Trait Affectivity and Nonreferred Adolescent Conduct Problems

Abstract

This study examined for profiles of positive trait affectivity (PA) and negative trait affectivity (NA) associated with adolescent conduct problems. Prior trait affectivity research has been relatively biased toward the assessment of adults and internalizing symptomatology. Consistent with recent developmental modeling of antisocial behavior, this study proposed that conduct problems are uniquely associated with 2 PA-NA profiles (i.e., high PA-high NA and low PA-low NA). A non-referred sample of 109 adolescents ages 12 to 19 was recruited to assess the independent relations between rating scale measures of the PA-NA dimensions and conduct problems, controlling for related internalizing (anxiety and depression) and externalizing (hyperactivity-impulsivity) symptomatology. The results generally confirmed the proposed interaction between the PA-NA dimensions in the prediction of adolescent conduct problems.

Associations Between Temperament, Emotion Regulation, and Depression in Youth: The Role of Positive Temperament

“…Indeed, we found an effect of NE 9 PE along with the separate effects of both NE and PE: low PE seems to be a vulnerability factor in the negative relationship between NE and depressive symptoms. This is consistent with previous findings (e.g., Joiner and Lonigan 2000;Loney et al 2006;Vasey et al 2013a, b;Verstraeten et al 2012;Wetter and Hankin 2009) showing that low levels of PE moderate the relationship between high levels of NE and depressive symptoms in youth. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of including also PE when considering risk and vulnerability factors for depression (Jylhä and Isometsä 2006).…”

“…Current evidence of research investigating the NE 9 PE interaction indicates that low PE indeed acts as a vulnerability factor (i.e., moderator) in the association between high levels of NE and depressive symptoms. This has been found in non-clinical youth (Loney et al 2006;Vasey et al 2013a, b), as well as in youth psychiatric inpatients (Joiner and Lonigan 2000). Additionally, a handful of studies also found prospective evidence for high PE as a resilience factor, buffering the effect of high levels of NE on depressive symptoms (Vasey et al 2013a, b;Wetter and Hankin 2009).…”

“…Interestingly, researchers recently started to address the dynamic interplay between NE and PE for depressive symptoms, assuming that both temperamental reactivity dimensions also moderate one another's association with depressive symptoms (e.g., Loney et al 2006;Vasey et al 2013a, b;Verstraeten et al 2012). This is in line with affective models of depression, in which depression is characterized by both high levels of NE and low levels of PE (i.e., Tripartite Model; Clark and Watson 1991).…”

Temperament synergies in risk for and protection against depressive symptoms: A prospective replication of a three-way interaction

“…For example, Joiner and Lonigan (2000) found a significant NA Â PA interaction such that high NA was associated with a concurrent diagnosis of depression and an increase in depressive symptoms across two months when PA was low, but not when it was high. This interaction has been replicated in non-clinical youth samples both concurrently (Loney, Lima, & Butler, 2006) and prospectively (Vasey, Harbaugh, Mikolich, Firestone, & Bijttebier, 2013;Wetter & Hankin, 2009; though see Verstraeten et al, 2009). Studies including analogous interactions involving N, E, BIS sensitivity, and BAS sensitivity have produced similar results in both youth and adult samples (e.g., Gershuny & Sher, 1998;Knyazev & Wilson, 2004;McFatter, 1994), though a few studies have failed to find the effect (e.g., Jorm et al, 2000).…”

Associations between trait anxiety and psychopathological characteristics of children at high risk for severe antisocial development

“…The paucity of results in this field might stem from the counter-intuitive nature of the relationship between anxiety and antisocial behavior. Many psychophysiological studies have shown that low levels of anxiety are closely connected to antisocial, aggressive, or delinquent behavior (for a review, see Scarpa and Raine 2004;Herpertz et al 2001Herpertz et al , 2005, and low levels of anxiety are associated with an increased risk for ongoing antisocial behavior (Loney et al 2006;Herpertz et al 2003;Moffitt et al 2002). Furthermore, there is growing evidence that low anxiety in some children is closely connected with callous-unemotional traits that are observed in children with a particularly severe, aggressive, and stable pattern of antisocial behavior (for a review, see Frick 2009).…”