Conscientiousness and externalizing psychopathology: Overlap, developmental patterns, and etiology of two related constructs

Disinhibition domain and facets uniquely predict changes in depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning

This study aimed to understand the role of disinhibition (low conscientiousness)-in conjunction with the other major personality traits of negative affectivity, detachment, antagonism, and psychoticism-in predicting changes in depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning. Both the disinhibition trait domain and its primary facets (i.e., irresponsibility, impulsivity, and distractibility) were examined. In a large sample (Time 1 N = 605, Time 2 N = 497) of psychiatric outpatients and high-risk community residents, personality traits, depressive symptoms (both self-reported and interviewer-rated), and psychosocial functioning levels (i.e., daily functioning, interpersonal functioning, health-related quality of life, and global quality of life) were collected across two time points. Results showed that the disinhibition domain was the strongest predictor of changes in depressive symptoms and general quality of life levels. Disinhibition facets also predicted changes in depressive symptoms but showed a less consistent pattern compared to the broader trait domain. Finally, the irresponsibility and distractibility facets significantly and uniquely explained changes in interpersonal functioning. The study highlights the importance of assessing the disinhibition trait rather than only negative and positive affectivity (which are well-known correlates of depression), for understanding changes in depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning. The findings identify potential targets in psychotherapy for individuals with disinhibition traits and depressive disorders.

Health Literacy and Personality Traits in Two Types of Family Structure-A Cross-Sectional Study in China

Objective

The level of health literacy is one of the important factors affecting health outcomes. Family is an important place to shape personality traits, and people with different personalities will adopt different lifestyles, which will lead to variations in health outcomes. Therefore, this article aims to explore the relationship between health literacy and personality and its influencing factors in different family structures.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study with 1,406 individuals. A questionnaire was utilized to measure health literacy, personality and demographic variables, including family structure. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used to examine the relation between health literacy and personality traits between two types of family structure.

Results

CCA showed that the canonical correlation coefficients were 0.309 (p < 0.001) and 0.347 (p < 0.001), in two-parent family and single-parent family, respectively. The openness of personality traits exhibited the highest correlation with health literacy. Compared with the remaining personality traits, openness yielded the strongest effect (β = 0.485 and β = 0.830) in two types of family structure, respectively. Education and monthly income were significantly associated with health literacy.

Conclusion

Our results support the relation between health literacy and personality traits in two types of family structure.

Towards better microsleep predictions in fatigued drivers: exploring benefits of personality traits and IQ

Fatigued driving is one of the main contributors to road traffic accidents. Poor sleep quality and lack of sleep negatively affect driving performance, and extreme states of fatigue can cause microsleep (i.e., short episodes of sleep with complete loss of awareness). Driver monitoring systems analyse biosignals (e.g., gaze, blinking, heart rate) and vehicle data (e.g., steering wheel movements, lane holding, acceleration) to detect states of fatigue and prevent accidents. We argue that inter-individual differences in personality, sensation seeking behaviour, and intelligence could improve microsleep prediction, in addition to sleepiness. We tested 144 male participants in a supervised driving track after 27 hours of sleep deprivation. More than 74% of drivers experienced microsleep, after an average driving time of 52 min. Overall, prediction models for microsleep vulnerability and driving time before microsleep were significantly improved by conscientiousness, sensation seeking and non-verbal IQ, in addition to situational sleepiness, as individual risk factors. Practitioner summary: This study offers valuable insights for the design of driver monitoring systems. The use of individual risk factors such as conscientiousness, sensation seeking, and non-verbal IQ can increase microsleep prediction. These findings may improve monitoring systems based solely on physiological signals (e.g., blinking, heart rate) and vehicle data (e.g., steering wheel movements, acceleration, cornering). Abbreviations: ADAC: Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club; ANOVA: analysis of variance; AIC: Akaike information criteria; CI: confidence interval; GPS: global positioning system; IQ: intelligence quotient; IQR: inter quartile range; KSS: Karolinska sleepiness scale; NEO-PI-R: revised NEO personality inventory; OLS: ordinary least squares; PSQI: Pittsburgh sleep quality index; SPM: standard progressive matrices; SSS: sensation seeking scale; WHO: World Health Organization.

Personality change during substance use disorder treatment is associated with improvements in abstinence self-efficacy post-treatment among U.S. military veterans

Prior research suggests that personality traits change during substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. However, the extent to which changes in traits during SUD treatment are associated with subsequent improvements in treatment outcomes remains untested. Among U.S. military veterans (n = 200) enrolled in SUD residential treatment, we examined whether changes in the personality factors of positive emotionality (PEM), negative emotionality (NEM), and constraint (CON) during treatment were associated with subsequent changes in abstinence self-efficacy and SUD symptoms. We analyzed data at treatment entry, discharge, and 12-months post-discharge via univariate and bivariate latent change score models. During treatment, PEM, CON, and abstinence self-efficacy increased, while NEM decreased, on average. Changes in NEM and CON were largely sustained, whereas PEM and abstinence self-efficacy significantly decreased post-treatment. SUD symptoms decreased from pre- to post-treatment. In bivariate models, higher levels of NEM at baseline were associated with less improvement in both abstinence self-efficacy during treatment and SUD symptoms pre- to post-treatment. Higher levels of CON at baseline were associated with greater improvement in SUD symptoms pre- to post-treatment, and increases in CON during treatment were associated with greater retention of treatment gains in abstinence self-efficacy post-treatment. Greater improvements in CON during treatment were also associated with greater improvements in SUD symptoms pre- to post-treatment in unadjusted (p = 0.041) but not adjusted models (p = 0.089). Our findings suggest that personality changes marked by improvements in impulse control over the course of SUD treatment may be linked to subsequent improvements in treatment outcomes and may have value as a proximal treatment target among SUD patients during residential care.

The significance of early parent-child attachment for emerging regulation: A longitudinal investigation of processes and mechanisms from toddler age to preadolescence

Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad (1998; Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Cumberland, 1998) included parent-child attachment as a key dimension of the early emotion socialization environment. We examined processes linking children's early attachment with social regulation and adjustment in preadolescence in 102 community mothers, fathers, and children. Security of attachment, assessed at 2 years, using observers' Attachment Q-Set (Waters, 1987), was posited as a significant, although indirect, predictor of children's adaptive social regulation at 10 and 12 years. We proposed that security initiated paths to future social regulation by promoting children's capacities for emotion regulation in response to frustration at 3, 4.5, and 5.5 years: having to suppress a desired behavior, observed in delay tasks, to regulate anger, observed in parent-child control contexts, and a traitlike tendency to regulate anger when frustrated, rated by parents. We conceptualized adaptive social regulation at 10 and 12 years as encompassing regulation of negative emotional tone, observed in diverse parent-child interactions, parent-rated regulation of negativity in broad social interactions, and child-reported internalization of adults' values and standards of conduct. Multiple-mediation analyses documented two paths parallel for mother- and father-child relationships: From security to emotion regulation in delay tasks to internalization of adults' values, and from security to parent-rated traitlike regulation of anger to parent-rated regulation of negativity in broad social interactions. Two additional paths were present for mothers and children only. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Observed Personality in Preschool: Associations with Current and Longitudinal Symptoms

Personality is consistently associated with psychopathology across the lifespan. However, little is known of how observed personality dimensions in preschoolers are associated with concurrent or longitudinal symptoms across development. Spectrum, vulnerability, and pathopolasty models theorize how child personality and psychopathology are related across development. The current study tests these three models using observationally coded personality dimensions in a longitudinal sample of preschoolers. A validated 'thin slice' technique was used to code observed Five Factor Model (FFM) personality dimensions of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience in a clinically enriched preschool sample oversampled for depression (N = 299). Children were followed longitudinally for 9 years while assessing dimensional psychological symptoms and global functioning. Longitudinal multilevel models testing the spectrum, or shared underlying factor model, indicated depressive symptoms in adolescence were predicted by higher preschool extraversion and lower agreeableness and conscientiousness, externalizing symptoms were predicted by lower agreeableness and higher neuroticism, and worse global functioning was predicted by higher extraversion and neuroticism, and lower agreeableness and conscientiousness. Some associations held after accounting for the influence of baseline psychological symptoms, indicating support for a vulnerability relationship between personality and later psychopathology. No support was demonstrated for pathoplasty models such that personality did not influence the developmental course or change of psychopathology over time. Findings indicate personality dimensions measured as early as the preschool period prospectively impact psychopathology and functioning across child development, demonstrating support for both a spectrum and vulnerability relationship between youth personality and psychopathology.

Evidence for childhood origins of conscientiousness: Testing a developmental path from toddler age to adolescence

We tested empirically a theoretical model of early origins of conscientiousness proposed by Eisenberg, Duckworth, Spinrad, and Valiente (2014). The model posited a developmental interplay between children's early effortful control (EC) and internalized or committed compliance with parents as leading to future conscientiousness. We followed a community sample of 102 community mothers, fathers, and children from toddlerhood to adolescence. Observers coded children's EC in batteries of behavioral tasks (at ages 2 and 3) and committed compliance in lengthy discipline interactions with each parent, observed from preschool to early school age (at ages 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5). Parents rated adolescents' conscientiousness using an established personality questionnaire (at age 14). We supported several components of the theoretical model. Mediation analyses, conducted at the family level (across mother-child and father-child dyads) and separate analyses for mother-child and father-child dyads all supported the mediated path, from child EC to committed compliance to conscientiousness. Analyses for mother-child dyads additionally revealed that the indirect effect was present only for children with relatively low EC scores but not those with relatively high EC scores (moderated mediation), also as anticipated in the theoretical model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychosocial Influences of the Escalation of Deviance: The Case of Prescription Drug Sniffing

The escalation of deviant behavior remains a central issue for criminologists, although mechanisms of intensification remain understudied. Using a sample of prescription drug misusers recruited via time-space sampling, we test five theoretically informed hypotheses on social and psychological factors - sensation seeking; coping; stigma; peer drug associations; use for pleasant times with peers - that may impact the escalation of deviance via non-normative consumption. Social factors - peer drug associations and use for pleasant time with peers - as well as stigma were associated with escalation. Sensation seeking was mediated by social factors. Social contexts are crucial for the intensification of deviant behavior.

Contextualizing individual differences in error monitoring: Links with impulsivity, negative affect, and conscientiousness

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a neural measure of error processing that has been implicated as a neurobehavioral trait and has transdiagnostic links with psychopathology. Few studies, however, have contextualized this traitlike component with regard to dimensions of personality that, as intermediate constructs, may aid in contextualizing links with psychopathology. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the interrelationships between error monitoring and dimensions of personality within a large adult sample (N = 208). Building on previous research, we found that the ERN relates to a combination of negative affect, impulsivity, and conscientiousness. At low levels of conscientiousness, negative urgency (i.e., impulsivity in the context of negative affect) predicted an increased ERN; at high levels of conscientiousness, the effect of negative urgency was not significant. This relationship was driven specifically by the conscientiousness facets of competence, order, and deliberation. Links between personality measures and error positivity amplitude were weaker and nonsignificant. Post-error slowing was also related to conscientiousness, as well as a different facet of impulsivity: lack of perseverance. These findings suggest that, in the general population, error processing is modulated by the joint combination of negative affect, impulsivity, and conscientiousness (i.e., the profile across traits), perhaps more so than any one dimension alone. This work may inform future research concerning aberrant error processing in clinical populations.

Personality Traits Predict the Developmental Course of Externalizing: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Study Spanning Age 17 to Age 29

The objective of the present study was to determine whether and how personality predicts the developmental course of externalizing problems, including antisocial behavior and substance dependence. In a large, population-based longitudinal study (N = 1,252), the 11 personality traits assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire were measured at age 17, and DSM diagnoses of adult antisocial behavior, alcohol dependence, and drug dependence were obtained at ages 17, 20, 24, and 29. We fit a quadratic multiple indicator latent growth model where the three diagnoses loaded onto an externalizing factor. This model fit the data well, and externalizing increased until it started to decline at age 24. High aggression and low control were the most significant predictors of the development of externalizing, with aggression playing a significant role in the development of externalizing across the 12-year time span, and control predicting the development from age 17 to 24. The findings highlight the importance of considering the developmental course of externalizing in the context of personality and suggest that the specific personality traits of aggression and control might be targeted in externalizing prevention and intervention programs.

Conscientiousness increases efficiency of multicomponent behavior

Many everyday situations require the flexible interruption and changing of different actions to achieve a goal. Several strategies can be applied to do so, but those requiring high levels of cognitive control seem to confer an efficiency (speed) advantage in situations requiring multi-component behavior. However, it is elusive in how far personality traits affect performance in such situations. Given that top-down control is an important aspect of personality and furthermore correlates with conscientiousness, N = 163 participants completed the NEO-FFI and performed an experimental (stop-change) paradigm assessing multicomponent behavior. Applying mathematical constraints to the behavioral data, we estimated the processing strategy of each individual. The results show that multicomponent behavior is selectively affected by conscientiousness which explained approximately 19% of the measured inter-individual behavioral variance. Conscientiousness should hence be seen as a major personality dimension modulating multicomponent behavior. Highly conscientious people showed a more effective, step-by-step processing strategy of different actions necessary to achieve a goal. In situations with simultaneous requirements, this strategy equipped them with an efficiency (speed) advantage towards individuals with lower conscientiousness. In sum, the results show that strategies and the efficiency with which people cope with situations requiring multicomponent behavior are strongly influenced by their personality.

Person-environment transactions: personality traits moderate and mediate the effects of child sexual victimization on psychopathology

Personality, environmental adversity and psychopathology are related, and different models have been proposed to explain their interaction. The theory of person-environment transactions may elucidate the role of personality in these interactions beyond traditional conceptualizations. To our knowledge, hardly any studies have explored the relationships between the Five Factor Model, child sexual victimization and general psychopathology. We hypothesized (1) that neuroticism and conscientiousness will moderate the effect of sexual victimization on psychopathology and (2) that neuroticism will mediate the relationship between sexual victimization and psychopathology. Our findings partially support these hypotheses. Neuroticism, conscientiousness and sexual victimization have a direct effect on psychopathology, whereas extraversion, openness to experience and agreeableness do not. With regard to interactive effects, conscientiousness, but not neuroticism, moderates the effect of sexual victimization on psychopathology, and neuroticism does mediate the aforementioned effect. No other interactions were found with regard to extraversion, agreeableness or openness to experience. To our knowledge, the present study represents the first global test of person-environment transactions with regard to psychopathology and sexual victimization within the framework of the Five Factor Model.

Differential changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking and the escalation of substance use from adolescence to early adulthood

Recent evidence suggests that impulsivity and sensation seeking are not stable risk factors for substance use among adolescents and early adults but rather that they undergo significant developmental maturation and change. Further, developmental trends of both personality facets may vary across individuals. In the current investigation, we used longitudinal data from ages 15 to 26 on 5,632 individuals drawn from the offspring generation of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine whether interindividual differences in intraindividual change in impulsivity and sensation seeking predicted the escalation of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use in adolescence and early adulthood. Latent growth curve models revealed significant individual differences in rates of change in both personality and substance use. Age-related changes in personality were positively associated with individual differences in substance-use change. Individuals who declined more slowly in impulsivity increased in alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette more rapidly, whereas individuals who declined more slowly in sensation seeking increased more rapidly in alcohol use only. Although risk for substance use across the population may peak during adolescence and early adulthood, this risk may be highest among those who decline more gradually in impulsivity.

Conscientiousness mediates the relation between perceived parental socialisation and self-rated health

The pathways between parenting behaviours, personality and physical health have all been separately studied. Prior research has paid little attention to the indirect effects of personality in the path between parenting behaviours and better health. The purpose of this study was to explore the mediational effects of conscientiousness on the relationships between parental socialisation of responsibility and self-rated health, and to examine potential age differences in this mediational pathway. In total, 736 female and 749 male members across Japan participated in this study. They were divided into three groups by age category: younger-, middle-aged and older-aged. Conscientiousness and health were concurrently rated, while parental socialisation of responsibility was retrospectively assessed. Our analyses revealed that parental socialisation of responsibility is positively associated with conscientiousness and self-rated health, that conscientiousness is positively associated with self-rated health, and that conscientiousness fully mediated the effect of parental socialisation of responsibility on self-rated health. The mediational links were consistent across younger, middle-aged and older-aged cohorts. Our findings suggest that greater parental socialisation of responsibility relates to higher conscientiousness, and consequently healthier adults. These findings imply that parental behaviours could be a plausible target for intervention to foster the development of conscientiousness and better health.

Age-independent effects of pubertal status on behavioral constraint in healthy adolescents

Studies have examined age-related changes in personality traits from adolescence through young adulthood, finding that aspects of negative emotionality decrease while conscientiousness increases over time. Varied mechanisms may underlie these transitions, including puberty-driven hormonal changes. Here, healthy adolescents completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire-Brief Form and self-report measures of pubertal status at baseline and after two years. Independent of age, pubertal status impacted primary trait scales of the MPQ-BF Constraint factor in a sex-specific manner. Females decreased in Constraint, and particularly Control, while males increased in Constraint, and particularly Harm Avoidance, with advancing puberty. Longitudinal analyses validated these findings for Control. Findings are discussed relative to males' versus females' achievement of optimal levels of behavioral control in adolescence.

Deconstructing the age-prevalence curve of alcohol dependence: why "maturing out" is only a small piece of the puzzle

Epidemiological studies have consistently demonstrated that heavy alcohol use and alcohol dependence (AD) tend to increase in adolescence and emerging adulthood and then show a large decline in the late 20s, a phenomenon called maturing out. This decline has been explained as an effect of "role incompatibility" in which involvement in new roles and activities interferes with a heavy drinking lifestyle. However, maturing out has been conceived mostly as a decrease in offset, with little attention paid to reductions in new onset or recurrence across decades of life. Moreover, although role incompatibility processes have been studied with young samples, little is known about the effect of life transitions (e.g., marriage, parenthood, changes in employment status) on AD later in life and whether similar effects are observed. Using longitudinal data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative epidemiologic survey, we examined the patterns of stability and change in AD across the life span and the differential effect of life transitions on AD across different age strata. Results showed that persistence of AD tended to increase with age, although not dramatically, and that onset and recurrence tended to decrease with age. Moreover, the effects of life transitions on the course of AD varied across the life span and were different for men and women. These results indicate that life transitions differentially affect the patterns of stability and change in younger versus older people, have a different impact for men and women, and highlight the need to consider the unique aspects of each stage of adult development on the course of AD.

Deriving an empirical structure of personality pathology for DSM-5

The DSM-IV model of personality disorders is composed of trait sets arranged into 10 theoretically distinct, polythetically assessed categories, with little regard for how the traits comprising these disorders are interrelated and structured. Research since the publication of DSM-III has shown that this model is untenable. The question is not whether this model needs revision; rather, the question is how to move from the existing DSM-IV framework to a model better connected with data. Empirically-based models of personality trait variation provide a starting point for DSM-5, and ongoing research will be used to delineate further the empirical structure of personality traits in the pathological range. The ultimate goal is to frame future DSMs in a way that is maximally useful for clinicians as well as researchers. It is also critical to understand that the DSM-5 is intended to be a living document that will facilitate novel inquiry and clinical applications, as opposed to a document designed to promote and perpetuate a fixed set of constructs. Thus, we view a proposed trait system as a first step on a path to a well-validated, clinically-useful structure.

The long shadow cast by childhood physical and mental problems on adult life

In this article we assess and compare long-term adult socioeconomic status impacts from having experienced psychological and physical health problems in childhood. To do so, we use unique prospective data from the British National Child Development Study, a continuing panel study of a cohort of 17,634 children born in Great Britain during a single week in March 1958. To date there have been nine waves for this birth cohort to monitor their physical, educational, and social development, during childhood (at birth and 7, 11, and 16 y) and adulthood (age 23, 33, 42, 46, and 50 y). Excellent contemporaneous information exists throughout childhood on physical and psychological health, captured by doctor and nurse-led medical examinations and detailed parental and teacher questionnaires. This information is combined with a wealth of contemporaneous information on adult health and economic experiences collected from cohort members. Information includes their economic circumstances (earnings, labor supply, and other sources of family income), physical and psychological health, and relationship status. Large effects are found due to childhood psychological problems on the ability of affected children to work and earn as adults and on intergenerational and within-generation social mobility. Adult family incomes are reduced by 28% by age 50 y, with sustained impacts on labor supply, marriage stability, and the conscientiousness and agreeableness components of the "Big Five" personality traits. Effects of psychological health disorders during childhood are far more important over a lifetime than physical health problems.

Absorbed in the task: Personality measures predict engagement during task performance as tracked by error negativity and asymmetrical frontal activity

We hypothesized that interactions between traits and context predict task engagement, as measured by the amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN), performance, and relative frontal activity asymmetry (RFA). In Study 1, we found that drive for reward, absorption, and constraint independently predicted self-reported persistence. We hypothesized that, during a prolonged monotonous task, absorption would predict initial ERN amplitudes, constraint would delay declines in ERN amplitudes and deterioration of performance, and drive for reward would predict left RFA when a reward could be obtained. Study 2, employing EEG recordings, confirmed our predictions. The results showed that most traits that have in previous research been related to ERN amplitudes have a relationship with the motivational trait persistence in common. In addition, trait-context combinations that are likely associated with increased engagement predict larger ERN amplitudes and RFA. Together, these results support the hypothesis that engagement may be a common underlying factor predicting ERN amplitude.