The relationship between family environment factors and adolescent identity was examined in terms of development of identity over time and in terms of bidirectionality, the reciprocal relationship between identity development and family environment. Two cohorts of Canadian university students (n = 300) participated in the study by completing the Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status (Adams, Fitch, & Shea, 1979) and the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1986) once in their first year of university and again in their second year. Two highly correlated subscales that exhibited significant change from year 1 to year 2 were the identity status of foreclosure and the family environment factor of cohesion; the remaining subscales did not change significantly over the first year for most adolescents. As a result, the study of identity development and bidirectionality became obscured in subsequent analyses.