Intimate relationships, both romantic relationships and friendships, are of special importance for identity development in emerging adulthood. In the current study, we investigated longitudinal ...associations between Big Five personality traits and relationship quality (romantic relationships and friendships) and whether these associations are mediated by identity. A sample of emerging adults (N = 372, 55% women) completed self-report questionnaires on personality and identity in 2015 (Mage = 21.90 years, SD = 1.16) and on quality of friendships and romantic relationships 3 years later. By using MPlus, we tested the multivariate mediating effect of identity dimensions in the relationship among Big Five personality and quality of relationships. No mediation of identity dimensions was found. Extraversion predicted higher friendship quality 3 years later and exploration in depth was positively associated with friendship quality. Regarding romantic relationship quality, no significant direct or indirect effects were found. However, personality predicted multiple identity dimensions.
Objective
This study examined long‐term developmental changes in mother‐rated lower‐order facets of children's Big Five dimensions.
Method
Two independent community samples covering early childhood ...(2–4.5 years; N = 365, 39% girls) and middle childhood to the end of middle adolescence (6–17 years; N = 579, 50% girls) were used. All children had the Belgian nationality. Developmental changes were examined using cohort‐sequential latent growth modeling on the 18 facets of the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children.
Results
In early childhood, changes were mostly similar across child gender. Between 2 and 4.5 years, several facets showed mean‐level stability; others changed in the direction of less Extraversion and Emotional Stability, and more Benevolence and Imagination. The lower‐order facets of Conscientiousness showed opposite changes. Gender differences became more apparent from middle childhood onward for facets of all dimensions except Imagination, for which no gender differences were found. Between 6 and 17 years, same‐dimension facets showed different shapes of growth. Facets that changed linearly changed mostly in the direction of less Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Imagination. Changes in facets for which nonlinear growth was found generally moved in direction or magnitude during developmental transitions.
Conclusion
This study provides comprehensive, fine‐grained knowledge about personality development during the first two decades of life.
The transition to secondary school is accompanied by the fragmentation of peer groups, while adolescents are also confronted with heightened incidents of bullying and increased levels of ...internalizing problems. Victimization, peer rejection, and internalizing problems are known to be interrelated, but how they influence each other over time remains unclear. We tested the direction of these associations by applying a cross-lagged path model among a large sample of Finnish adolescents (
N
= 5645; 49.1 % boys;
M
age at T1 = 14.0 years) after they transitioned to secondary school (grades 7–9). Self-reported depression, anxiety, and victimization and peer-reported rejection were measured 3 times over the course of 1 year. Results showed that depression was predictive of subsequent victimization for both boys and girls, in line with a symptoms-driven model; for girls, anxiety was reciprocally related to victimization, in line with a transactional model; for boys, victimization was related to subsequent anxiety, in line with an interpersonal risk model. Peer rejection was not directly related to depression or anxiety, but among girls peer rejection was bi-directionally related to victimization. Overall, our results suggest that associations between internalizing problems and peer relations differ between depression and anxiety and between genders. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.
Purpose
A vast amount of studies suggest that internalizing or externalizing problems are related to individual functioning, and often co-occur. Yet, a focus on their additive and interactive effects ...is scarce. Furthermore, most research has focused on a limited number of developmental domains and mostly on maladaptive functioning. Therefore, the current prospective study examined whether early childhood (ages 4–8) internalizing and externalizing problems and their interaction were related to a broad range of (mal)adaptive functioning outcomes in emerging adulthood (ages 20–24).
Methods
Data from the Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality and Development were used. At Time 1 (1999) mothers of 374 children (45% boys) and fathers of 357 children (46% boys) rated internalizing and externalizing problems through the Child Behavior Checklist. Outcomes in emerging adulthood were measured through self-reports 16 years later across the following domains: psychological functioning, social functioning, work, physical health, and self-concept.
Results
Early externalizing problems were related to maladaptive outcomes on the psychological and social domains. With regard to adaptive functioning, externalizing problems were associated with lower satisfaction regarding general health on the physical domain. Early internalizing problems were not associated with any emerging adulthood outcomes. The interaction of (father reported) internalizing and externalizing problems was related to aggressive behavior.
Conclusion
Early childhood externalizing problems were associated with maladaptive and adaptive functioning over a time span of 16 years. The results add to studies on the implementation of prevention and intervention programs in early childhood and to the value for developing personalized interventions.
Aim The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Dyskinesia Impairment Scale (DIS). The DIS consists of two subscales: dystonia and choreoathetosis. It measures both ...phenomena in dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP).
Method Twenty‐five participants with dyskinetic CP (17 males; eight females; age range 5–22y; mean age 13y 6mo; SD 5y 4mo), recruited from special schools for children with motor disorders, were included. Exclusion criteria were changes in muscle relaxant medication within the previous 3 months, orthopaedic or neurosurgical interventions within the previous year, and spinal fusion. Interrater reliability was verified by two independent raters. For interrater reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients were assessed. Standard error of measurement, the minimal detectable difference, and Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency were determined. For concurrent validity of the DIS dystonia subscale, the Barry–Albright Dystonia Scale was administered.
Results The intraclass correlation coefficient for the total DIS score and the two subscales ranged between 0.91 and 0.98 for interrater reliability. The reliability of the choreoathetosis subscale was found to be higher than that of the dystonia subscale. The standard error of the measurement and minimal detectable difference values were adequate. Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.89 to 0.93. Pearson’s correlation between the dystonia subscale and Barry–Albright Dystonia Scale was 0.84 (p<0.001).
Interpretation Good to excellent reliability and validity were found for the DIS. The DIS may be promising for increasing insights into the natural history of dyskinetic CP and evaluating interventions. Future research on the responsiveness of the DIS is warranted.
Longitudinal bidirectional effects between parents and children are usually studied in samples of typically developing children, but remain understudied in families with a child with autism spectrum ...disorder. This three-wave longitudinal study examined how parents and children with autism spectrum disorder influence one another, relying on parent reports of parenting behaviors and children's problem behaviors across 9 years, in a sample of 139 youngsters (M age Time 1 = 10.2 years, 83% boys). Cross-lagged analyses indicated that children's externalizing problems at Time 1 predicted negative controlling parenting 6 years later (Time 2) that in turn predicted externalizing problems 3 years later (Time 3). Negative parental control at Time 1 also increased the risk for internalizing problems at Time 2. It was surprising that externalizing problems at Time 2 also predicted positive parental involvement at Time 3. Thus, although results indicate that externalizing problems generally elicit maladaptive reactions in parents, this study also suggests that parents adjust their way of reacting to externalizing child problems as their child reaches adolescence/emerging adulthood. Implications for future research on parenting dynamics in families with a child with autism spectrum disorder are discussed.
Social media use has been associated with negative effects on mental health, but little is known about the role of personality pathology in predicting social media use. To address this gap, this ...longitudinal study examined the relationship between self-reported pathological personality domains (Short Form Personality Inventory for the DSM-5; PID-5-SF), social media use (hours per day) and social media self-control failure measured 3 years later. A total of 368 emerging adults ( M age = 24.86 years, SD = 1.11, 55% female) were included. Using a multivariate mediation model, we investigated whether pathological personality traits relate to social media use through social media self-control failure. Results indicated that while no direct relationships were observed, social media self-control failure served as an indirect-only mediator between the pathological personality domain of disinhibition and social media use. These findings have implications for clinical practice in identifying individuals at risk for higher social media use.
This study provides a test of how personality may shape social behaviors in a long-lasting dyad: the parent-adolescent relationship. In a large Belgian community sample, it was examined which parent ...Big Five characteristics were related to parenting and whether adolescent Big Five characteristics elicited certain parenting behaviors. Further, the proposition that individual differences are amplified under stress was examined by exploring whether parent personality was differentially related to parenting for parents of "easy" versus "difficult" adolescents. Moreover, possible differences in associations across parental and adolescent gender were explored. Mothers (N = 467) and fathers (N = 428) reported on their personality using the Five-Factor Personality Inventory; adolescents (N = 475) assessed their personality with the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children. Two types of parenting behaviors, overreactive discipline and warmth, were assessed 2 years later by parent self-reports, partner reports, and adolescent reports, from which multi-informant latent factors were created. Results indicate that parental personality was more relevant than adolescent personality for explaining overreactivity, but parent and adolescent personality were similarly relevant in explaining warmth. Especially parental and adolescent Agreeableness and adolescent Extraversion were important predictors of both types of parenting. Associations between parental personality and parenting were similarly related to parents of easy versus difficult adolescents, and for mothers and fathers parenting daughters or sons. Together, results show that parent characteristics as well as adolescent characteristics importantly affect dysfunctional and adaptive parenting.
Abstract
Children with autistic symptoms experience challenges in school settings, yet little is known about their academic profiles and the mechanisms underlying the association between autistic ...symptoms and academic achievement. This study examined the association between autistic symptoms and academic achievement in a population-based sample of children with and without (sub)clinical autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We also investigated potential sex differences and assessed if the association is mediated by vocabulary skills and behavior problems. Information was available for 2038 participants (48.3% boys), and autistic symptoms were assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale (
M
= 6.8 years). Diagnosis of ASD was clinically confirmed in 28 children. Academic achievement was determined by a nationwide, standardized test assessed at the end of primary school (
M
= 11.8 years). Children with more autistic symptoms in early childhood had lower achievement scores in language, mathematics, and world orientation by the end of primary education. There were no sex differences. Furthermore, vocabulary skills and behavior problems partly mediated the association between autistic symptoms and academic achievement. Then, by using propensity matching technique, we compared 140 matched typically developing peers with 28 children diagnosed with ASD. These results indicated no differences in academic achievement between children diagnosed with ASD and their matched typically developing peers. We conclude that autistic symptoms associate with lower academic achievement but by carefully matching on background variables and potential confounders, the academic achievement of children with clinical ASD might not differ from that of their typically developing peers.
The purpose of this study was to advance the current understanding of the daily dynamics that are involved in raising a child with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Specifically, we examined the role of mindful ...parenting and of day-to-day variation in parents' psychological needs and child behavior in explaining day-to-day variation in parents' autonomy-supportive, psychologically controlling, and responsive parenting behavior. Parents (N = 58) of children with CP (Mage = 12.68 years) participated in a 7-day diary study. Multilevel analyses indicated that parents' autonomy-supportive, psychologically controlling, and responsive behaviors fluctuate considerably between days. Further, daily fluctuations in both child behavior and parents' own psychological needs were found to be associated with this daily variability in parenting. In addition, interindividual differences in mindful parenting were associated positively with parents' responsiveness and negatively with psychologically controlling parenting across the week. These findings point towards the changeability of parenting behavior among parents of a child with CP and suggest that interventions targeting parenting behavior in the context of CP will be most effective when taking into account both the parents' and the child's functioning.