order to
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increase the understanding of diversity and overcoming discriminatory perceptions and attitudes of both ethnic groups to one another. It is necessary to have programs that compensate pre-school Roma children, as well other necessary skills and knowledge for integration into the school requirements. Particular attention should be paid to the preparation of teachers in mixed schools, and to develop adequate to the situation teaching manuals for teachers in mixed schools. Additional support from teachers and psychologists in schools and attraction of parents in the active work with the child are the requirements that meet the cultural characteristics of the Roma ethnic group and at the same time create conditions for overcoming the social isolation and low socioeconomic status of this ethnic group.

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