Changes in personality traits in late adolescence and young adulthood are believed to co-occur with changes in identity, but little research is available that supports this hypothesis. The present study addressed this relatively understudied area of research by examining longitudinal associations of Big Five personality traits (i.e., Neuroticism,…

The study examined the contribution of reinforcement sensitivity to childhood personality at three levels of the hierarchical structure, mid-level traits, the Big Five and two higher-order factors, and the moderating role of sex and age in a sample of 3-18-year-olds. The canonical correlation analyses indicated that reinforcement sensitivity and…

Based on current theories of depression, reciprocal links between loneliness and depressive symptoms are expected to occur. However, longitudinal studies on adolescent samples are scarce and have yielded conflicting results. The present five-wave longitudinal study from mid- to late adolescence (N = 428, M age at T1 = 15.22 years; 47% female)…

This study examined the relations between behavioral inhibition, Big Five personality traits, and anxiety disorder symptoms in non-clinical children (n = 147) and clinically anxious children (n = 45) aged 6-13 years. Parents completed the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire-Short Form, the Big Five Questionnaire for Children, and the Screen for…

Four bipolar temperament qualities (i.e. extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling and organized-flexible) of 800 South African children, ages 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17, first are described and then compared to temperament qualities of 800 US children of the same ages. South African children do not differ in their…

Background: The objective was to determine whether the pattern of environmental and genetic influences on deviant personality scores differs from that observed for the normative range of personality, comparing results in adolescent and adult female twins. Methods: A sample of 2,796 female adolescent twins ascertained from birth records provided…

Results from the Student Styles Questionnaire for a nationally stratified sample of children 8-17 found reliable relationships between temperament and vocational interests even in the youngest children. Gender, age, and race-ethnicity differences were also found. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

This study describes psychological characteristics of gifted adolescents. It also identifies the relationships between psychological personality types and suicide ideation. Participants in the study were 152 juniors enrolled in a public residential high school for academically gifted students. The Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, a 30-item…

Forty-five children and adolescents had skin conductance recorded during a presentation of tones and a reaction time test and were assessed for extraversion. Found that extraversion was negatively correlated with skin conductance response magnitudes to all stimuli--somewhat more strongly for reaction-time stimuli--and with reaction time. (HTH)