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

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

Association of a polymorphism of the dopamine transporter gene with externalizing behavior problems and associated temperament traits: a longitudinal study from infancy to the mid-teens

There have been reports that a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism situated in the 3' untranslated region of the dopamine transporter gene is associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. On the basis of these findings, we predicted an association of this polymorphism with hyperactivity, other externalizing behavior problems, and related temperament traits in a general population sample. The association was investigated using children participating in a longitudinal study of childhood temperament and development. DNA was taken from 660 children who had been assessed for temperament from 4-8 months to 15-16 years, and for behavior problems from 3-4 to 15-16 years. No significant associations were found at any age. There are a number of methodological differences from earlier studies that might explain the lack of associations with hyperactivity. It is also possible that the earlier findings are not replicable.     

Bias in self-perceptions and internalizing and externalizing problems in adjustment during early adolescence: a prospective investigation.

We investigated bias in self-perceptions of competence (relative to parent ratings) for family, school, and peer domains as predictors of adjustment problems among 139 young adolescents over a 1-year period using a prospective design. Regressions examined measures of bias at Time 1 (T1) as predictors of ratings of internalizing and externalizing problems at Time 2 (T2), controlling for T1 adjustment ratings. For the family domain, curvilinear trends were found. Follow-up analyses revealed that for this domain both negative bias (self-perceptions less favorable than parent ratings) and positive bias (self-perceptions more favorable than parent ratings) predicted greater internalizing and externalizing problems as rated by youth, parents, and teachers. For the peer domain, higher scores on the measure of bias predicted greater internalizing and externalizing problems as rated by teachers. These findings are consistent with the view that accuracy in self-perceptions of competence can have important implications across multiple domains of development.     

Allostasis and the development of internalizing and externalizing problems: changing relations with physiological systems across adolescence

Allostasis, or the maintenance of stability through physiological change, refers to the process by which individuals adjust to the continually changing demands that are put upon somatic activity by salient events. Bauer and colleagues proposed that allostasis could be detected through patterns of the joint reactivity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis system under stressful conditions. We examined the associations between ANS and HPA reactivity and the development of externalizing and internalizing problems over 2 years in a sample of 215 adolescents. The interactions of ANS and HPA reactivity were contemporaneously associated with, and longitudinally predictive of, adolescents' emotional and behavioral problems. Adolescents with symmetrical high reactivity across systems had more internalizing and fewer externalizing problems initially. Over time, both symmetrical and asymmetrical reactivity predicted increasing internalizing problems in girls, depending on the measure of ANS activity that was examined, heart rate, or blood pressure reactivity. Implications for the understanding of allostasis and the dynamic nature of the relations between multiple physiological regulatory systems and adolescents' developing psychopathology are discussed.     

Association of a polymorphism of the dopamine transporter gene with externalizing behavior problems and associated temperament traits: A longitudinal study from infancy to the mid‐teens

There have been reports that a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism situated in the 3′ untranslated region of the dopamine transporter gene is associated with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder. On the basis of these findings, we predicted an association of this polymorphism with hyperactivity, other externalizing behavior problems, and related temperament traits in a general population sample. The association was investigated using children participating in a longitudinal study of childhood temperament and development. DNA was taken from 660 children who had been assessed for temperament from 4–8 months to 15–16 years, and for behavior problems from 3–4 to 15–16 years. No significant associations were found at any age. There are a number of methodological differences from earlier studies that might explain the lack of associations with hyperactivity. It is also possible that the earlier findings are not replicable. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Internalizing problems of childhood and adolescence: prospects, pitfalls, and progress in understanding the development of anxiety and depression

The focus of this article is on internalizing problems that are experienced by children and adolescents. We provide an historical perspective, selectively examine the current state of knowledge, consider advances and gaps in what is known, and identify new research directions. Diagnosis, epidemiology, theory, and research first are considered separately for anxiety and depressive disorders. These internalizing problems, however, whether clinical or subclinical, share many common features and show high comorbidity rates. We emphasize the importance of systematic analysis of comorbid anxiety and depression, including their comorbidity with externalizing problems. This could lead to more valid classification of subtypes of internalizing problems and further an understanding of the diverse conditions that constitute internalized distress. We highlight the need to study anxiety and depression within a developmental psychopathology framework, as well as to include both categorical and dimensional assessments of these problems in the same research designs. This will be essential for understanding the complex interplay of biological and environmental processes that contribute to the emergence, progression, and amelioration of internalizing problems over time.     

Community violence and externalizing problems: moderating effects of race and religiosity in emerging adulthood

The present study examined racial differences in the relationship between exposure to community violence and public and private religiosity in predicting externalizing problems among at‐risk emerging adults. Participants were 178 African American and 163 European American emerging adults at risk for exposure to community violence. Exposure to community violence related to more externalizing problems. Greater public religious affiliation buffered the relationship between community violence and substance abuse, for both African American and European emerging adults. In addition, more privately religious African American emerging adults engaged in less deviant behavior when exposed to higher levels of community violence. European Americans were not protected by private religiosity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Internalizing and externalizing problem behavior in children with nocturnal and diurnal enuresis: a five-factor model perspective

OBJECTIVES: To describe personality traits, internalizing, and externalizing problems of 6- to 12-year-old children with nocturnal and diurnal enuresis, examining differences from healthy referents, and investigating the association between personality traits and problem behavior. METHODS: Eighty-five children with combined nocturnal and diurnal enuresis were compared with 56 children with nocturnal enuresis and 155 healthy children on personality characteristics and problem behavior. RESULTS: Post hoc analyses of multivariate analyses indicated that parents of children with combined nocturnal and diurnal enuresis reported on average lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism scores in their children than parents of healthy children, although the magnitude of these differences was moderate. Considerable differences in mean scores were found for the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) total problem scale and moderate differences for internalizing, externalizing, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems in children with nocturnal and diurnal enuresis compared with healthy referents. Regression analyses across enuretic and healthy groups demonstrated that personality trait and problem behavior scales share substantial variance. CONCLUSION: Moderate to substantially higher levels of problem behavior is demonstrated in children with nocturnal and diurnal enuresis, who also display slightly higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness scores.     

Peer rejection in childhood, involvement with antisocial peers in early adolescence, and the development of externalizing behavior problems

A longitudinal, prospective design was used to examine the roles of peer rejection in middle childhood and antisocial peer involvement in early adolescence in the development of adolescent externalizing behavior problems. Both early starter and late starter pathways were considered. Classroom sociometric interviews from ages 6 through 9 years, adolescent reports of peers' behavior at age 13 years, and parent, teacher, and adolescent self-reports of externalizing behavior problems from age 5 through 14 years were available for 400 adolescents. Results indicate that experiencing peer rejection in elementary school and greater involvement with antisocial peers in early adolescence are correlated but that these peer relationship experiences may represent two different pathways to adolescent externalizing behavior problems. Peer rejection experiences, but not involvement with antisocial peers. predict later externalizing behavior problems when controlling for stability in externalizing behavior. Externalizing problems were most common when rejection was experienced repeatedly. Early externalizing problems did not appear to moderate the relation between peer rejection and later problem behavior. Discussion highlights multiple pathways connecting externalizing behavior problems from early childhood through adolescence with peer relationship experiences in middle childhood and early adolescence.     

Affective temperament traits measured by TEMPS-I and emotional-behavioral problems in clinically-well children, adolescents, and young adults

OBJECTIVE: The identification of specific temperament dimensions as correlates or risk factors for psychopathology in infancy, childhood and adolescence might provide key information to elucidate causal mechanisms that underlie these relationships. METHODS: A non-clinical sample of 1010 students (518 males and 492 females) without major psychiatric disorders was given psychometric assessment using TEMPS-I (the Italian Semi-structured Interview version of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, and San Diego) and EBC (Emotional and Behavioral Checklist in Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence). Grouping the subjects on the basis of the highest z-score obtained on each of the four temperament scales of TEMPS-I, it was possible to identify the dominant affective temperamental (AT) inclination of each individual: 283 (28.0%) subjects were classified as dominant depressive temperament, 446 (44.2%) as dominant hyperthymic, 221 (21.9%) as dominant cyclothymic, and 60 (5.9%) as dominant irritable. The effects of AT dominant groups on EBC scores were tested by one-way analysis of variance. To control for age and sex effects, we tested the differences within dominant AT groups by a multiple classification analysis (MCA). RESULTS: As expected, subjects with depressive temperament traits were characterized by social inhibition and lack of antisocial and hyperactive behavior. Cyclothymic subjects reported the highest number of emotional and behavioral problems, compared with the other dominant ATs (depressive, hyperthymic and irritable). In particular, a cyclothymic disposition was most frequently associated with anxiety-sleep disturbances, sensitivity to separation, eating disturbances in females and antisocial-aggressive behavior in males. The relationship between cyclothymic temperament and anxiety-sleep disturbances and antisocial-aggressive behavior increased with age. LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional study based on retrospective evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Within a juvenile population, depressive temperament is a construct partially overlapping with behavioral inhibition, while extremes of emotionality and behaviors occur preponderantly in those with cyclothymic traits. The cyclothymic disposition turned out to be the most 'morbid', and associated with both internalizing and externalizing disturbances.     

Codevelopment of externalizing and internalizing problems in early childhood

Using cross-domain latent growth modeling, we examined trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems in disadvantaged boys followed from ages 2 to 6 years (N = 303). On average, externalizing problems gradually decreased and internalizing problems gradually increased. However, we found significant variability in individual-level trajectories. Higher levels of externalizing problems were associated with higher levels of internalizing problems; rates of change were also positively correlated across domains. In addition, high levels of externalizing problems predicted rapid increases in internalizing problems. In follow-up analyses involving child and parenting factors, the combination of high negative emotionality, low fearfulness, and high negative maternal control preceded high, nondecreasing externalizing trajectories. The combination of high negative emotionality, high fearfulness, and high negative maternal control preceded high, increasing internalizing trajectories. Taken together, the results indicate both general and specific processes in the development of early externalizing and internalizing problems.     

Sleep problems,internalizing and externalizing symptoms,and domains of health-related quality of life: bidirectional associations from early childhood to early adolescence

Study ObjectivesTo examine longitudinal, bidirectional associations among behavioral sleep problems, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and domains of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) from early childhood to adolescence in a population sample of Australian children.MethodData were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a national prospective cohort study with 4983 children participating in the Kindergarten cohort. Data were collected when children were aged 4–5, 6–7, 8–9, 10–11, and 12–13 years. At each study wave, the primary parent (97% mothers) reported on behavioral child sleep problems, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and HRQoL domains (psychosocial and physical). Cross-lagged structural equation models were used to evaluate bidirectional associations.ResultsAt nearly every age, behavioral sleep problems were associated with worse subsequent psychosocial and physical HRQoL. Despite bidirectional associations between mental health and HRQoL at many waves, HRQoL domains more strongly predicted later internalizing symptoms, while externalizing symptoms more strongly predicted later HRQoL. Many of the bidirectional associations among sleep, mental health, and HRQoL were found earlier in childhood.ConclusionsBehavioral sleep problems may forecast later HRQoL psychosocial and physical impairments. Attending to both sleep problems and HRQoL could prevent the progression of internalizing conditions, while a focus on externalizing concerns could prevent the worsening of these symptoms, sleep problems, and HRQoL, particularly during the transition to school.     

Psychopathic personality traits: heritability and genetic overlap with internalizing and externalizing psychopathology

BACKGROUND: Little research has examined genetic and environmental contributions to psychopathic personality traits. Additionally, no studies have examined etiological connections between psychopathic traits and the broad psychopathological domains of internalizing (mood and anxiety) and externalizing (antisocial behavior, substance abuse). The current study was designed to fill these gaps in the literature. METHOD: Participants were 626 pairs of 17-year-old male and female twins from the community. Psychopathic traits were indexed using scores on the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Symptoms of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology were obtained via structured clinical interviews. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate genetic and environmental influences on psychopathic personality traits as well as the degree of genetic overlap between these traits and composites of internalizing and externalizing. RESULTS: Twin analyses revealed significant genetic influence on distinct psychopathic traits (Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality). Moreover, Fearless Dominance was associated with reduced genetic risk for internalizing psychopathology, and Impulsive Antisociality was associated with increased genetic risk for externalizing psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that different psychopathic traits as measured by the MPQ show distinct genetically based relations with broad dimensions of DSM psychopathology.     

Response decision processes and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents

Externalizing behavior problems of 124 adolescents were assessed across Grades 7-11. In Grade 9, participants were also assessed across social-cognitive domains after imagining themselves as the object of provocations portrayed in six videotaped vignettes. Participants responded to vignette-based questions representing multiple processes of the response decision step of social information processing. Phase 1 of our investigation supported a two-factor model of the response evaluation process of response decision (response valuation and outcome expectancy). Phase 2 showed significant relations between the set of these response decision processes, as well as response selection, measured in Grade 9 and (a) externalizing behavior in Grade 9 and (b) externalizing behavior in Grades 10-11, even after controlling externalizing behavior in Grades 7-8. These findings suggest that on-line behavioral judgments about aggression play a crucial role in the maintenance and growth of aggressive response tendencies in adolescence.     

Parenting and children's externalizing problems in substance-abusing families.

This study tested associations in path models among positive and negative parenting and children's rule-breaking behavior, aggressive and oppositional behavior, and attention problems for families with a drug-dependent parent. A structural model tested relations between parenting and children's externalizing problems for 251 families with 399 children between the ages of 6 and 18, controlling for nonindependence of ratings at the family level. The model also tested potential moderators, including child age, gender, and ethnicity (White vs. other), and caregiver gender (families with a female substance-abusing caregiver vs. families with a male substance-abusing caregiver). Results indicated that caregiver ratings of monitoring predicted rule-breaking behavior and use of inconsistent discipline predicted ratings of all 3 externalizing syndromes, after controlling parenting and externalizing problems for the effects of the moderators and after controlling significant relations among types of parenting and types of externalizing problems.     

Neuroticism and sleep-related problems in adolescence

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between neurotic personality characteristics and sleep habits/problems. DESIGN: A population-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: NA. PARTICIPANTS: Nine hundred sixty five students from two junior high schools in Taipei and their parents were randomly selected in December 1993 for inclusion in the study. The response rate was 96.4% (930) for students and 88.6% (855) for parents. INTERVENTIONS: NA. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Students were administered a sleep habit questionnaire and the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory (JEPI) at both junior high schools in Taipei. For the JEPI, high and low neuroticism was operationally defined as scores that were one or more standard deviation above or below the sample mean, respectively. This yielded two extreme groups: high neuroticism group (n=183) and low neuroticism group (n=163). The high neuroticism group went to bed later and slept less than did the low neuroticism group. Using logistic regression, adjusting for sex and years at junior high school, the high neuroticism group had significantly different sleep habits and school performance from the low neuroticism group. Subjects in the high neuroticism group had significant risk of feelings of sleep insufficiency, tiredness, moodiness, and difficulty waking up in the morning; they also had more daytime sleepiness than did those in the low neuroticism group. The high neuroticism group also suffered from more sleep-related problems than did the low neuroticism group. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the hypothesis that a high neuroticism score is associated with going to bed late on school days, short sleep duration, different sleep habits, sleep problems, and impaired daytime function in comparison with a low neuroticism score.     

Low salivary cortisol levels and externalizing behavior problems in youth

Research linking basal cortisol levels with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in youths has yielded inconsistent results. We hypothesize that the high moment to moment variation in adrenocortical activity requires an analytical strategy that separates variance in cortisol levels attributable to "stable traitlike" versus "state or situationally specific" sources. Early morning saliva samples were obtained from 724 youths (M age = 13.5 years; range = 6-16 years in Year 1) on 2 successive days 1 year apart. Latent state-trait modeling revealed that 70% of the variance in cortisol levels could be attributed to statelike sources, and 28% to traitlike sources. For boys only, higher levels of externalizing problem behaviors were consistently associated with lower cortisol attributable to traitlike sources across 3 years of behavioral assessment. The inverse association between individual differences in cortisol and externalizing problem behavior has previously only been reported in studies of at-risk or clinical groups. The present findings suggest the relationship is a stable phenomenon that spans both normative and atypical child development. Studies are needed to reveal the biosocial mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of this phenomenon, and to decipher whether individual differences in this hormone-behavior link confers risk or resilience.     

Temperament profiles associated with internalizing and externalizing problems in preadolescence

This study investigates how temperament factors are linked to internalizing and externalizing problems in a Dutch population sample of preadolescents (N = 2230). Internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist and the Youth Self-Report and temperament was evaluated by the parent-version of the Revised Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire. Temperament profiles were examined in children with (a) neither internalizing nor externalizing problems, (b) only internalizing problems, (c) only externalizing problems, and (d) both internalizing and externalizing problems. The results suggest clearly diverging temperament profiles for these groups of children, with High-Intensity Pleasure and Shyness (representing the broad dimension of Surgency) steering the conditional probability of internalizing and externalizing problems (direction markers), Frustration mainly being related to maladaptation in general (severity marker), and Fear and Effortful Control being associated with both the severity and the direction of internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. Girls and boys differed in the distribution across the problem groups, but the associations between temperament and psychopathology were comparable for both genders.     

The difficult temperament in adolescence: associations with substance use, family support, and problem behaviors

This study investigated interrelations between the number of difficult temperament factors (e.g., arrhythmicity, inflexibility, high distractibility) and substance use, perceived family support, and problem behaviors for a sample of 297 adolescents (M age = 15.7 years). The number of adolescent difficult temperament factors was associated significantly with more childhood behavior problems (e.g., hyperactivity, conduct disordered symptoms), which suggests some continuity of disordered behavior from childhood to adolescence. Number of adolescent difficult temperament factors also was associated with a higher percentage of substance users (for cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, hard drugs), lower perceived family support, higher levels of depressive symptoms, and more delinquent activity. Number of difficult temperament factors was not associated significantly with gender or age of respondents.