Research to date has shown longitudinal changes in conscientiousness during early and middle adolescence, but most studies have been conducted in Western countries. The present study aimed to examine the pattern of mean-level conscientiousness change at the transition into early adolescence among a Chinese sample using curve of factors (CUFFS)…

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits predict behavioral problems in adolescence. But little is known about early modulatory factors. Behavioral Inhibition (BI) in particular has been suggested to protect against the development of CU-traits. This temperamental predisposition is characterized by heightened environmental sensitivity. The current…

The current study examined whether relationships also influence personality trait development during middle and older adulthood, focusing on the individual's perception of support from the relationship partner. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 20,422; mean age = 65.9 years), we examined the longitudinal relationships between…

This study investigates the hypothesis of a child differential sensitivity to parenting improvement. One hundred and fourteen parents of preschoolers participated in two parenting micro-trials aiming to increase parental self-efficacy in view of improving child behavior. The first micro-trial took place in a short-term laboratory experiment; the…

"Why do parents parent the way they do?" remains an important question since it concerns both scientific issues, such as the stability or change of childrearing behavior, and clinical issues, such as the way to promote positive parenting in evidence-based programs. Using an accelerated design, the aim of this study was to examine several parental…

Constructive parent-child conflict interactions that teach children to problem-solve and negotiate can enhance children's social adjustment. This paper identifies constructive and destructive qualities of mother-child conflict and explores whether child temperament moderated associations with changes in externalizing problems over time. One…

This study examined how shyness-sensitivity and unsociability were associated with social, school, and psychological adjustment in Chinese children and adolescents. Participants included 564 children (272 boys, M[subscript age] = 9 years) and 462 adolescents (246 boys, M[subscript age] = 13 years) in a suburban region in China. Data were obtained…

The study investigated long-term relations between moral emotion attributions in childhood and adolescence and antisocial conduct in early adulthood while taking into account potentially confounding personality factors. Specifically, onset of prediction, unique and indirect effects of moral emotion attributions were examined. In a longitudinal…

The aim of this study was to explore child and adolescent personality in the Russian culture, addressing gender and age differences, and to examine personality and family effects on children's Internalizing and Externalizing problems. Parents of 1,640 Russian children aged 3-18 years completed the Inventory of Child Individual Differences…

People's response to stress depends to a large extent on their sense of perceived control over the situations they encounter. This longitudinal study of 136 children (70 girls) examined associations between attachment patterns and maternal sensitivity at 12 months of age, and perceived primary and secondary control at 11 years of age. Compared…

Twin studies are well known for their value in quantifying the contribution of genes to population variation in behaviors and personality traits. Twin studies also provide a unique opportunity to untangle the contribution of environmental experiences to emotional and behavioral development. This is particularly true when examining monozygotic (MZ)…

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of social capital assessed in early adulthood in linking self-control in childhood with psychological and social functioning in middle age. Data collected at ages 8, 27, and 42 years were based on the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (159 females, 177 males).…

Despite growing research results indicating that shyness is a risk factor for psychosocial maladjustment in childhood, less is known about the conceptual mechanisms that may underlie these associations. The purpose of the current study was to explore links between self-reported shyness, coping strategies and social functioning in middle childhood.…

This paper reports on two exploratory studies of situations that elicit shyness in Mainland Chinese children. In Study 1 (N = 100; M[subscript age] = 10.42) interviews with Chinese children identified three kinds of shyness-eliciting situations: social novelty; negative social evaluation; and public attention. In Study 2 (N = 162, M[subscript age]…

This study addresses the utility of the resilient, overcontrolled, and undercontrolled personality prototypes for predicting children's and adolescents' problem behaviour in a longitudinal general population sample (N = 491). Both parents and one child participated in the study at two measurement occasions separated by a 3-year interval. The major…