Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood

Trait continuity: Can parent-rated infant temperament predict HEXACO personality in early adulthood?

Examining the Raine cohort study, we tested the trait continuity hypothesis by examining the extent that young adults' (25-29 years old) self-reported HEXACO personality can be statistically predicted from multi-dimensional parental temperament ratings collected in infancy (1-2 years old). The study incorporated a lagged design (two waves), a large sample size (n = 563), and examined both temperament and personality as both dimensions and profiles. Overall, we found very limited evidence of trait continuity, with generally very weak and few statistically significant observed associations of infant temperament with early adulthood personality. Relations were weak whether profile or dimension-based operationalizations of both phenomena were adopted. Additionally, controlling for sex affected the relations of temperament and personality only to a small extent for most of the traits, and moderation effects of sex were generally zero-to-trivial in size. Altogether, parent-rated temperament in infancy seems to provide little information about HEXACO personality in early adulthood.

Temperament in middle childhood questionnaire: New data on factor structure and applicability in a child clinical sample

The Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ) is one of a family of instruments representing one of the major conceptual models of child temperament. The present study reports new psychometric information on the TMCQ using a larger sample than in prior factor-analytic studies of this instrument. Data from parent ratings of 1,418 children were utilized. The sample of community volunteers included 697 typically developing youth and 721 defined by research diagnostic procedures as having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Results failed to support the original proposed structure of the TMCQ, but found support for a structure with 12 subscales that confirmed a substantial portion of the lower order factor structure. However, the intended three-factor higher order structure was not able to be fully recovered. Two-group invariance was supported in the final model, supporting use in studies of typical and atypical development. In conclusion, with some modifications the TMCQ remains a useful research measure at the lower order factor level. The validity of the higher order structure is less clear, likely due to measure-specific limitations, and suggests a need for some refinement to the measure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding trajectories of externalizing problems: Stability and emergence of risk factors from infancy to middle adolescence

Despite considerable efforts to understand the processes that underlie the development of externalizing behavior problems, it is still unclear why externalizing problems remain chronically high for some children, emerge early and cease by late childhood for others, and arise in adolescence in some cases. The purpose of this study was to examine how a wide range of child and family risk factors are linked to trajectories of externalizing behavior and how these relationships vary from infancy to middle adolescence. We used data from the community-based Norwegian Tracking Opportunities and Problems (TOPP) study sample (n = 921). A Cholesky factorization model was specified to separate stable and emerging risk doses across four developmental periods (infancy, early and middle childhood, and middle adolescence). Children in the High Stable class were characterized by substantially elevated risk levels in multiple domains throughout the study period. Children in the High Childhood Limited class had very high levels of temperamental emotionality, internalizing symptoms, and maternal mental distress, suggesting a substantial intrinsic emotional basis for their externalizing problems. Intrinsic factors seemed less salient for the Adolescent Onset class. These findings emphasize the need for a dynamic perspective on risk factors and support the importance of prevention and intervention efforts across multiple domains from early childhood and throughout adolescence.

Personality Pathology among Adults with History of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Study of the Relevance of DSM-5 Proposed Traits and Psychobiological Features of Temperament and Character

BACKGROUND

The main aim of this study was to determine whether childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is reflected in the pathological traits of the alternative model of personality disorders (AMPD) in section-III of DSM-5 and Cloninger's temperament and character profiles.

METHODS

The Persian versions of Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-125), and Structured Clinical Inventory for DSM-IV-TR-Axis II-Screening Questionnaire (SCID-II-SQ) were administered to 43 Iranian college students who reported a history of CSA and 390 participants who did not. Bivariate Pearson correlations and general linear model repeated measures (GLMRM) were used to compare results.

RESULTS

Bivariate correlations indicated that both the PID-5 and TCI-125 were significantly associated with their relevant personality disorders. Profile analysis showed that the pathological trait domains of the PID-5, except for negative affectivity, were significantly greater in those with an experience of CSA. Of the seven dimensions of TCI-125, novelty seeking and persistence were higher in those with an experience of CSA, but reward dependence, self-directedness, and cooperativeness were lower.

CONCLUSIONS

These results confirmed a correlation between CSA and personality dysfunction. The pattern of dysfunction was complex and somewhat different from the two facet measures used.

The error-related negativity as a neuromarker of risk or resilience in young children

INTRODUCTION

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a neural response that reflects error monitoring. Contradictorily, an enlarged (more negative) ERN has been cited as both a risk factor and a protective factor, which hinders its utility as a predictive indicator. The aim of the current study was to examine the associations between ERN measured in early childhood with the development of cognitive control (CC), emotion regulation, and internalizing/externalizing symptoms over 1-2 years.

METHODS

When children were ages 5-7, EEG was collected during a Go/No-Go task. A subset of the original participants (n = 30) were selected based on their baseline ERN in an extreme-case design: half with high-amplitude ERN, matched by age and sex with another group with low-amplitude ERN.

RESULTS

At follow-up, children in the High-Amplitude group showed better executive function, less self-reported anxiety and depression, less affect dysregulation, more parent-rated CC, less lability/negativity, and fewer parent-reported externalizing problems. Many results held even when accounting for baseline levels. Further, emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between the ERN and both anxiety and externalizing problems, while CC mediated the ERN's relationship with externalizing problems only.

CONCLUSIONS

These results can inform identification and intervention efforts for children at risk for psychopathology.

Exploring the Effects of Temperament on Gray Matter Volume of Frontal Cortex in Patients with Mood Disorders

BACKGROUND

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have relatively specific temperament and structural abnormalities of brain regions related to emotion and cognition. However, the effects of temperament factors on the structure of frontal and temporal cortex is still unclear. The aims of this study were to explore the differences and relationships between temperament characteristics and the gray matter volume of frontal and temporal cortex in patients with BD or MDD.

METHODS

T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, demographic and clinical information were obtained from 279 depressed patients (90 patients with BD, 189 patients with MDD) and 162 healthy controls (HC). Temperament was assessed with the Chinese short version of Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego - Auto questionnaire (TEMPS-A). The Desikan-Killiany atlas was used for yielding gray matter volume by FreeSurfer 6.0 software suite. A total of 22 frontal and temporal regions were chosen as regions of interest (ROIs).

RESULTS

Compared with patients with MDD, patients with BD had higher TEMPS-A total scores and scores on cyclothymic, irritable and hyperthymic subscales. The gray matter volume in bilateral rostral middle frontal gyrus (RMFG), left temporal pole and right superior frontal gyrus were reduced in patients with BD. Patients with MDD only had lower gray matter volume in bilateral temporal pole. In the pooled patients, there were negative associations between hyperthymia and gray matter volume in right RMFG.

CONCLUSION

Patients with BD and MDD had different temperament characteristics. The prominent temperament subscales in patients with BD were cyclothymia, irritable and hyperthymia. Patients with greater hyperthymia had lower gray matter volume in right frontal gyrus. Temperament may reflect an endophenotype in patients with mood disorders, especially in BD.

Children's language abilities predict success in remote communication contexts

Remote communicative contexts are part of everyday social, familial, and academic interactions for the modern child. We investigated the ability of second-graders to engage in remote discourse, and we determined whether language ability, theory of mind, and shy temperament predicted their success. Fifty 7-to-9-year-old monolingual English speakers with a wide range of language abilities participated in standardized testing and an expository discourse task in which they taught two adults to solve the Tower of London, one in an audiovisual condition to simulate video chat and a second in an audio-only condition to simulate phone communication. The discourse was scored with a rubric of 15 items deemed relevant to the explanation. Children included 27% to 87% of the items, with more items communicated via gesture than spoken word in both conditions. Gesture scores and spoken scores were highly correlated. Children specified more rubric items overall in the audio condition and more rubric items in the spoken modality when in the audio condition than the audiovisual condition. Performance in both conditions was positively associated with scores on independent measures of language ability. There was no relationship between performance and theory of mind, shy temperament, ability to solve the Tower of London, age, or sex. We conclude that 7-to-9-year-olds adjust the modality and content of their message to suit their remote partner's needs, but their success in remote discourse contexts varies significantly from individual to individual. Children with below-average language skills are at risk for functional impairments in remote communication.

Positive parenting, effortful control, and developmental outcomes across early childhood

The current study evaluated bidirectional associations between mother and father positive parenting and child effortful control. Data were drawn from 220 families when children were 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old. Parenting and effortful control were assessed when the child was 3, 4, and 5 years old. These variables were used to statistically predict child externalizing and school performance assessed when the child was 6 years old. The study used random intercept cross-lagged panel models to evaluate within-person and between-person associations between parenting and effortful control. Results suggest that prior positive parenting was associated with later effortful control, whereas effortful control was not associated with subsequent parenting from ages 3 to 5. Stable between-child differences in effortful control from ages 3 to 5 were associated with school performance at age 6. These stable between-child differences in effortful control were correlated with externalizing at age 3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Differences in the relation between temperament and vocabulary based on children's stuttering trajectories

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to assess the relation between temperament and vocabulary development for children who stutter and persist, children who stutter and recover and children who do not stutter.

METHODS

Participants, aged 3;0-4;11 at the start of the study, were followed for two years. They were classified as persisting (n = 10), recovered (n = 26), and non-stuttering (n = 24) based on multiple assessments of stuttering spaced across study participation. Groups were balanced for age and gender ratios. At each visit, participants completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th edition, and the Expressive Vocabulary Test, 2nd edition; caregivers completed the Children's Behavior Questionnaire.

RESULTS

For both persisting and recovered groups, higher negative emotionality was associated with lower receptive vocabulary. These associations were both significantly more negative than the non-stuttering group's association.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that receptive vocabulary development is differentially linked to temperament based on a child's stuttering status. As others have speculated (Conture & Walden, 2012), it appears as though there are salient associations between temperament, speech-language development, and childhood stuttering.

The longitudinal association between temperament and physical activity in young children

OBJECTIVE

To examine the longitudinal association of negative affect and physical activity in a population of preschool children.

STUDY DESIGN

Participants included 763 children (53% male) attending scheduled health supervision visits in their primary care physicians' offices. Data were collected at two time points at mean ages 27 (SD=5.4) and 47 (SD=6.2) months. Negative affect (NA) was measured using the Negative Affectivity (frustration/anger, decreased soothability) domain of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Physical Activity (PA) was assessed using a parent-report questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses tested the association between NA and PA, adjusting for child age, sex, z-BMI, PA at Time 1, maternal education, household income, and season, and examined for sex differences in the relationship between NA and PA.

RESULTS

The longitudinal association between NA at Time 1 and PA at Time 2 was moderated by sex (p<0.001). After adjusting for covariates, females with greater NA at Time 1 had decreased PA at Time 2 (p=0.01), whereas males with greater NA at Time 1 had increased PA at Time 2 (p=0.01). Specifically, among females, every 1 unit increase in NA at Time 1 was associated with a 9.9min/day decrease in PA at Time 2 (95% CI: -17.1, -2.8).

CONCLUSIONS

NA and PA were associated early in childhood and the effects of NA on PA were gender specific. These findings underscore the importance of longitudinal and gender-specific analyses in mood-obesity research.

The stability of temperament from early childhood to early adolescence: A multi-method, multi-informant examination

Temperament is a core aspect of children's psychological functioning and is assumed to be at least somewhat stable across childhood. However, little research has assessed the stability of temperament from early childhood to early adolescence. Moreover, few studies have examined the influence of measurement and analytic methods on the stability of early temperament over periods of more than a few years. We obtained laboratory observations and mother and father reports of temperamental negative and positive emotionality and effortful control from 559 three-year olds. Approximately 9 years later, children and both parents completed questionnaire measures of similar temperament constructs. Zero-order correlations revealed greater within- than cross-informant stability. In addition, compared to parent reports, early childhood laboratory measures showed greater convergent and divergent validity with child, mother, and father reports at age 12. Finally, latent temperament variables at age 3 composed of laboratory and parent-report measures and latent variables at age 12 composed of parent and child reports showed moderate stability. There was also a weak but significant association of early effortful control with later negative and positive emotionality. Results have implications for assessing temperament and knowledge of the stability of temperament across childhood.

Predicting toddler temperamental approach-withdrawal: Contributions of early approach tendencies, parenting behavior, and contextual novelty

Research suggests that temperamental approach-withdrawal is subject to parenting influences, but few studies have explored how specific parenting behaviors and contextual novelty contribute to the observed pattern of effects. The present study examined associations between infant temperamental approach, mother behavior while introducing novel objects (12 months) and temperamental approach-withdrawal in toddlerhood (18 months) in a sample of 132 infants (68 males). Maternal positive affect predicted more toddler approach-withdrawal for high-approach infants and maternal stimulation predicted less toddler approach-withdrawal for low-approach infants; however, these patterns varied with intensity of novelty in both parenting and toddler outcome contexts. Thus, maternal behavior may lead to stronger associations between earlier and later measures of approach-withdrawal; however, these effects are tied to contexts of measurement.

Internalizing Symptoms and Personality Traits Color Parental Reports of Child Temperament

OBJECTIVE

Depressed parents have negatively distorted views of the personalities and behaviors of their children. Our goal was to evaluate how other internalizing symptoms and personality traits relate to perceptions of child temperament using data from mothers and fathers as well as a novel statistical method for modeling multi-informant data.

METHOD

We applied the trifactor model (Bauer et al., 2013) to data collected from the parents of 273 children (aged 3-5 years).

RESULTS

Internalizing symptoms and personality traits were related to both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their children. Effects varied somewhat across dimensions of child temperament.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support concerns that psychological characteristics influence parental perceptions of their children. This research also provides insights about psychological predictors of potential parental biases.

Frontal Electroencephalogram Asymmetry and Temperament Across Infancy and Early Childhood: An Exploration of Stability and Bidirectional Relations

The stability of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, temperamental activity level and fear, as well as bidirectional relations between asymmetry and temperament across the first 4 years of life, were examined in a sample of 183 children. Children participated in annual laboratory visits through 48 months, providing EEG and maternal report of temperament. EEG asymmetry showed moderate stability between 10 and 24 months. Analyses revealed that more left asymmetry predicted later activity level across the first 3 years. Conversely, asymmetry did not predict fear. Rather, fear at 36 months predicted more right asymmetry at 48 months. Results highlight the need for additional longitudinal research of infants and children to increase understanding of bidirectional relations between EEG and temperament in typically developing populations.

Measurement invariance and child temperament: An evaluation of sex and informant differences on the Child Behavior Questionnaire

Parent reports of temperament are used to study many important topics in child development, such as whether boys and girls differ in their levels of emotional reactivity and self-regulation. However, questions regarding measurement equivalence in parental reports of temperament are largely unexplored, despite the fact that this issue is critical for drawing the correct conclusions from mean-level comparisons. In the current study, measurement invariance across boys and girls (as targets), and mothers and fathers (as informants), was investigated in the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart et al., 2001) using a sample of children ranging in age from 3 to 7 years (N = 605). Several instances of noninvariance were identified across both girls and boys, and mothers and fathers. An evaluation of effect size indices suggests that the practical impact of this noninvariance ranges from negligible to moderate. All told, this study illustrates the importance of taking a psychometrically informed approach to the use of parent reports of child temperament. (PsycINFO Database Record

Amygdala reactivity to sad faces in preschool children: An early neural marker of persistent negative affect

BACKGROUND

Elevated negative affect is a highly salient risk factor for later internalizing disorders. Very little is known about the early neurobiological correlates of negative affect and whether they associate with developmental changes in negative emotion. Such information may prove critical for identifying children deviating from normative developmental trajectories of negative affect and at increased risk for later internalizing disorders. The current study examined the relationship between amygdala activity and negative affect measured concurrently and approximately 12 months later in preschool-age children.

METHOD

Amygdala activity was assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 31 medication-naive preschool age children. Negative affect was measured using parent report both at the time of scan and 12 months later.

RESULTS

Negative affect at baseline was positively correlated with right amygdala activity to sad faces, right amygdala activity to happy faces, and left amygdala activity to happy faces. Right amygdala activity to sad faces also positively predicted parent-reported negative affect 12 months later even when negative affect reported at baseline was controlled.

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings provide preliminary evidence for amygdala activity as a potential biomarker of persistent negative affect during early childhood and suggest future work examining the origins and long-term implications of this relationship is necessary.

Application of the seven-factor-model of personality to an italian preschool sample

OBJECTIVE

Advances in dimensional assessment of children in healthy and clinical populations has renewed interest in the study of temperament. Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) has shown high reliability and internal consistency. Adult and adolescent versions have been translated into a number of languages and validated in cross-cultural studies worldwide. To date only one preschool-TCI-based study has been conducted in early infancy with teachers as observers. The present study is aimed to test an Italian Preschool version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (PsTCI). This is the first replication and the first validation study of TCI on preschoolers with parents as observers.

METHODS

395 preschool children, recruited from pediatric communities and day-care centres throughout Italy, participated in the study. Parents of each child enrolled in the study and completed a PsTCI about the child. Standard psychometric tests of reliability and validation were performed.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated the presence of distinct domains for temperament and character. TCI dimensions had good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha ranging values (|0.60|-|0.81|). Gender differences were found for Harm Avoidance (β=-0.186; p≤0.001) and Self-Directedness (β=-0.216; p≤0.01), and accounted for 5-35arm-38-702- of the observed variance.

CONCLUSION

The present work suggests the psychological complexity of Cloninger's model and confirms its application in pre-school children from diverse environmental and cultural backgrounds. The results confirm that Cloninger's instrument for temperament and character evaluations can also be used with different observers and highlight the importance of considering cultural and demographic differences in the assessment of temperament and character in preschoolers.

From positive emotionality to internalizing problems: the role of executive functioning in preschoolers

Temperament and psychopathology are intimately related; however, research on the prospective associations between positive emotionality, defined as a child's positive mood states and high engagement with the environment, and psychopathology is inconclusive. We examined the longitudinal relation between positive emotionality and internalizing problems in young children from the general population. Furthermore, we explored whether executive functioning mediates any observed association. Within a population-based Dutch birth cohort, we observed positive emotionality in 802 children using the laboratory temperament assessment battery at age 3 years. Child behavior checklist (CBCL) internalizing problems (consisting of Emotionally Reactive, Anxious/Depressed, and Withdrawn scales) were assessed at age 6 years. Parents rated their children's executive functioning at ages 4 years. Children with a lower positive emotionality at age 3 had a higher risk of withdrawn problems at age 6 years (OR = 1.20 per SD decrease in positive emotionality score, 95 % CI: 1.01, 1.42). This effect was not explained by preexisting internalizing problems. This association was partly mediated by more problems in the shifting domain of executive functioning (p < 0.001). We did not find any relation between positive emotionality and the CBCL emotionally reactive or anxious/depressed scales. Although the effect sizes were moderate, our results suggest that low levels of positive emotionality at preschool age can result in children's inflexibility and rigidity later in life. The inflexibility and rigidity are likely to affect the child's drive to engage with the environment, and thereby lead to withdrawn problems. Further research is needed to replicate these findings.

Differential susceptibility effects: the interaction of negative emotionality and sibling relationship quality on childhood internalizing problems and social skills

Whereas socialization influences in early childhood have been linked to children's emerging internalizing problems and prosocial behavior, relatively few studies have examined how NE might moderate such associations in both advantageous and maladaptive ways. Furthermore, more research is needed to evaluate the impact of sibling relationships as an influential socialization influence on these child outcomes. In the current study we examined how NE might differentially moderate the associations between quality of relationships with siblings and both internalizing problems and social skills at school entry. NE moderated the effects of positive and destructive sibling relationship quality on child internalizing problems. Specifically, for boys high on NE, more positive sibling relationship quality predicted fewer internalizing problems, but more destructive sibling conflict predicted more internalizing problems. NE also moderated the effects of destructive sibling conflict on child social skills. For boys high on NE, destructive sibling conflict predicted fewer social skills. Boys high on NE appear to show greater susceptibility to the effects of sibling socialization on child outcomes, relative to boys low on NE. The implications of these interactions are discussed with respect to differential susceptibility theory.