Temperament and personality: origins and outcomes

Depressive symptoms and its associated factors in 13-year-old urban adolescents

The available estimates reveal that 20-50% of adolescents report depressive symptoms, being one of the most prevalent health problems in adolescence. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in a community sample of 13-year-old adolescents and identify associated features. Thirteen year-old adolescents attending private and public schools in Porto (n = 1,988, 52.2% females) were evaluated from October 2003 to June 2004 and completed a questionnaire including health behaviors and the Beck Depression Inventory II. A questionnaire on parents' socio-demographics and clinical characteristics was sent home. Data were analyzed separately by sex. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 18.8% in girls and 7.6% in boys (p < 0.001). Boys with a family history of depression and girls with smoking habits had a significantly increased risk of depressive symptoms (OR = 2.18, 95%CI 1.00-4.71; OR = 2.34, 95%CI 1.46-3.76). Menarche at an early age significantly increased the risk of depressive symptoms. The characteristics most strongly associated with depressive symptoms were family history of depression among boys, tobacco consumption and an early age at menarche among girls. The high prevalence of depressive symptoms early in adolescence calls for the awareness of public health professionals.

Personality heterogeneity in PTSD: distinct temperament and interpersonal typologies

Researchers examining personality typologies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have consistently identified 3 groups: low pathology, internalizing, and externalizing. These groups have been found to predict functional severity and psychiatric comorbidity. In this study, we employed Latent Profile Analysis to compare this previously established typology, grounded in temperament traits (negative emotionality; positive emotionality; constraint), to a novel typology rooted in interpersonal traits (dominance; warmth) in a sample of individuals with PTSD (n = 155). Using Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP) traits to create latent profiles, the 3-group temperament model was replicated. Using Interpersonal Circumplex (IPC) traits to create latent profiles, we identified a 4-group solution with groups varying in interpersonal style. These models were nonredundant, indicating that the depiction of personality variability in PTSD depends on how personality is assessed. Whereas the temperament model was more effective for distinguishing individuals based on distress and comorbid disorders, the interpersonal model was more effective for predicting the chronicity of PTSD over the 10 year course of the study. We discuss the potential for integrating these complementary temperament and interpersonal typologies in the clinical assessment of PTSD.

Does HPA-Axis Dysregulation Account for the Effects of Income on Effortful Control and Adjustment in Preschool Children?

The effects of low income on children's adjustment might be accounted for by disruptions to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis activity and to the development of effortful control. Using longitudinal data and a community sample of preschool-age children (N = 306, 36-39 months) and their mothers, recruited to over-represent low-income families, we explored the associations among diurnal cortisol levels and effortful control, and we tested a model in which diurnal cortisol and effortful control account for the effects of family income on child adjustment. Continuous indicators of morning cortisol level and diurnal slope, as well as dichotomous indicators reflecting low morning levels and flat diurnal slope, were examined as predictors of rank-order changes in two dimensions of effortful control, executive control and delay ability. Low income was related to a flat diurnal cortisol slope, and above the effects of family income, a flat diurnal cortisol slope predicted lower social competence. Low morning cortisol level predicted smaller gains in executive control and higher total adjustment problems. Further, delay ability predicted lower adjustment problems above the effects of income and diurnal cortisol levels. The results suggest that HPA-axis dysregulation and effortful control contribute additively to children's adjustment.

Social Problem-Solving in Early Childhood: Developmental Change and the Influence of Shyness

The purpose of this study was to examine developmental change and the influence of shyness on social problem-solving (SPS). At 24, 36, and 48 months, children (N=570) were observed while interacting with an unfamiliar peer during an SPS task and at 24 months, maternal report of shyness was collected. Results showed that across the full sample, children displayed low but stable levels of withdrawn SPS and increasing levels of SPS competence over development. In addition, results showed that 24-month shyness was associated with high-increasing and high-decreasing withdrawn SPS trajectories compared to the low-increasing withdrawn SPS trajectory. Shyness was also associated with the low-increasing compared to the high-increasing SPS competence trajectory. Findings demonstrate the development of SPS competence over early childhood, as well as the influence of early shyness on this developmental course, with some shy children showing improvement in SPS skills and others continuing to show SPS difficulties over time.

Factor structure of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire in children with Williams syndrome

To examine the factor structure of temperament in 5-10-year-olds with Williams syndrome, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the responses of parents of 192 children on the children's behavior questionnaire. Four factors were identified. Two corresponded to factors reported for typically developing children: effortful control and extraversion/surgency and two corresponded to the temperament constructs of withdrawal/inhibition and irritability/frustration and activity, observed in typically developing infants. Parents of 109 of the 192 participants also completed the anxiety disorders interview schedule, parent version. Children with an anxiety disorder other than specific phobia differed significantly from children without an anxiety disorder on all factors except extraversion/surgency. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differed significantly from children without ADHD on effortful control and extraversion/surgency.

Mother's and father's reports on their child's temperament: does gender matter?

Temperament ratings were obtained from 56 pairs of parents throughout the child's first year to examine similarities and discrepancies in their report. Age, gender, stress, depression, and mother's temperament were considered as factors possibly contributing to differences in the parents' ratings of their child's temperament.

Predicting Aggression among Male Adolescents: an Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

BACKGROUND

Aggressive behaviorin adolescencecan be expressed asa predictorfor crime, substanceabuse, depression and academic failure. The purpose of this study was to determine the prediction of aggression among Iranian adolescent based on theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, conducted in Yasuj County, south of Iran, during 2011, a total of 256 male adolescents, were randomly enrolled. Participants filled out a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 using bivariate correlations, and linear regression statistical tests at 95% signifi-cant level.

RESULT

The three predictor variables of 1) attitude, 2) subjective norms, and 3) perceived behavioral control, accounted for 40% of the variation in the outcome measure of the aggression intention. Besides, intention accounted for 15% of the variation in the outcome measure of the aggression behavior. There was a sig-nificant correlation between drug abuse and alcohol consumption, have friend drug user, unprotect sex and parents divorced with aggression (P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Designing intervention to reduction positive attitude and subjective norms toward aggressive behavior among adolescents could be usefulness result to aggression prevention.

Individual differences in the development of self-regulation during pre-adolescence: connections to context and adjustment

Difficulties with self-regulation are implicated in the development of emotional and behavioral problems during adolescence. Although children's ability to regulate their behaviors continues to improve throughout childhood and adolescence, it remains unclear how contextual risk factors might influence this development during the transition to adolescence, or how variation in the development of self-regulation predicts adjustment. Using a community sample of 214 8-12 year-olds (T1 M = 9.5, SD = 1.01), we examined growth trajectories of effortful control and impulsivity over three years and tested predictors and outcomes of these trajectories. Although predictors of initial levels of self-regulation were largely equivalent for both effortful control and impulsivity, contextual risk factors were related to variations in the development of impulsivity but not effortful control. However, increases in effortful control, but not impulsivity, were associated with level and rate of change in adjustment problems and positive adjustment, suggesting that different dimensions of self-regulation have different antecedents and outcomes in pre-adolescence and adolescence.

Children's positive dispositional attributes, parents' empathic responses, and children's responses to painful pediatric oncology treatment procedures

Pain/distress during pediatric cancer treatments has substantial psychosocial consequences for children and families. The authors examined relationships between children's positive dispositional attributes, parents' empathic responses, and children's pain/distress responses to treatment procedures. Participants were 41 pediatric cancer patients and parents. Several weeks before treatment, parents rated children's resilience and positive dimensions of temperament. Parents' pretreatment empathic affective responses to their children were assessed. Children's pain/distress during treatments was rated by multiple independent raters. Children's resilience was significantly and positively associated with parents' empathic affective responses and negatively associated with children's pain/distress. Children's adaptability and attention focusing also showed positive relationships (p < 0.10) with parents' empathic responses. Parents' empathic responses mediated effects of children's resilience on children's pain/distress. Children's positive dispositional attributes influence their pain/distress during cancer treatments; however, these effects may be mediated by parents' empathic responses. These relationships provide critical understanding of the influence of parent-child relationships on coping with treatment.

Associations Between Temperament and Social Responsiveness in Young Children

Recent research has demonstrated that social responsiveness (comprised of social awareness, social information processing, reciprocal social communication, social motivation, and repetitive/restricted interests) is continuously distributed within the general population. In the present study, we consider temperament as a co-occurring source of individual differences in social responsiveness in young children. The sample consisted of 62 infants assessed at 2-, 3-, and 4-years-old. Measures of temperament were obtained at each age (Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire, Children's Behavior Questionnaire) and social responsiveness was measured at 4-years-old (Social Responsiveness Scale; SRS). Multivariate patterns of association between components of temperament and social responsiveness were observed at each age, with overall findings in line with the broader literature examining temperament and socio-development associations. Importantly, these results provide support for the usefulness of temperament as a relevant source of variability in social responsiveness, as measured by the SRS, in typically developing young children.

Evaluation of mood disorder patients in a primary care practice: measures of affective temperament, mental health risk factors, and functional health in a retrospective, descriptive study of 35 patients

OBJECTIVE

THE PURPOSE OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE, DESCRIPTIVE STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE PRIMARY CARE PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH A MOOD DISORDER ON THE BASIS OF THE FOLLOWING: (1) comorbid medical illnesses, (2) risk factors for mood disorders and longitudinal presence of symptoms, (3) presence of affective temperament, and (4) functional status and quality of life.

METHOD

Patients (N = 35) were a convenience sample diagnosed in the Mood Disorder Clinic (MDC), a family practice site-based mental health treatment consultation service. All study patients were assessed using a semistructured interview and diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. Data were collected using both chart review and secondary analysis of a computerized touch-screen mood disorders database that included the 36-item Short-Form Medical Outcomes Study Health Survey (SF-36) and an affective temperament survey. The study was conducted from January 2000 through August 2000.

RESULTS

A total of 62 comorbid medical illnesses were present in this group of patients; only 2 patients had no comorbid illnesses. Psychiatric diagnoses included 25 cases (78.1%) of bipolar depression, 5 cases (15.6%) of unipolar or dysthymic depression, and 2 cases (6.3%) of nonmood or anxiety disorders. All patients (100%) had a positive family history for mood disorders or substance abuse. Twenty-four patients (70.6%) had onset of their depressive symptoms prior to age 21, and 11 patients (35.5%) had a positive history of sexual abuse. Affective temperaments were positive in the 30 patients who completed this section. SF-36 scale scores were predominantly below national norms.

CONCLUSION

The medical comorbidities in our study were expected; the positive family and individual histories for risk along with low SF-36 scores reflect the severity and chronicity of mood disorders in this population.

Negative emotionality and externalizing problems in toddlerhood: overreactive parenting as a moderator of genetic influences

The current study examines the interplay between parental overreactivity and children's genetic backgrounds as inferred from birth parent characteristics on the development of negative emotionality during infancy, and in turn, to individual differences in externalizing problems in toddlerhood. The sample included 361 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Data were collected when the children were 9, 18, and 27 months old. Results indicated links between individual levels and changes in negative emotionality during infancy and toddlerhood to externalizing problems early in the third year of life. Findings also revealed an interaction between birth mother negative affect and adoptive mother overreactive parenting on children's negative emotionality. This Genotype × Environment interaction predicted externalizing problems indirectly through its association with negative emotionality and revealed stronger effects of genetic risk for children with less overreactive parenting from their mothers. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

Conscientiousness predicts greater recovery from negative emotion

Greater levels of conscientiousness have been associated with lower levels of negative affect. We focus on one mechanism through which conscientiousness may decrease negative affect: effective emotion regulation, as reflected by greater recovery from negative stimuli. In 273 adults who were 35-85 years old, we collected self-report measures of personality including conscientiousness and its self-control facet, followed on average 2 years later by psychophysiological measures of emotional reactivity and recovery. Among middle-aged adults (35-65 years old), the measures of conscientiousness and self-control predicted greater recovery from, but not reactivity to, negative emotional stimuli. The effect of conscientiousness and self-control on recovery was not driven by other personality variables or by greater task adherence on the part of high conscientiousness individuals. In addition, the effect was specific to negative emotional stimuli and did not hold for neutral or positive emotional stimuli.

Resiliency in adolescents at high risk for substance abuse: flexible adaptation via subthalamic nucleus and linkage to drinking and drug use in early adulthood

INTRODUCTION

The personality trait resiliency is the ability to flexibly adapt impulse control relative to contextual demand. Low resiliency has been linked to later alcohol/drug problems. The underlying psychological and neural mechanisms are unknown, but neurocomputational models suggested relations between resiliency and working memory. Cortical-striatal connectivity has been proposed to underlie adaptive switches between cautious and risky behaviors.

METHODS

Working memory was probed in sixty-seven 18- to 22-year-olds from a larger community study of alcoholism, using the n-back task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Functional connectivity between task-related regions was investigated with psychophysiological interaction analysis. Resiliency was measured in early teen years and related to early adulthood measures of drinking/drug use, task activation, and connectivity. Relationships with risk factors, including family history, age of drinking onset, and number of alcohol problems, were also investigated.

RESULTS

Higher resiliency was related to lower levels of substance use, fewer alcohol problems, and better working memory performance. Whole-brain regression revealed resiliency negatively correlated with activation of subthalamic nucleus (STN) and pallidum during the n-back. High and Low resiliency quartile groups (n = 17 each) differed in coupling strength between STN and median cingulate cortex, a region of reduced activation during working memory. The high resiliency group had later onset of drinking, fewer alcohol problems, had used fewer illicit drugs, and were less likely to smoke cigarettes than their low resiliency counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that resiliency in early adolescence may protect against alcohol problems and drug use, although the direction of this effect is currently unknown. This protective factor may relate to executive functioning as supported by the finding of a neural link shared between resiliency and working memory in basal ganglia structures. The STN, a key basal ganglia structure, may adaptively link flexible impulse control with cognitive processing, potentially modulating substance use outcomes.

The Role of Emotional Reactivity, Self-regulation, and Puberty in Adolescents' Prosocial Behaviors

This study was designed to examine the roles of emotional reactivity, self-regulation, and pubertal timing in prosocial behaviors during adolescence. Participants were 850 sixth graders (50% female, Mean age = 11.03, SD = .17) who were followed up at age 15. In hierarchical regression models, measures of emotional reactivity, self-regulation, pubertal timing and their interactions were used to predict (concurrently and over time) adolescents' prosocial behaviors in the home and with peers. Overall, the findings provide evidence for pubertal and temperament based predictors of prosocial behaviors expressed in different contexts. Self-regulation was positively related to both forms of prosocial behavior, concurrently and longitudinally. Emotional reactivity showed moderately consistent effects, showing negative concurrent relations to prosocial behavior with peers and negative longitudinal relations (four years later) to prosocial behavior at home. Some curvilinear effects of temperament on prosocial behaviors were also found. Effects of pubertal timing were found to interact with gender, such that boys who were early maturers showed the highest levels of prosocial behavior at home concurrently. Discussion focuses on the role of temperament-based mechanisms in the expression of prosocial behaviors in different contexts in adolescence.

Maternal oxytocin response during mother-infant interaction: associations with adult temperament

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide associated with social affiliation and maternal caregiving. However, its effects appear to be moderated by various contextual factors and stable individual characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of self-reported state and trait measures (such as temperament, mood and affect) with peripheral oxytocin response in mothers. Fifty-five first-time mothers participated in a semi-structured procedure, during which time repeated peripheral oxytocin levels were measured before, during and after an episode of mother-infant interaction. The maternal oxytocin response was then calculated, based on the difference in oxytocin concentration between initial baseline and interaction phase. Mothers also completed state measures of positive and negative affect and depression, and trait measures of temperament, personality disturbance and depression across time. Regression analyses determined which factors were independently associated with maternal oxytocin response. The trait measure of adult temperament emerged as a significant predictor of oxytocin response. Two out of four Adult Temperament Questionnaire factor scales were independently associated with oxytocin response: Effortful Control was negatively associated, whereas Orienting Sensitivity was positively associated. No state measure significantly predicted oxytocin response. The results indicate that mothers who show an increased oxytocin response when interacting with their infants are more sensitive of moods, emotions and physical sensations; and less compulsive, schedule driven and task oriented. These findings link differences in individual temperament in new mothers with the peripheral oxytocin response, which may have implications in the pharmacologic treatment of disorders such as maternal neglect, post-partum depression and maternal addiction. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Social Behavior.

Temperament and Sleep-Wake Behaviors from Infancy to Toddlerhood

Sleep-wake behaviors and temperament were examined longitudinally for trait stability and relationship to behavioral state regulation from infancy to early childhood. Subjects were 120 low-risk, full-term infants from a middle class sample. At 6 weeks, parents completed 3 consecutive days of the Baby's Day Diary which measures sleep, wake, fuss, feed and cry states and the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire. At 16 months, parents assessed sleep behaviors with the Sleep Habits Inventory and temperament with the Toddler Symptom Checklist. At 24 months, parents repeated 3 days of the Baby's Day Diary. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine cross-age hypotheses for sleep-wake and temperament associations. From early infancy to toddlerhood, sleep-wake behaviors and irritable temperament were notably stable but independent in this cohort.

Behavioral and emotional regulation and adolescent substance use problems: a test of moderation effects in a dual-process model

In a structural model, we tested how relations of predictors to level of adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana), and to substance-related impaired-control and behavior problems, are moderated by good self-control and poor regulation in behavioral and emotional domains. The participants were a sample of 1,116 public high-school students. In a multiple-group analysis for good self-control, the paths from negative life events to substance use level and from level to behavior problems were lower among persons scoring higher on good behavioral self-control. In a multiple-group analysis for poor regulation, the paths from negative life events and peer use to level of substance use were greater among persons scoring higher on poor behavioral (but not emotional) regulation; an inverse path from academic competence to level was greater among persons scoring higher on both aspects of poor regulation. Paths from level to impaired-control and behavior problems were greater among persons scoring higher on both poor behavioral and poor emotional regulation. Theoretical implications concerning the role of behavioral and emotional regulation in moderation effects are discussed.

How temperament and personality contribute to the maladjustment of children with autism

To test the spectrum hypothesis--postulating that clinical and non-clinical samples are primarily differentiated by mean-level differences--, this study evaluates differences in parent-rated temperament, personality and maladjustment among a low-symptom (N = 81), a high-symptom (N = 94) ASD-group, and a comparison group (N = 500). These classic spectrum hypothesis tests are extended by adding tests for similarity in variances, reliabilities and patterns of covariation between relevant variables. Children with ASD exhibit more extreme means, except for dominance. The low- and high-symptom ASD-groups are primarily differentiated by mean sociability and internal distress. Striking similarities in reliability and pattern of covariation of variables suggest that comparable processes link traits to maladaptation in low- and high-symptom children with ASD and in children with and without autism.

Context specificity in stability of hyperactivity-impulsivity

This paper exemplifies a secondary data analysis of context-specific differences in children's hyperactivity-impulsivity while controlling for informant-specific effects. Participants were boys and girls from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development who were measured in 1(st), 3(rd), and 5(th) grades. Latent factor models were structured using multi-informant reports including mothers, fathers, teachers, and observers. Temporal stability within a context was stronger than cross-context consistency, and the magnitude of longitudinal stability was higher in the home context compared to the school context. Controlling for informant-specific effects resulted in a significantly improved model fit and increased within-context stability. Our findings highlight the importance of considering both context and informant effects when studying longitudinal stability and change in personality development.

Exploring an integrative model of infant behavior: what is the relationship among temperament, sensory processing, and neurobehavioral measures?

Traditionally, developmental psychology, occupational/physical therapy, and behavioral pediatrics view similar infant behaviors from temperament, sensory processing, or neurobehavioral theoretical perspectives. This study examined the relations between similar and unique summary scores of three infant assessments (Early Infancy Temperament Questionnaire - EITQ, the Infant Sensory Profile - ISP, and the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale - NNNS) in a healthy sample of 100, one-month-old infants. A Principal Components Analysis of selected subscale scores derived from the three assessments suggested a three-factor model. Temperament and sensory summary scores had the strongest relations on two factors: Sensory-Affective Reactivity and Engagement. A third factor had strong relations between state regulation and motor competence. This new integrative model also validates an existing model and expands explanation of infant behavior across disciplines and methods which have significant implications for assessment, intervention, and management practices.

The role of verbal threat information in the development of childhood fear. "Beware the Jabberwock!"

Rachman's (Behaviour Research and Therapy 15:372-387, 1977; Clinical Psychology Review 11:155-173, 1991) three pathways theory proposed that childhood fears not only arise as a consequence of direct learning experiences, but can also be elicited by means of threat information transmission. This review looks at the scientific evidence for this idea, which has accumulated during the past three decades. We review research on the influences of media exposure on children's fears, retrospective parent and child reports on the role of threat information in fear acquisition, and experimental studies that explored the causal effects of threat information on childhood fears. We also discuss possible mechanisms by which threat information exerts its influence and the processes relevant to understand the role of this type of learning experience in the origins of fear. Finally, implications for the prevention and intervention of childhood fears are briefly explored, and potential leads for future research will be highlighted.

Contributions of parent-adolescent negative emotionality, adolescent conflict, and adoption status to adolescent externalizing behaviors

Although most adopted children are well adjusted, research has consistently found that adopted adolescents are at an increased risk for externalizing behaviors. The present investigation tested a model whereby parent-adolescent negative emotionality traits, adolescent conflict, and adoption status contribute to adolescent externalizing behaviors. The study included 616 families with at least one parent and two adolescent siblings with a maximum 5-year age difference. The analyses used data from the mothers (M age = 45.56, SD = 4.23), fathers (M age = 48.23, SD = 4.42), and the elder sibling (M age = 16.14, SD = 1.5). Findings support two conflict-mediated family processes that contributed to externalizing behaviors: one initiated by parent-adolescent traits and one by adoption status. Findings also underscore the salience of conflict in families and the significance of aggressive traits and negative emotionality. Contrary to previous research, we found that adoption status did not directly add to our explanation of adolescent externalizing behaviors beyond our proposed process. Instead, adoption status was indirectly associated with externalizing problems through a conflict-mediated relationship.

Longitudinal studies of anger and attention span: context and informant effects

This study examined stabilities of informant and context (home vs. classroom) latent factors regarding anger and attention. Participants included children from the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development who were measured at 54 months, first grade, and third grade. Latent factors of anger and attention span were structured using different indicators based on mothers', fathers', caregivers', teachers', and observers' reports. We used structural equation modeling to examine the autoregressive effects within a context (stability), the concurrent associations between home and classroom contexts, and informant effects. The results indicated that for both anger and attention (1) there were significant informant effects that influenced stability in a context, (2) there was higher stability in home context than nonhome context, and (3) stability within a context increased over time. The findings suggested that anger was more prone to context effects and informant effects than attention.

Is attachment transmitted across generations? The plot thickens

Studies have demonstrated a strong relation between adult attachment security, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and infant security, using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). This suggests that a mother's representations of attachment may influence the development of her infant's attachment to her. This study both confirms and modifies that finding in a cohort of 47 first-time mothers and their infants. The AAIs were administered during the third trimester of pregnancy and the SSPs were performed when the infant was 14 months of age. The AAIs were classified using Crittenden's Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) and the SSPs using both the DMM and also Main and Solomon's ABC+D methods. There was a significant match of patterns for secure mothers and babies, but a tendency for inversion of insecure patterns of attachment, that is Type A mothers often had infants with a Type C pattern and vice versa. No significant relation was seen between the DMM adult and ABC+D infant patterns of attachment. A significant, but modest, association was found between the DMM and ABC+D infant SSP classifications. These findings may help guide treatment of insecure mother-infant dyads by individualizing interventions to include a focus on maternal representations of the infant and maternal responses to infant behavior.

Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood

This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined differential consistency of three core dimensions of individuality from toddlerhood through middle childhood. Data came from 273 families who participated with their child at least once during three developmental periods: toddlerhood (2 years), early childhood (3 to 5 years), and middle childhood (6 to 10 years). Both mothers and fathers reported on attributes of their child using subscales from the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire, the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and the Iowa Personality Questionnaire. Reports were used as indicators of the latent "Big Three" dimensions of positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint at each of the three developmental periods. Results pointed to consistency in these broad dimensions of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood.

Cognitive ability and self-control in relation to dietary habits, physical activity and bodyweight in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Previous studies showed that cognitive ability is related to health and mortality. The cause of this relationship remains largely unknown. One plausible explanation is that cognitive ability is related to behaviours that affect health. This study investigates whether cognitive ability is related to healthy dietary habits, physical activity and appropriate bodyweight in adolescents and examines whether self-control mediates the relationship between cognitive ability and health behaviour.

METHODS

In total 201 high-school students aged between 15 and 20 participated in the study. They completed three cognitive tests, measuring cognitive ability, reaction time and memory span, and completed a questionnaire on self-control, dietary habits, physical activity and bodyweight.

RESULTS

Results show that adolescents scoring high on the cognitive ability test have healthier dietary habits and engage more often in physical activity. Adolescents with high self-control have a healthier eating pattern, are more often physically active and have lower BMI's. Both reaction time and memory span were not related to dietary habits and physical activity. Self-control was not related to cognitive ability and could not, therefore, mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and health in this study.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the link between cognitive ability and health behaviour could explain - in part - the relationship between cognitive ability and health. Self-control cannot explain this link.

In utero cortisol and testosterone exposure and fear reactivity in infancy

Fetal programming is emerging as a major conceptual model for understanding developmental origins of health and disease, including behavioral outcomes. As part of a larger study of prenatal stress and child development, we examined the association between prenatal hormone exposure and fear reactivity, a temperament dimension that is a predictor of long-term behavioral adjustment. Amniotic fluid was collected from a sample of women undergoing clinically indicated amniocentesis for later analysis of cortisol and testosterone. Children with normal birth outcomes were recalled for follow-up assessment at 17 months, at which time we administered an observational assessment of temperament (lab-TAB; n=108). Information on pregnancy and obstetric outcome was included as covariates. Results indicated that there was a significant association between prenatal testosterone and observed fear reactivity in boys (r(53)=0.34, p=0.01); no significant effect was found in girls (r(54)=-0.07, ns); the effect remained when obstetric, psychosocial, and parental anxiety were controlled for. There was not a significant association between fetal cortisol exposure and fear reactivity. The prediction from in utero testosterone exposure to fear reactivity in boys extends prior research on prenatal testosterone and may represent an association with a general predisposition to greater arousal and reactivity.

Conscientiousness, career success, and longevity: a lifespan analysis

BACKGROUND

Markers of executive functioning, such as prudent planning for the future and impulse control, are related to conscientiousness and may be central to both occupational success and health outcomes.

PURPOSE

The aim of the study was to examine relations among conscientiousness, career success, and mortality risk across a 65-year period.

METHODS

Using data derived from 693 male participants in the Terman Life Cycle Study, we examined associations among childhood personality, midlife objective career success, and lifelong mortality risk through 2006.

RESULTS

Conscientiousness and career success each predicted lower mortality risk (N = 693, relative hazard (rh) = 0.82 [95% confidence interval = 0.74, 0.91] and rh = 0.80 [0.71, 0.91], respectively), with both shared and unique variance. Importantly, childhood personality moderated the success-longevity link; conscientiousness was most relevant for least successful individuals.

CONCLUSION

Conscientiousness and career success predicted longevity, but not in a straightforward manner. Findings highlight the importance of lifespan processes.

Physiological Profiles During Delay of Gratification: Associations with Emotionality, Self-regulation, and Adjustment Problems

This longitudinal study utilized a community sample of children (N=91, 45% female, 8-11 years at time 1) to investigate physiological responses (heart rate reactivity [HRR] and electrodermal responding [EDR]) during delay of gratification in relation to emotionality, self-regulation, and adjustment problems. Cluster analyses identified three profiles among children who successfully delayed: children who waited easily with low EDR and moderate HRR, children who had difficulty waiting with high EDR and moderate HRR, and children who had difficulty waiting with low EDR and low HRR. The 3 clusters and children who did not wait were compared. Children with low EDR-low HRR had the lowest self-regulation, and like the no-wait group, demonstrated the greatest baseline adjustment problems. The high EDR-moderate HRR group demonstrated highest self-regulation and increases in depression across one year. Distinct profiles among children in delay contexts point to children who are over- and under-regulated with implications for adjustment problems.

Alexithymic trait and voluntary control in healthy adults

BACKGROUND

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions. Recent studies have revealed that alexithymia is associated with less activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region shown to play a role in cognitive and emotional processing. However, few studies have directly investigated the cognitive domain in relation to alexithymia to examine whether alexithymic trait is related to less efficient voluntary control.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

We examined the relationship between alexithymic trait and voluntary control in a group of healthy volunteers. We used the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to measure alexithymic trait. Additionally, we examined state and trait voluntary control using the revised Attention Network Test (ANT-R) and the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ), respectively. Alexithymic trait was positively correlated with the overall reaction time of the ANT-R, and negatively correlated with the Effortful Control factor of the ATQ.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE

Our results suggest that alexithymic trait is associated with less efficient voluntary control.

Trait Mechanisms in Youth with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Relations of temperament and personality traits within children and adolescents with ADHD and non-ADHD controls were examined. A two-process structure was hypothesized involving top-down effortful and bottom-up reactive response tendencies. Top-down processes were hypothesized to relate to inattentive ADHD symptoms, whereas bottom-up processes were hypothesized to relate to hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms. Each hypothesis was tested in a sample of 179 children age 7 to13 (113 boys; 107 ADHD) and then replicated in 184 adolescents age 14 to17 (109 boys; 87 ADHD). All families completed a multistage diagnostic process. Youth completed laboratory measures of cognitive control, and parents completed trait ratings. Traits examined in the current study included effortful control, reactive control, resiliency, negative emotionality, neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Correlational relations among traits were inconclusive, but external correlations with cognitive tasks and ADHD symptoms were interpretable within the hypothesized two-process framework. Results provide partial support for a distinction between effortful and reactive traits and suggest this distinction is useful in relation to understanding ADHD.

Agree or Agree to Disagree? Assessing the Convergence between Parents and Observers on Infant Temperament

The assessment of infant temperament has been typically accomplished with parent questionnaires. When compared with temperament behaviours observed in the laboratory, parents and observers generally do not agree, leading some researchers to question the validity of parent report. This paper reports on a representative sample of infants whose families resided in non-metropolitan counties and whose temperament was measured in three ways: (1) standard parent report (Infant Behavior Questionnaire); (2) observer ratings across two lengthy home visits; and (3) observer coding of second-by-second reactions to specific emotion-eliciting tasks. In order to account for both trait and method variance, structural equation modelling was applied to a sample of 955 infants (M age = 7.3 months) using variables from the three methods that reflected the dimensions of positivity and negativity. Although models based solely on method factors and trait factors fit the data well, results indicated that a model that included method and trait factors provided the best fit. Results also indicated that parents and observers (either across the home visit or to specific tasks) converge, to a degree, on ratings of the positivity dimension but diverge on the negativity dimension.

Affective primes suppress attention bias to threat in socially anxious individuals

Anxious individuals show an attention bias towards threatening information. However, under conditions of sustained environmental threat this otherwise-present attention bias disappears. It remains unclear whether this suppression of attention bias can be caused by a transient activation of the fear system. In the present experiment, high socially anxious and low socially anxious individuals (HSA group, n=12; LSA group, n=12) performed a modified dot-probe task in which they were shown either a neutral or socially threatening prime word prior to each trial. EEG was collected and ERP components to the prime and faces displays were computed. HSA individuals showed an attention bias to threat after a neutral prime, but no attention bias after a threatening prime, demonstrating that suppression of attention bias can occur after a transient activation of the fear system. LSA individuals showed an opposite pattern: no evidence of a bias to threat with neutral primes but induction of an attention bias to threat following threatening primes. ERP results suggested differential processing of the prime and faces displays by HSA and LSA individuals. However, no group by prime interaction was found for any of ERP components.

Differentiation Between Low Positive Affectivity and Behavioral Inhibition in Preschool-Age Children: A Comparison of Behavioral Approach in Novel and Non-Novel Contexts

The temperament constructs of low positive affectivity (PA) and high behavioral inhibition (BI) overlap and are often not differentiated in the research literature. In particular, both constructs are characterized by low approach and engagement. However, current theoretical conceptualizations of these constructs suggest that low PA should be associated with low approach across most contexts, whereas BI should be associated with low approach only in novel situations. The present study used laboratory measures of child temperament and behavior to test these hypotheses in a sample of 100 preschool-age children. Results indicated that in novel situations, both lower positive affect and higher BI predicted low behavioral approach. However, in non-novel situations, only lower levels of positive affect predicted lower levels of approach; BI was not related to approach behavior in more familiar contexts. In conclusion, this study indicates that the overlap between the temperament traits of low PA and high BI is limited to novel contexts and that these constructs are distinguished by behavior in non-novel situations.

The relations of temperament and emotion self-regulation with suicidal behaviors in a clinical sample of depressed children in Hungary

Although major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with suicidal behaviors, some depressed individuals are not suicidal and others evidence various forms of suicidality. We thus investigated whether aspects of temperament and self-regulation of dysphoria represent risk factors for DSM-IV suicidality (recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicide attempt) in depressed youths. Using a sample of children with MDD (N = 407; ages 7-14 years), recruited from clinical sites across Hungary, we tested the hypotheses that: (a) suicidality is related to higher levels of trait negative emotionality as well as more maladaptive and fewer adaptive regulatory responses to dysphoria and (b) as the severity of suicidal behavior increases, levels of trait negative emotionality and dysfunctional emotion regulation also increase. We also explored if other aspects of temperament relate to suicidality. Children's DSM-IV diagnoses were based on semi-structured interviews and best-estimate psychiatric consensus. Parents independently provided ratings of their children's temperament, and children separately completed an inventory of emotion regulation (ER). Using multivariate models, we failed to confirm the hypothesized relations of negative trait emotionality and suicidality, but confirmed that high maladaptive and low adaptive ER response tendencies increase the odds of suicidal behaviors, above and beyond the risk posed by depressive illness severity. Unplanned interaction terms between temperament dimensions (other than negative emotionality) and ER suggested that at some high-extremes of temperament, ER has no impact on suicidality but in their absence, adaptive ER lowers the risk of suicidality. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Growth in temperament and parenting as predictors of adjustment during children's transition to adolescence

The author examined relations among demographic risk (income, maternal education, single-parent status), growth in temperament (fear, irritability, effortful control), and parenting (rejection, inconsistent discipline) across 3 years and the prediction of children's adjustment problems in a community sample (N=190; ages 8-12 years at Time 1). Family income was related to higher initial levels of fear, irritability, rejection, and inconsistency and lower effortful control but was not related to changes in these variables. Higher initial rejection predicted increases in child fear and irritability. Higher initial fear predicted decreases in rejection and inconsistency. Higher initial irritability predicted increases in inconsistency, and higher initial effortful control predicted decreases in rejection. When growth of parenting and temperament were considered simultaneously, increases in effortful control and decreases in fear and irritability predicted lower Time 3 internalizing and externalizing problems. Increases in rejection and inconsistent discipline predicted higher Time 3 externalizing, although sometimes the effect appeared to be indirect through temperament. The findings suggest that temperament and parenting predict changes in each other and predict adjustment during the transition to adolescence.

The genetic architecture of neuroticism in 3301 Dutch adolescent twins as a function of age and sex: a study from the Dutch twin register

The objective of this study was to estimate the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences to variation in adolescent neuroticism as a function of age and sex. Neuroticism was assessed using the Amsterdamse Biografische Vragenlijst (ABV): a self-report personality instrument similar in content to the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Genetic modeling procedures, including age as modifier, were fitted to the total sample of 3301 Dutch adolescent twins aged 12 to 17 years (mean age 15.5). Significant influences of additive genetic factors (.59, 95% confidence intervals [CI] .54-.63) and unshared environmental factors (.41, 95% CI .37-.45) were found. Our data did not support a role of shared environment. Results showed that different genes may influence variation in neuroticism between girls and boys. No interaction was found between the variance components and age. Results generally support prior findings in adults and young children that neuroticism is influenced principally by additive genetic and unique environmental factors. The magnitude of the genetic component appears higher in the present sample of adolescents than in most studies of adults. The present study suggests that, in adolescence, different genes are expressed in boys and girls.

A cross-sectional behavioral genetic analysis of task persistence in the transition to middle childhood

Task persistence, measured by a composite score of independent teacher, tester and observer reports, was examined using behavioral genetic analysis. Participants included 92 monozygotic and 137 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs in Kindergarten or 1st grade (4.3 to 7.9 years old). Task persistence was widely distributed, higher among older children, positively associated with standardized tests of cognitive performance and achievement, and negatively associated with parents', teachers' and observers' reports of behavioral problems. Cross-sectional analysis indicated a strong developmental shift from shared environment variance among younger children to additive genetic variance in older children.

Defining the mechanisms of borderline personality disorder

Understanding the biological connections to mental processes was one of the original goals of psychoanalysis, and the development of cognitive and affective neuroscience and its methods might contribute to actualizing this goal. Personality disorders provide an opportunity to examine the complex mental structures of individuals experiencing extreme difficulties in interacting with their social environment. We provide initial information on a collaboration exploring an approach to one of the most serious personality disorders, borderline personality disorder, based upon the study of normal attention, individual differences in temperament, self definition and attachment organization, with the potential to illuminate the psychology and psychobiology of the disorder and to contribute to psychotherapeutic intervention. This developing model of borderline personality disorder can relate the symptoms to more enduring temperamental aspects of the patients. The goal is to understand the development of neural networks that underlie the abnormalities of adults, and eventually work out the interaction between temperament, genes, and experience that produce the disorder, and potentially inform intervention.

Multi-informant assessment of temperament in children with externalizing behavior problems

We examined the criterion validity of parent and self-report versions of the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) in children with high levels of externalizing problems. The sample included 412 children (206 participants and 206 siblings) participating in a family study of attention and aggressive behavior problems. Criterion validity analyses included (a) correlations between temperament scales and emotional and behavioral scales and (b) correlations between temperament and intelligence and achievement scales. Temperament scales displayed strong convergent and discriminant validity. Across informants and samples, JTCI scales assessing novelty seeking and harm avoidance discriminated between internalizing and externalizing problems. Reward dependence, persistence, cooperativeness, and self-directedness displayed similar patterns of negative relations to emotional and behavioral scales and positive relations to intelligence, achievement, and competence.

Early reactions to frustration: developmental trends in anger, individual response styles, and caregiving risk implications in infancy

PROBLEM

In an effort to examine early negative emotional response patterns, infant responses to frustration were studied with specific regard to anger.

METHODS

Forty infants, 7-9 months (n = 20) and 12-14 months (n = 20) old, were observed in laboratory play situations. Infant affective response as well as maternal behavior were observed. Maternal interviews assessed maternal impressions of infant behavior and affect.

FINDINGS

Findings revealed increased displays of anger in older infants, evidence of cognitive-affective linkages in response, and individual differences in emotional response style and maternal-infant processes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings relate to the emergence and interplay of negative emotional response, maternal-infant patterns, and socioemotional risk.

Behavioral Inhibition Sensitivity and Emotional Response Suppression: A Laboratory Test Among Adolescents in a Fear-Relevant Paradigm

This study examined behavioral inhibition sensitivity and emotional suppression in a fear-relevant slide-viewing paradigm among adolescents (n=95). After controlling for state anxiety, behavioral inhibition sensitivity significantly predicted subjective anxiety and the valence and control dimensions of emotional responding but was not associated with arousal-based indexes of distress. Contrary to prediction, emotional suppression did not affect emotional or psychophysiological responsiveness. These results are discussed in relation to vulnerability to anxiety-related distress among adolescents.