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

Abstract

Objective 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. Method In a large population-based longitudinal study (N=1252), 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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.

Why Psychiatric Research Must Abandon Traditional Diagnostic Classification and Adopt a Fully Dimensional Scope: Two Solutions to a Persistent Problem

“…A pioneering innovation of the HiTOP is its incorporation of personality traits into the structure of psychopathology. This is an important step toward an evidence-based psychiatric nosology, as a compelling body of evidence has confirmed that personality substantially impacts on the occurrence, re-occurrence, and persistence of psychopathology ( 45 – 48 ), comorbidity between mental disorders ( 49 – 52 ), and, most importantly, on the liability to and course of broad internalizing and externalizing spectra ( 19 , 53 – 55 ), and the general factor of psychopathology ( 40 , 56 – 58 ). Though not its main target, HiTOP can also advance research on genetic vulnerabilities and genetic markers, as the proposed hierarchical structure and correlations between its dimensions appear to reflect common genetic liabilities ( 58 – 63 ).…”

Item Response Theory Analysis of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children–Short Form (BFC-SF): A Self-Report Measure of Personality in Children Aged 11–12 Years

“…N significantly predicted depression, anxiety, suicidality, overall mental health problems, and low self-esteem, whereas E predicted alcohol and drug dependence as well as social well-being, self-esteem, and relationship quality. In another longitudinal study, high aggression (related to low A) and low self-control (related to low C) measured at age 17 years predicted a curvilinear developmental pattern of an externalizing factor (adult antisocial behavior, alcohol dependence, and drug dependence) through ages 20, 24, and 29 years (Walton et al, 2016).…”

The Dissociation between Adult Intelligence and Personality with Respect to Maltreatment Episodes and Externalizing Behaviors Occurring in Childhood

“…Longitudinal research has focused on the predictive power of early individual differences over the onset of later (adolescence and early adulthood) externalizing behavior, whereas less attention has been devoted to the relationship between early externalizing behaviors and individual differences in intelligence and personality in adulthood. Walton, Krueger, Elkins, D’Accordo, McGue and Iacono [17] conducted a population-based longitudinal study ( N = 1252) with participants of the Minnesota Twin Family Study who completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire at age 17 and were screened for diagnoses of antisocial behavior and substance misuses at ages 17, 20, 24, and 29. Aggression scores were consistently associated with diagnoses of antisocial behavior (correlations ranging between 0.26 and 0.46), and alcohol dependence (correlations between 0.2 and 0.49).…”