Parent and child personality characteristics as predictors of negative discipline and externalizing problem behaviour in children

Family function and adolescent altruistic behavior: the chain mediating role of extraversion personality and perceived social support

Introduction

This study aimed to explore the relationship between family function and altruistic behavior in adolescents, while also investigating the potential mediating roles of extraverted personality and perceived social support.

Methods

Surveys were administered to high school students across various schools in Guangdong Province, utilizing the Family APGAR Questionnaire, Extraversion Personality Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale, and Altruistic Behavior Scale. A total of 972 valid questionnaires were collected for analysis.

Results

The findings revealed that family function did not directly predict altruistic behavior. However, extraverted personality and perceived social support were identified as mediators between family function and altruistic behavior. Furthermore, both extraverted personality and perceived social support acted as chain mediators in this relationship.

Discussion

These results emphasize the importance of considering family dynamics in understanding adolescent altruistic behavior and highlight the potential pathways through which family function influences altruistic tendencies. Promoting positive family environments and enhancing extraverted personality and perceived social support may facilitate the cultivation of altruistic behavior in adolescents.

Self-Regulated Parenting: A Systematic Review of the Relations Between Effortful Control, the Big-Five, and Parenting Practices

It is well established that parents' own self-regulation is related to adaptive parenting practices (such as warmth and sensitivity) as well as to maladaptive ones (such as laxness and over-reactivity). However, parenting practices are not solely determined by parents' self-regulation. We discuss how broad personality dimensions (drawn from the Big-Five model) relate to temperamental self-regulation (effortful control) and to parenting practices. Considering the limited empirical literature linking these three constructs, we present extant evidence for each of the dyadic connections between these three constructs. We then propose a comprehensive model that includes the plausible moderation/mediation role of different personality dimensions (such as conscientiousness and agreeableness) on the connection between self-regulation and parenting practices. This systematic review summarizes the extant empirical findings from 74 studies, linking effortful control, character and parenting practices. It is the first to systematically review and organize the accumulating knowledge regarding their relations. Based on the reviewed literature, a conceptual framework is proposed for predicting parenting practices, which are, in turn, a crucial concept predicting children's behavioral and cognitive outcomes. In doing so, it provides a theoretical basis for the importance of parental character traits, specifically conscientiousness and agreeableness, as mediators between the parent's effortful control and their actual parenting practices.

Dealing With Dependent Effect Sizes in MASEM

Abstract. The objective of the present study was to examine whether different methods for dealing with dependency in meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) lead to different results. Four different methods for dealing with dependent effect sizes in MASEM were applied to empirical data, including: (1) ignoring dependency; (2) aggregation; (3) elimination; and (4) a multilevel approach. Random-effects two-stage structural equation modeling was conducted for each method separately, and potential moderators were examined using subgroup analysis. Results demonstrated that the different methods of dealing with dependency in MASEM lead to different results. Thus, the decision on which approach should be used in MASEM-analysis should be carefully considered. Given that the multilevel approach is the only approach that includes all available information while explicitly modeling dependency, it is currently the theoretically preferred approach for dealing with dependency in MASEM. Future research should evaluate the multilevel approach with simulated data.

Parent–offspring similarity in personality and adolescents' problem behaviour

Similarity in personality between adolescents and their parents may have considerable implications for adolescent well‐being. We studied how the similarity in personality between 288 adolescents and their parents is linked to adolescent problem behaviour, and whether this link is mediated by warmth and control in the parent–child relationship and moderated by the personality type of the adolescent. Similarity in personality between adolescents and their parents was negatively related to internalizing and externalizing problem behaviour, both concurrently and over time. This relation was not mediated by the parent–child relationship. The effects were present for overcontrolled but not for resilient or undercontrolled adolescents. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Adolescent personality, problem behaviour and the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship

The relationship between adolescent personality and problem behaviour has been well established. However, relatively little attention has been given to the role of the social environment in the association between adolescent personality and problem behaviour. We tested the mediating and moderating role of the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship in the associations between adolescents' personality traits and problem behaviour. The sample consisted of 140 adolescents (11 to 18 years of age) and both their parents. Results supported a mediating role of the father/mother–adolescent relationship in the associations between Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness and externalizing problem behaviour. The father/mother–adolescent relationships did not mediate the associations between personality traits and internalizing problem behaviour. We also found support for a moderating role of the father/mother–adolescent relationships in the association between Emotional Stability and both externalizing and internalizing problem behaviours. Other moderated effects were specific for parent, personality trait and type of problem behaviour. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Parental personality, parenting and toddlers' externalising behaviours

This study examined the mediating role of parenting on the relation between parental personality and toddlers' externalising behaviours. Participants were 112 boys and their parents. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling and moderated mediation analyses. Several associations were found between parental personality and parenting dimensions. Additionally, several parenting dimensions were associated with children's externalising behaviours. Emotional stability was the only parental personality trait that was related to children's externalising behaviours. The effect of maternal emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours appeared to be mediated by maternal support. For fathers, there appeared to be a direct effect of emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours. In addition, for both mothers and fathers, emotional stability was directly related to children's attention problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Personality Heterogeneity in Adolescents With Disruptive Behavior Disorders1

We first confirmed adolescents diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders (oppositional defiant, conduct disorder; n = 158) had lower constraint and higher negative emotionality, and greater psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial dysfunction, relative to adolescents without (n = 755), in a population-based sample enriched for externalizing psychopathology (mean age = 17.90 years; 52% female). We then explored whether different personality types, defined by patterns of personality identified via latent profile analysis, were differently associated with clinical features in adolescents with a disruptive behavior disorder diagnosis. Four distinct personality types ("disinhibited," "high distress," "low distress," "positive") were meaningfully different from one another. Results highlight personality heterogeneity as a means of identifying individuals at greatest risk for the most deleterious forms of externalizing psychopathology.

Teacher's Type D Personality and Chinese Children's Hyperactive Behaviors: Moderation Effect of Parental Type D Personality and Mediation Effect of Teacher-Student Relationship

This study aimed to explore the association between teacher’s type D personality (TDP) and children’s hyperactive behaviors, along with the moderation effect of parental TDP and the mediation effect of the teacher–student relationship. In this prospective study, a total of 25,852 children were surveyed from 2014 to 2016 in Longhua District of Shenzhen, China, and followed up 1 year later. At baseline, parents provided data on parental TDP and children’s hyperactive behaviors, while teachers reported on their TDP. At follow-up, parents provided data on children’s hyperactive behaviors again, and teachers described their relationship with each student. Two-level multilevel logistic models were conducted to assess the influence of a teacher’s TDP, parental TDP, and their interaction on children’s hyperactive behaviors. Mediation analysis was used to examine the mediating role of the teacher–student relationship. Results indicated that teachers’ TDP was not a significant predictor of children’s hyperactive behaviors after 1 year in kindergarten. Conversely, maternal and paternal TDP were prospectively and positively associated with children’s subsequent hyperactive behaviors. However, the children with a TDP teacher, a TDP mother, and/or a TDP father had higher risk of hyperactive behaviors than those with either a TDP teacher or a TDP mother or a TDP father. In addition, the teacher–student relationship was not a significant mediator between teacher’s TDP and children’s hyperactive behaviors. Further, researchers may consider the effect of the combination of teacher’s TDP, maternal TDP, and paternal TDP on hyperactive behaviors in children in further studies.

Similarity of vocational interest profiles within families: A person-centered approach for examining associations between circumplex profiles

OBJECTIVE

Our study addressed three questions concerning the similarity of vocational interests within families: (a) How similar are vocational interests of mothers and fathers? (b) How similar are vocational interests of parents and their children? (c) Is the inference about parent-child profile similarity affected by mother-father profile similarity?

METHOD

Data from N=1,624 tenth graders and their parents were used to analyze interest profile similarity by means of a pseudo-coupling approach. Similarity was assessed on the level of observed profiles and model-based circumplex profiles.

RESULTS

Interest profiles of mother-father and parent-child dyads were more similar to each other than those of corresponding arbitrarily paired dyads. However, when the similarity between the parents' interest profiles was accounted for, only same-sex parent-child dyads were more similar to each other than would be expected by chance. All findings were mirrored on the level of observed profiles and model-based circumplex profiles.

CONCLUSIONS

In sum, our findings support the validity of the circumplex model of vocational interests and emphasize the benefits of explicitly considering its implications when analyzing profile similarity. Moreover, we were able to show that the statistical evaluation of profile similarities must account for normative profile components.

Parental Type D Personality and Children's Hyperactive Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Parent⁻Child Interactive Activities

This study explored the associations between parental Type D personality (TDP), parent–child interactive activities, and children’s hyperactive behaviors. Moreover, the study examined whether parent–child interactive activities mediated the associations between parental TDP and children’s hyperactive behaviors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among children from all kindergartens in a district of a southern city in China. Data on parental TDP, the frequency of parent–child interactive activities, children’s hyperactive behaviors, and socio-demographic characteristics were provided by 47,648 parent–child dyads. Multiple regression analysis was employed to assess the associations between parental TDP, parent–child interactive activities, and children’s hyperactive behaviors. Mediation analysis was applied to explore the mediating role of parent–child interactive activities on the associations between parental TDP and children’s hyperactive behaviors. Parental TDP was negatively associated with the frequency of parent–child interactive activities and positively associated with children’s hyperactive behaviors. The frequencies of parent–child interactive activities were negatively associated with children’s hyperactive behaviors. The frequency of parent–child interactive activities partially mediated the associations between parental TDP and children’s hyperactive behaviors. Future research may consider parental TDP and parent–child interactive activities as potential important predictors of hyperactive behaviors in children. Such research will help identify further targets for intervention to reduce hyperactive behaviors in children.

Transactional associations of maternal depressive symptoms with child externalizing behaviors are small after age 3

A large and growing body of research suggests that maternal depressive symptoms and child externalizing behaviors are strongly associated. Theoretical arguments supported by these findings led to the question of whether maternal depressive symptoms are transactionally associated with child externalizing behaviors. Using 5-year nationally representative longitudinal data from Turkey (N = 1,052), we estimated a transactional bivariate autoregressive latent trajectory model addressing this question. This model disaggregated the association of the two processes into two components: (a) the association of the interindividual differences in the trajectories; and (b) the intradyad association of the changes in maternal depressive symptoms with the changes in child externalizing behaviors. Although maternal depressive symptoms were robustly associated with child externalizing behaviors at age 3, the transactional associations of the two processes were small prior to age 5 and absent at ages 5 to 7. Furthermore, maternal harsh parenting did not have a mediating role in the limited transactional association of maternal depressive symptoms with child externalizing behaviors.

Owner personality and the wellbeing of their cats share parallels with the parent-child relationship

Human personality may substantially affect the nature of care provided to dependants. This link has been well researched in parents and children, however, relatively little is known about this dynamic with regards to humans’ relationships with non-human animals. Owner interactions with companion animals may provide valuable insight into the wider phenomenon of familial interactions, as owners usually adopt the role of primary caregiver and potentially surrogate parent. This study, using cats as an exemplar, explored the relationship between owner personality and the lifestyles to which cats are exposed. In addition, it explored owner personality as it related to reported cat behaviour and wellbeing. Cat owners (n = 3331) responded to an online survey examining their personality and the health, behaviour and management of their cats. Owner personality was measured using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) to assess: Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Neuroticism and Openness. Owners also provided information concerning the physical health, breed type, management and behavioural styles of their cats. Generalised linear mixed models were used to identify relationships between owner personality and a range of factors that may have welfare implications for the wider companion animal population, and specifically, cats. Higher owner Neuroticism was associated with an increased likelihood of non-pedigree rather than pedigree cat ownership, a decreased likelihood of ad libitum access to the outdoors, cats being reported as having a ‘behavioural problem’, displaying more aggressive and anxious/fearful behavioural styles and more stress-related sickness behaviours, as well as having an ongoing medical condition and being overweight. Other owner personality traits were generally found to correlate more positively with various lifestyle, behaviour and welfare parameters. For example, higher owner Extroversion was associated with an increased likelihood that the cat would be provided ad libitum access to the outdoors; higher owner Agreeableness was associated with a higher level of owner reported satisfaction with their cat, and with a greater likelihood of owners reporting their cats as being of a normal weight. Finally higher owner Conscientiousness was associated with the cat displaying less anxious/fearful, aggressive, aloof/avoidant, but more gregarious behavioural styles. These findings demonstrate that the relationship between carer personality and the care received by a dependent, may extend beyond the human family to animal-owner relationships, with significant implications for the choice of management, behaviour and potentially the broader wellbeing of companion animals.

Maternal ADHD Symptoms, Personality, and Parenting Stress: Differences Between Mothers of Children With ADHD and Mothers of Comparison Children

OBJECTIVE

Mothers raising a child with ADHD can experience high parenting stress. We evaluated if mothers' personality traits and own ADHD symptoms could also affect parenting stress.

METHOD

430 biological mothers from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA mothers) and 237 of a local normative comparison group (LNCG mothers) were evaluated at baseline. Interactions were tested between mothers' group and maternal personality/ADHD symptoms related to parenting stress.

RESULTS

Compared to LNCG, MTA mothers had higher parenting stress, self-reported ADHD, neuroticism, and lower conscientiousness and agreeableness. When personality and ADHD were evaluated together, ADHD symptoms interacted with mothers' group: high maternal ADHD was positively associated with parenting stress for LNCG but not MTA mothers.

CONCLUSION

Personality traits or ADHD characteristics do not appear operative for the high parenting stress of mothers of a child with ADHD. However, high maternal ADHD or low conscientiousness are associated with stress levels similar to raising a child with ADHD.

Maternal Personality and Child Temperamental Reactivity: Differential Susceptibility for Child Externalizing Behavioral Problems in China

It is important to identify the developmental antecedents of externalizing behavioral problems in early childhood. The current study examined the main effects of maternal personality and its interactive effects with child temperamental reactivity in predicting child externalizing behavioral problems, indicated by impulsivity and aggression. This study was composed of 70 children (M _age = 17.6 months, SD = 3.73) and their mothers. The results showed that maternal agreeableness was negatively associated with child impulsivity. Child temperamental reactivity moderated the effect of maternal conscientiousness on child impulsivity in support of the differential susceptibility model. Specifically, for highly reactive children, maternal conscientiousness was negatively associated with child impulsivity whereas this association was non-significant for low reactive children. Child reactivity also moderated the contribution of maternal neuroticism to child impulsivity. That is, maternal neuroticism was negatively associated with impulsivity, only for highly reactive children.

Stress in the Educational System as a Potential Source of Epigenetic Influences on Children's Development and Behavior

Despite current advances on the relevance of environmental cues and epigenetic mechanisms in biological processes, including behavior, little attention has been paid to the potential link between epigenetic influences and educational sciences. For instance, could the learning environment and stress determine epigenetic marking, affecting students' behavior development? Could this have consequences on educational outcomes? So far, it has been shown that environmental stress influences neurological processes and behavior both in humans and rats. Through epigenetic mechanisms, offspring from stressed individuals develop altered behavior without any exposure to traumatizing experiences. Methylated DNA and noncoding RNAs regulate neurological processes such as synaptic plasticity and brain cortex development in children. The malfunctioning of these processes is associated with several neurological disorders, and these findings open up new avenues for the design of enriched environments for education and therapy. In this article, we discuss current cases of stress and behavioral disorders found in youngsters, and highlight the importance of considering epigenetic processes affecting the development of cognitive abilities and learning within the educational environment and for the development of teaching methodologies.

Harsh parenting practices mediate the association between parent affective profiles and child adjustment outcomes: Differential associations for mothers and fathers

Children’s early emotional environment strongly influences their later behavioural development. Yet, besides maternal depression, limited knowledge exists about the effect of other emotions and the role of fathers. Using 290 triads (mother/father/child), we investigated how positive (SEEKING, CARING, PLAYFULNESS) and negative (FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS) dimensions of mothers’ and fathers’ affectivity relate to their offspring’s externalizing and internalizing behaviours directly as well as indirectly via parenting practices. Parental variables were measured when children were 4 years old and children’s behaviours were measured at 8 years of age. Latent Profile Analysis identified three parental affective profiles: low negative emotions, balanced, and high emotional. Structural equation models showed that, for boys, mothers’ low negative emotions and high emotional profiles predicted later internalizing behaviours (direct effect; β = −0.21 and β = 0.23), while fathers’ low negative emotions profile predicted externalizing behaviours indirectly (β = −0.10). For girls, mothers’ profiles ( low negative emotions and high emotional) predicted both internalizing (β = −0.04 and β = 0.07) and externalizing (β = −0.05 and β = 0.09) behaviours indirectly, but no effects of fathers’ profiles were found. Mothers’ and fathers’ affective profiles contributed to the behavioural development of their offspring in different ways, according to the type of behaviour (internalizing or externalizing) and the child’s sex. These findings may help in tailoring existing parenting interventions on affective profiles, thus enhancing their efficacy.

Affiliation with substance-using peers: Examining gene-environment correlations among parent monitoring, polygenic risk, and children's impulsivity

Parental monitoring can buffer the effect of deviant peers on adolescents' substance use by reducing affiliation with substance-using peers. However, children's genetic predispositions may evoke poorer monitoring, contributing to negative child outcomes. We examined evocative genotype-environment correlations underlying children's genetic predisposition for behavioral undercontrol and parental monitoring in early adolescence via children's impulsivity in middle childhood, and the influence of parental monitoring on affiliation with substance-using peers a year and a half later (n = 359). Genetic predisposition for behavioral undercontrol was captured using a polygenic risk score, and a portion of passive rGE was controlled by including parents' polygenic risk scores. Children's polygenic risk predicted poorer parental monitoring via greater children's impulsivity, indicating evocative rGE, controlling for a portion of passive rGE. Poorer parental monitoring predicted greater children's affiliation with substance-using peers a year and a half later. Results are discussed with respect to gene-environment correlations within developmental cascades.

Transactional effects among maternal depression, neighborhood deprivation, and child conduct problems from early childhood through adolescence: A tale of two low-income samples

The current study sought to advance our understanding of transactional processes among maternal depression, neighborhood deprivation, and child conduct problems (CP) using two samples of low-income families assessed repeatedly from early childhood to early adolescence. After accounting for initial levels of negative parenting, independent and reciprocal effects between maternal depressive symptoms and child CP were evident across both samples, beginning in early childhood and continuing through middle childhood and adolescence. In addition, neighborhood effects were consistently found in both samples after children reached age 5, with earlier neighborhood effects on child CP and maternal depression found in the one exclusively urban sample of families with male children. The results confirm prior research on the independent contribution of maternal depression and child CP to the maintenance of both problem behaviors. The findings also have implications for designing preventative and clinical interventions to address child CP for families living in high-risk neighborhoods.

Constructing a short form of the hierarchical personality inventory for children (HiPIC): the HiPIC-30

Children's personality traits are invaluable predictors of concurrent and later mental and physical health. Several validated longer inventories for assessing the widely recognized Five-Factor Model of personality in children are available, but short forms are scarce. This study aimed at constructing a 30-item form of the 144-item Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) (Mervielde & De Fruyt, ). Participants were 1543 children aged 6-12 years (sample 1) and 3895 children aged 8 years (sample 2). Sample 1 completed the full HiPIC, from which we constructed the HiPIC-30, and the Child Behaviour Checklist (Achenbach, ). Sample 2 completed the HiPIC-30. The HiPIC-30 personality domains correlated over r = .90 with the full HiPIC domains, had good Cronbach's alphas and correlated similarly with CBCL behaviour problems and gender as the full HiPIC. The factor structures of the HiPIC-30 were convergent across samples, but the imagination factor was not clear-cut. We conclude that the HiPIC-30 is a reliable and valid questionnaire for the Five-Factor personality traits in children. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Child personality facets and overreactive parenting as predictors of aggression and rule-breaking trajectories from childhood to adolescence

This study examined trajectories of aggression and rule breaking during the transition from childhood to adolescence (ages 9-15), and determined whether these trajectories were predicted by lower order personality facets, overreactive parenting, and their interaction. At three time points separated by 2-year intervals, mothers and fathers reported on their children's aggression and rule breaking (N = 290, M age = 8.8 years at Time 1). At Time 1, parents reported on their children's personality traits and their own overreactivity. Growth mixture modeling identified three aggression trajectories (low decreasing, high decreasing, and high increasing) and two rule-breaking trajectories (low and high). Lower optimism and compliance and higher energy predicted trajectories for both aggression and rule breaking, whereas higher expressiveness and irritability and lower orderliness and perseverance were unique risk factors for increasing aggression into adolescence. Lower concentration was a unique risk factor for increasing rule breaking. Parental overreactivity predicted higher trajectories of aggression but not rule breaking. Only two Trait × Overreactivity interactions were found. Our results indicate that personality facets could differentiate children at risk for different developmental trajectories of aggression and rule breaking.

It takes more than one for parenting: How do maternal temperament and child's conduct problems relate to maternal parenting behavior?

The current study examined how individual differences in maternal temperament and child problem behaviors correlate with observed maternal positivity and negativity toward the child. The sample consisted of 153 mothers of 3-to-7 year old children. Mothers reported their own temperament (surgency, orienting sensitivity, effortful control and negative affect) and their children's problem behaviors. Maternal behavior was videotaped in a set of structured interaction tasks with the child during a lab visit. Results indicated that children's problem behaviors were related to less maternal positivity and more negativity. In addition, observed maternal negativity was associated with less maternal effortful control and more negative affect. In contrast, maternal temperament was unrelated to observed maternal positivity toward the child. Furthermore, maternal temperament was related to mothers' positivity and negativity but only for children high in problem behaviors. The findings implicate that child problem behaviors may interact with maternal temperament in explaining variance in caregiving positivity and negativity.

Developmental trajectories of anxious and depressive problems during the transition from childhood to adolescence: personality × parenting interactions

This study examined separate developmental trajectories of anxious and depressive symptoms from childhood to adolescence (9-15 years) in a community-based sample (N = 290). At three measurement points, mothers and fathers reported on their children's anxious and depressive symptoms, and at Time 1 they reported on lower order child personality facets and on their parenting. By means of growth mixture modeling, three developmental trajectories were identified for anxious symptoms: steady low (82%), moderate increasing-decreasing (5.9%), and high declining groups (12.1%). For depressive symptoms, two developmental trajectories were found: steady low (94.1%) and moderate increasing groups (5.9%). Higher shyness, irritability, and altruism predicted membership in more problematic anxious and depressive groups. The personality facets energy, optimism, compliance, and anxiety were unique predictors for class membership for anxious symptoms, and the effects of shyness, irritability, and compliance were moderated by overreactive parenting. Shyness and irritability increased the probability of following the moderate increasing-decreasing anxiety trajectory, but only in the context of high or average levels of overreactive parenting. Compliance increased the probability of following the moderate increasing-decreasing and high decreasing trajectories in the context of high overreactive parenting. Our results indicate that childhood personality facets differentiate trajectories of anxious and depressive symptoms in theoretically compelling ways.

Parents' perfectionism and its relation to child rearing behaviors

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between parents' perfectionism and self-reported parenting behaviors. The study included 786 parents (417 mothers and 369 fathers) of high school students. Results showed that parents' positive and negative perfectionism were differently related to specific forms of child rearing practices. Namely, positive perfectionism was positively, while negative perfectionism was negatively related to parental acceptance for both mothers and fathers. Mothers' and fathers' negative perfectionism was positively related to parental criticism and permissiveness. In addition, fathers' positive perfectionism was negatively associated with permissive child rearing practices. After controlling for background variables, parents' positive and negative perfectionism explained significant amounts of variance in all self-reported parenting dimensions for fathers and significantly accounted for the variance of parental acceptance and criticism for mothers. According to our findings, parents' perfectionism might have an important role in shaping parenting behaviors.

The role of early childhood personality in the developmental course of social adjustment

This study explored children, preschool, and family characteristics that contribute to individual differences in the developmental trajectories of social competence and internalizing and externalizing behavior. Teachers reported on personality and social adjustment of 304 children at ages 3, 4, 5, and 6 years. Predictors of social adjustment included: (1) children’s gender and the ratings of extraversion, conscientiousness, disagreeableness, and neuroticism; (2) maternal and paternal education, and parent-reported parenting practices at the beginning of the study; and (3) the child’s age of entry to preschool. Child social adjustment was most strongly predicted by teacher-rated child personality. The change in a child’s rank-order position on social competence was related to the change in the rank-order position on extraversion; the change in internalizing behavior was related particularly to a change in neuroticism, and the change in externalizing behavior especially to a change in disagreeableness. Specific family variables and the child’s age at the time of entry into preschool played a minor but statistically significant role.

Maternal and adolescent temperament as predictors of maternal affective behavior during mother-adolescent interactions

This study examined maternal and early adolescent temperament dimensions as predictors of maternal emotional behavior during mother-adolescent interactions. The sample comprised 151 early adolescents (aged 11-13) and their mothers (aged 29-57). Adolescent- and mother-reports of adolescent temperament and self-reports of maternal temperament were collected. Mother-adolescent dyads participated in event-planning and problem-solving interactions, which were coded for frequency of aggressive, dysphoric, and positive interpersonal maternal behavior. Analyses indicated that adolescents who are higher in temperamental Negative Affectivity and lower in Effortful Control are generally exposed to more frequent aggressive and less frequent positive interpersonal maternal behavior. Furthermore, mothers lower in Effortful Control engaged in more frequent dysphoric behavior toward their adolescent. Given the associations between parental emotional behavior and the development of adolescent emotion regulation, these findings suggest that temperamental dispositions, particularly of early adolescents, may influence their ongoing socialization of emotion regulation skills, and thus their emotional well being.

Psychosocial child adjustment and family functioning in families reached with an assertive outreach intervention

Families who experience a chronic complex of socio-economic and psychosocial problems are hard to reach with mainstream care. Evidence exists that the core of this problem is a problematic interaction between this type of family and current systems of care and services. To improve access to problem families, an assertive outreach intervention was implemented into the field of preventive child health care, The Netherlands. The study aimed to provide a more detailed insight into characteristics of the target group. Although there is consensus about some general features of hard to reach problem families, little is known about their specific characteristics because empirical studies among this group are rarely conducted. Especially, the problems of the children is shed insufficient light on. The studied population consisted of families included in the assertive outreach intervention delivered during one year (N=116). To assess psychosocial adjustment of the children, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was filled in by the parents. Furthermore, a Dutch questionnaire on family functioning was completed by professional carers. Descriptive data were calculated. The findings show that by using the assertive outreach intervention, programme staff came into contact with families characterised by a considerably higher than average proportion of single parents and unemployed households receiving social benefits. The families faced a high level of risk and a wide range of severe and multiple difficulties, including a lack of basic child care, an inadequate social network and poor parenting. Children in these families were also facing a number of risks. The proportion of psychosocial problems was well above the (inter)national average. The findings reveal the problem areas of unreached families and a need to improve the access to care for these families.

Personality development and problem behavior in Russian children and adolescents

The aim of this study was to explore child and adolescent personality in the Russian culture, addressing gender and age differences, and to examine personality and family effects on children’s Internalizing and Externalizing problems. Parents of 1,640 Russian children aged 3—18 years completed the Inventory of Child Individual Differences measuring personality, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire measuring problem behavior, and reported about family background. Girls scored higher than boys on the Conscientiousness domain and on the Intelligent and Considerate scales, but lower on Activity. In younger children, Extraversion was higher; in older children, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Shyness were higher; Distractibility was highest in early adolescence. The gender and age differences were small. Personality explained about 30% of variance in children’s Internalizing problems, and 50% in Externalizing problems; family factors contributed less than 4%. Internalizing Problems were linked to higher Neuroticism and lower Extraversion; Externalizing Problems were linked to higher Extraversion, lower Conscientiousness and Agreeableness. For both types of problems, harsh parenting was a risk factor, while SES and family cohesion were associated with lower problem levels. Models linking personality with children’s problem behavior were similar in preschool, middle childhood, early and late adolescence.

Transitioning to adolescence: how changes in child personality and overreactive parenting predict adolescent adjustment problems

The present study examined how changes in child Big Five personality characteristics and overreactive parenting during the transition from childhood to adolescence predict adolescent adjustment problems. The sample included 290 children, aged 8-9 years. At three moments, with 2-year intervals, mothers, fathers, and a teacher reported on the child's personality, and mothers and fathers reported on their parenting behavior. At the third measurement moment, mothers, fathers, and children reported on the child's adjustment problems. Rank-order stability of the personality dimensions and overreactive parenting were high. Univariate latent growth models revealed mean-level decreases for extraversion, conscientiousness, and imagination. Mean levels of benevolence, emotional stability, and overreactive parenting were stable. Multivariate latent growth models revealed that decreases in extraversion and emotional stability predicted internalizing problems, whereas decreases in benevolence, conscientiousness, and emotional stability predicted externalizing problems. Increases in overreactive parenting predicted externalizing, but not internalizing problems. The associations were similar for boys and girls. The results indicate that changes in child personality and overreactive parenting during the transition to adolescence are associated with adolescent adjustment problems. Overall, child personality was more important than overreactive parenting, and children were more likely to "act out" than to "withdraw" in reaction to overreactive parenting.

Personality and parenting style in parents of adolescents

Since parental personality traits are assumed to play a role in parenting behaviors, the current study examined the relation between parental personality and parenting style among 688 Dutch parents of adolescents in the SMILE study. The study assessed Big Five personality traits and derived parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and uninvolved) from scores on the underlying dimensions of support and strict control. Regression analyses were used to determine which personality traits were associated with parenting dimensions and styles. As regards dimensions, the two aspects of personality reflecting interpersonal interactions (extraversion and agreeableness) were related to supportiveness. Emotional stability was associated with lower strict control. As regards parenting styles, extraverted, agreeable, and less emotionally stable individuals were most likely to be authoritative parents. Conscientiousness and openness did not relate to general parenting, but might be associated with more content-specific acts of parenting.

Teacher reports of peer aggression in preschool: its relationship to DSM-IV externalizing symptoms

OBJECTIVE

to establish the prevalence and associations of peer aggression as manifested in preschool children, in community-based populations and to study links with DSM-IV externalizing diagnoses.

METHOD

Subjects were 1104 children, 3-to-5-year-olds attending rural and urban pre-schools classes. Teachers completed the Peer Conflict Scale (PCS) to inform about direct physical and verbal aggression, object aggression and symbolic aggression and the questionnaire on psychopathology ECI-4.

RESULTS

6.6% (n=73) had at least one positive item on the PCS. This percentage dropped to 2.6% (n=29) if we take into account a minimum of three positive items. Physical direct aggression was the more prevalent type of aggressive behavior, followed by verbal aggression, object aggression and symbolic aggression. Significant differences by gender and age were found. Peer aggression was associated with male gender from three years of age. Physical, object and verbal aggressive behavior was linked with externalizing disorders. This association was very strong with oppositional disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

The present research with a Spanish population confirms the existence of peer aggression in preschoolers and the gender differences. Our chief contribution is about the age of emergence of sex differences and gender differences in different types of peer aggression.

Reciprocal associations between boys' externalizing problems and mothers' depressive symptoms

Although much has been written about the utility of applying transactional models to the study of parenting practices, relatively few researchers have used such an approach to examine how children influence maternal well-being throughout their development. Using a sample of males from predominantly low-income families, the current study explored reciprocal relations between boys' overt disruptive behavior (boys' ages 5 to 10 years) and maternal depressive symptoms. We then examined this model with youth-reported antisocial behaviors (ASB) and maternal depressive symptoms when the boys were older, ages 10 to 15. In middle childhood, evidence was found for both maternal and child effects from boys' ages 5 to 6 using both maternal and alternative caregiver report of child aggressive behavior. In the early adolescence model, consistent maternal effects were found, and child effects were evident during the transition to adolescence (boys' ages 11 to 12). The findings are discussed in reference to reciprocal models of child development and prevention efforts to reduce both maternal depression and the prevalence of child antisocial behavior.

Percepción sobre estilos e inconsistencia parentales en adolescentes argentinos

Se presentan avances parciales de un estudio descriptivo realizado con 214 adolescentes escolarizados de 15 y 16 años, residentes en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, evaluados mediante una escala autoadministrable sobre Percepción de Control y Estilos e Inconsistencia Parentales, basada en la Controlling and inconsistent parenting scale. Se verificó un grado considerable y significativo de consistencia en los niveles de Control/castigo/aceptación/perdón impartidos (r=.655**), así como en la consistencia o estabilidad temporal de tales comportamientos (r=.785**).entre los miembros de la pareja parental. Se halló, también, que el Control/castigo impartido por los padres varones resulta significativamente más elevado cuando los padres viven juntos, en tanto que cuando existe una separación o divorcio, es significativamente más bajo. El nivel educativo de ambos adultos introduce diferencias en el grado de consistencia o estabilidad temporal de las reacciones independientes, de cada uno, ante comportamientos indeseados de los hijos, y estas diferencias se dan en el mismo sentido para ambos padres: el grupo con educación primaria incompleta y completa exhibe una inconsistencia significativamente mayor que el que ha alcanzado niveles educativos medios y terciarios o universitarios. También la consistencia resulta significativamente mayor, en cada progenitor, para los casos en que el estatus económico autopercibido por el adolescente es alto.