A genetically informed study of associations between family functioning and child psychosocial adjustment.

Research has documented associations between family functioning and offspring psychosocial adjustment, but questions remain regarding whether these associations are partly due to confounding genetic factors and other environmental factors. The current study used a genetically informed approach, the Children of Twins design, to explore the associations between family functioning (family conflict, marital quality, and agreement about parenting) and offspring psychopathology. Participants were 867 twin pairs (388 monozygotic; 479 dizygotic) from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden, their spouses, and children (51.7% female; M = 15.75 years). The results suggested associations between exposure to family conflict (assessed by the mother, father, and child) and child adjustment were independent of genetic factors and other environmental factors. However, when family conflict was assessed using only children's reports, the results indicated that genetic factors also influenced these associations. In addition, the analyses indicated that exposure to low marital quality and agreement about parenting was associated with children's internalizing and externalizing problems and that genetic factors also contributed to the associations of marital quality and agreement about parenting with offspring externalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Externalizing and Internalizing Subtypes of Combat-Related PTSD: A Replication and Extension Using the PSY-5 Scales.

This study replicated and extended prior findings of internalizing and externalizing subtypes of posttraumatic response (M. W. Miller, J. L. Greif, & A. A. Smith, 2003). Cluster analyses of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Personality Psychopathology-Five (MMPI-2 PSY-5; A. R. Harkness, J. L. McNulty, Y. S. Ben-Porath, 1995) profiles obtained from 736 veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) partitioned the sample into a low pathology cluster defined by personality scores in the normal range, an externalizing cluster characterized by low constraint and high negative emotionality, and an internalizing cluster with high negative emotionality and low positive emotionality. Externalizers showed the highest rates of alcohol-related and antisocial personality disorders; internalizers, the highest rates of panic and major depressive disorder. These findings support the development of a personality-based typology of posttraumatic response designed to account for heterogeneity in the expression of PTSD and associated psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding general and specific connections between psychopathology and marital distress: A model based approach.

Marital distress is linked to many types of mental disorders; however, no study to date has examined this link in the context of empirically based hierarchical models of psychopathology. There may be general associations between low levels of marital quality and broad groups of comorbid psychiatric disorders as well as links between marital adjustment and specific types of mental disorders. The authors examined this issue in a sample (N = 929 couples) of currently married couples from the Minnesota Twin Family Study who completed self-report measures of relationship adjustment and were also assessed for common mental disorders. Structural equation modeling indicated that (a) higher standing on latent factors of internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) psychopathology was associated with lower standing on latent factors of general marital adjustment for both husbands and wives, (b) the magnitude of these effects was similar across husbands and wives, and (c) there were no residual associations between any specific mental disorder and overall relationship adjustment after controlling for the INT and EXT factors. These findings point to the utility of hierarchical models in understanding psychopathology and its correlates. Much of the link between mental disorder and marital distress operated at the level of broad spectrums of psychopathological variation (i.e., higher levels of marital distress were associated with disorder comorbidity), suggesting that the temperamental core of these spectrums contributes not only to symptoms of mental illness but to the behaviors that lead to impaired marital quality in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delineating the construct network of the Personnel Reaction Blank: Associations with externalizing tendencies and normal personality.

Integrity testing has long been utilized in personnel selection to screen for tendencies toward counterproductive workplace behaviors. The construct of externalizing from the psychopathology literature represents a coherent spectrum marked by disinhibitory traits and behaviors. The present study drew on a sample of male and female undergraduates to examine the construct network of the Personnel Reaction Blank (PRB; H. G. Gough, R. D. Arvey, & P. Bradley, 2004), a measure of integrity, in relation to externalizing as well as normal-range personality constructs assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen & N. G. Waller, 2008). Results revealed moderate to strong associations between several PRB scales and externalizing, which were largely accounted for by MPQ traits subsumed by Negative Emotionality and Constraint. After accounting for MPQ traits in the prediction of externalizing, a modest predictive increment was achieved when adding the PRB scales, particularly biographical indicators from the Prosocial Background subscale. The findings highlight externalizing as a focal criterion for scale development in the integrity testing literature and help delineate the construct network of the PRB within the domains of personality and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and substance use disorders: II. Alcoholism versus drug use disorders.

The relationship between personality and substance use disorders was investigated in a community-based sample of 638 individuals who were alcoholic and/or had a drug use disorder, and 1,530 individuals who did not have a substance use disorder. Personality was assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire; substance use diagnoses were based on standard criteria as assessed by interview. Data were analyzed using a 3-factor (Gender?×?Alcoholism?×? Drug Use Disorder) multivariate analysis of variance. The significant alcoholism main effect was associated primarily with negative emotionality, whereas the significant drug use disorder main effect was associated primarily with constraint. No significant interactions with gender were observed. These findings suggest that the elevated levels of behavioral disinhibition observed with alcoholic individuals may be attributable to a subset of alcoholic individuals who also abuse drugs other than alcohol. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The etiology of associations between negative emotionality and childhood externalizing disorders.

Despite consistent documentation of associations between childhood negative emotionality and externalizing psychopathology, few genetically informative studies have investigated the etiology of that association. The goal of the current study was to delineate the etiology of the covariation of negative emotionality and childhood externalizing problems (e.g., oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, inattention, and hyperactivity/impulsivity). Twin families were recruited from Georgia state birth records and completed parental report questionnaires of negative emotionality and common Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) child psychiatric disorders. Results suggest both genetic and environmental influences underlying negative emotionality and each externalizing symptom dimension, with additional evidence for sibling competition/rater contrast effects for inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Bivariate model-fitting analyses indicated that a portion of the additive (43%–75%) and nonadditive (26%–100%) genetic influences underlying each symptom dimension was accounted for by the genetic influences underlying negative emotionality. Finally, an independent pathways model examining the etiology of the association between negative emotionality and the externalizing dimensions indicated that a substantial portion of the additive genetic, nonadditive genetic, and nonshared environmental influences underlying externalizing behavior is shared with negative emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of water pipelines on the quality of drinking water

Examined whether marital discord over childrearing contributes to child behavior problems after taking into account general marital adjustment, and if child age moderates associations between child behavior problems and either general marital adjustment or marital discord over childrearing. Participants were 146 two-parent families seeking services for their child's (4 to 9 years of age) conduct problems. Data on marital functioning and child behavior problems were collected from both parents. Mothers' and fathers' reports of marital discord over childrearing related positively to child externalizing problems after accounting for general marital adjustment. Child age moderated associations between fathers' reports of general marital adjustment and both internalizing and externalizing child problems, with associations being stronger in families with younger children. The discussion highlights the role that developmental factors may play in understanding the link between marital and child behavior problems in clinic-referred families.     

The relations of temperament reactivity and effortful control to children’s adjustment problems in China and the United States.

The relations of parents’ and teachers’ reports of temperament anger–irritability, positive emotionality, and effortful control (attention focusing and inhibitory control) to children’s externalizing and internalizing problems were examined in Chinese (N = 382) and U.S. (N = 322) samples of school-age children. Results suggested that in both cultures, low effortful control and high anger–irritability were associated with high externalizing problems, although the relations were stronger in the Chinese sample than in the U.S. sample. Low positive emotionality was associated with high internalizing problems in both cultures. However, high positive emotionality was associated with noncomorbid externalizing problems (teachers’ reports) in the Chinese sample but not in the U.S. sample. These findings suggest that there are considerable cross-cultural similarities in the temperament–adjustment associations, although some cross-cultural differences might exist. Implications of the findings for the detection and intervention of adjustment problems in Chinese children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict, maternal and paternal parenting, and child adjustment: A test of mediation and moderation.

Parenting was examined as a mediator of associations between marital and child adjustment, and parent gender was examined as a moderator of associations among marital, parental, and child functioning in 226 families with a school-age child (146 boys). Parenting fully mediated associations between marital conflict and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parent gender did not moderate associations when data from the full sample or families with girls only were evaluated. Parent gender did moderate associations when families with boys were evaluated, with the association between marital conflict and parenting stronger for fathers than mothers. A trend suggested fathers' parenting may be more strongly related to internalizing behavior and mothers' parenting may be more strongly related to externalizing behavior in boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality influences on change in smoking behavior.

Objective: To investigate associations between personality traits in early adulthood (and changes in them) and change in smoking status. Design: Prospective, longitudinal study of a general-population birth cohort. Main Outcome Measures: We measured smoking at ages 18, 26, and 32, and personality at ages 18 and 26 using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Tellegen & Waller, in press). We assessed personality’s ability to predict future smoking, and assessed how changes in personality traits relate to change in smoking status. Results: Higher aggression and alienation at age 18 predicted smoking at 26; higher self-control and traditionalism at age 18 predicted nonsmoking at 26; and higher alienation at age 26 predicted persistence of smoking to age 32. Personality change between 18 and 26 was associated with change in smoking behavior; those who stopped smoking decreased more than others in negative emotionality and increased more in constraint. Conclusion: These findings suggest that interventions fostering personality change may be effective in reducing smoking and indicate appropriate targets for such antismoking interventions in young people. In particular, high alienation predicted smoking persistence, perhaps due to resistance to existing antismoking messages; we discuss approaches that may overcome this. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the role of personality in explaining associations between marital quality and parenting.

Analyses assessed the degrees to which personality accounts for associations between marital quality and parenting and mediates genetic contributions to these relationships. Participants included 318 male and 544 female same-sex twin pairs from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden. All twins completed self-report measures of marital quality and personality (anxiousness, aggression, sociability). Composite measures of parent negativity and warmth were derived from the twins’ and their adolescent children’s ratings of the twins’ disciplinary styles and the emotional tone of the parent–child relationship. Observational ratings of marital quality and parenting were also obtained for a subset of twins. Personality characteristics explained 33% to 42% of the covariance between reported marital quality and parenting and 26% to 28% of the covariance between observed marital quality and parenting. For both sets of analyses, personality accounted for more than half of the genetic contributions to covariance between marital quality and parenting. Results indicate that personality significantly contributes to associations between marital quality and parenting and that personality is an important path through which genetic factors contribute to family relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations from family-of-origin interactions to adult marital interactions and relationship adjustment.

To test the social learning-based hypothesis that marital conflict resolution patterns are learned in the family of origin, longitudinal, observational data were used to assess prospective associations between family conflict interaction patterns during adolescence and offspring's later marital conflict interaction patterns. At age 14 years, 47 participants completed an observed family conflict resolution task with their parents. In a subsequent assessment 17 years later, the participants completed measures of marital adjustment and an observed marital conflict interaction task with their spouse. As predicted, levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by parents and adolescents during family interactions were prospectively linked with levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by offspring and their spouses during marital interactions. Family-of-origin hostility was a particularly robust predictor of marital interaction behaviors; it predicted later marital hostility and negatively predicted positive engagement, controlling for psychopathology and family-of-origin positive engagement. For men, family-of-origin hostility also predicted poorer marital adjustment, an effect that was mediated through hostility in marital interactions. These findings suggest a long-lasting influence of family communication patterns, particularly hostility, on offspring's intimate communication and relationship functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperamental Emotionality in Preschoolers and Parental Mood Disorders.

A number of models developed in the adult psychopathology literature (i.e., L. A. Clark & D. Watson, 1991) have asserted that low levels of positive emotionality (PE) are predisposing factors or precursors for depression and represent a form of temperamental risk for depression. Further support for this claim would derive from evidence linking low PE to known indicators of risk for depression. The authors examined the association between temperamental emotionality in young children and parental mood disorders. One hundred unselected preschool-aged children completed a battery of emotion-eliciting tasks tapping aspects of PE, negative emotionality (NE), and behavioral inhibition (BI). Parental psychopathology was assessed with semistructured diagnostic interviews. Low PE in children was associated with maternal, but not paternal, mood disorder. The low PE-maternal depression link was relatively specific, as there were few associations between low PE and other forms of parental psychopathology or between NE and BI and parental mood disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does comorbid substance use disorder exacerbate borderline personality features? A comparison of borderline personality disorder individuals with vs. without current substance dependence.

There is compelling evidence that comorbid borderline personality disorder (BPD) negatively impact the clinical courses and outcomes of substance use disorders (SUD). Conversely, there is little evidence that concurrent SUD exacerbates the clinical characteristics of BPD. Thus, this study sought to examine whether the presence of current substance dependence among BPD patients would be associated with stronger BPD-relevant personality traits and behavioral characteristics. Female BPD patients without (BOR; n = 37) or with current substance dependence (BSUD; n = 19), and female non-BPD/SUD controls (CON; n = 48) were compared with respect to impulsivity, affective lability, affective intensity, externalizing behaviors, and self-harming/suicidal tendencies, taking into consideration their comorbid mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and antisocial personality disorder. Results indicated that both BOR and BSUD groups scored higher than CON in most of the measures, but BOR and BSUD failed to reveal significant group differences especially when the influence of comorbid psychopathology was removed. The overall pattern of findings remained identical even when comparing BPD patients with versus without the diagnosis of lifetime substance dependence. Our results do not support the notion that BPD individuals with SUD display more severe BPD features than individuals with BPD alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenia and personality: Exploring the boundaries and connections between vulnerability and outcome.

Discusses the issues and evidence concerning the relationship between schizophrenia and personality. The personality dimensions in individuals with schizophrenia are examined, both before and after the onset of their psychoses, and in their relatives. Schizophrenia is associated with high levels of peculiarity and neuroticism and with low levels of extraversion. The relationships between schizophrenia and both psychopathy and creativity remain unclear. Personality dimensions vary in the manner in which they are associated with a variety of correlates of psychopathology, such as prognosis. It is recommended that psychopathologists interested in schizophrenia devote more attention to the study of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

P300 amplitude, externalizing psychopathology, and earlier- versus later-onset substance-use disorder.

P300 amplitude predicts substance use or disorder by age 21. Earlier- versus later-onset substance disorders may reflect different levels of an externalizing psychopathology dimension. P300 in adolescence may not be as strongly related to later-onset substance problems as it is to earlier-onset ones. In the present study, visual P300 amplitude was measured at age 17 in a community-representative sample of young men. Substance and externalizing disorders were assessed at approximately ages 17, 20, and 24. Earlier-onset (by age 20) substance disorder was associated with higher rates of externalizing disorders than were later-onset problems. P300 amplitude was reduced in subjects with earlier-onset substance disorders, relative to later-onset and disorder-free subjects. Amplitude was also reduced in subjects with an externalizing disorder but no substance disorder. Earlier-onset subjects had reduced P300, even in the absence of an externalizing disorder. The results could not be attributed to a concurrent disorder or to recent substance use at the time of the P300 recording. The findings are consistent with P300 indexing an externalizing spectrum. Earlier-onset substance disorders are more strongly related to P300 and externalizing than are later-onset problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal association between marital dissatisfaction and alcohol use disorders in a community sample.

The prospective association between marital dissatisfaction and alcohol use disorders (abuse and/or dependence) was evaluated in a randomly selected community sample. Married individuals (N=1,675) from the New Haven Epidemiologic Catchment Area project who did not have a current alcohol use disorder at baseline were followed prospectively for 12 months. Results indicated that baseline marital dissatisfaction was significantly associated with alcohol use disorder diagnosis during follow-up, with dissatisfied spouses being 3.7 times more likely than satisfied spouses to have a diagnosis of current alcohol use disorder at follow-up. The longitudinal association between baseline marital dissatisfaction and current alcohol use disorder diagnosis at follow-up remained significant when controlling for baseline demographic variables and history of alcohol use disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive and negative characteristics of marital interaction and their association with marital satisfaction in middle-aged and older couples.

The study examined age differences in positive (e.g., warm) and negative (e.g., hostile) characteristics of marital interactions between middle-aged and older couples and whether these characteristics were differentially associated with marital satisfaction by age. Spouses' perception of partners' positive and negative behavior during marital interaction was assessed in general and following disagreement and collaborative tasks. Trained observers coded spouses' positive and negative behavior during interactions. Older individuals reported higher marital satisfaction and perceived their spouse's behavior as less negative in general and more positive across all contexts than middle-aged individuals. Spouses' perceptions of their partners' positive and negative behavior independently predicted marital satisfaction for both age groups across contexts. Perceptions of partners' negative behavior in general and of both positive and negative behavior in the disagreement task were more closely associated with marital satisfaction for older spouses than for middle-aged spouses. Results point to the importance of positive and negative characteristics in marital functioning across age cohorts and indicate that such characteristics may be context dependent. Findings suggest that, in some contexts, both positive and negative characteristics are more salient for older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking marital conflict and children’s adjustment: The role of young children’s perceptions.

Young children’s (n = 96) perceptions and appraisals of their parents’ marital conflict were evaluated at age 5 and again at age 6. Concurrent reports of marital conflict by each parent and teachers’ reports of children’s classroom adjustment served as criteria against which to evaluate the validity of young children’s perceptions. Children’s perceptions of their parents’ marital relationship were significantly correlated with spouses’ reports at ages 5 and 6, as well as correlated with teacher reports of internalizing and externalizing problems. Consistent with the cognitive–contextual theory, children’s tendency to blame themselves for their parents’ conflict partially mediated the link between marital conflict and children’s internalizing symptoms. In contrast, children’s reports that they become involved in their parents’ conflict partially mediated the effect of marital conflict on externalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does Poor Vagal Tone Exacerbate Child Maladjustment in the Context of Parental Problem Drinking? A Longitudinal Examination.

Children's vagal tone was examined as a vulnerability factor in the longitudinal relation between mothers' (MPD) and fathers' (FPD) problem drinking and children's adjustment. At T1, MPD and FPD were examined, and children's vagal tone was assessed. Two years following initial participation, child adjustment problems were evaluated. A lower level of vagal tone was a vulnerability factor for internalizing problems associated with MPD and FPD and for externalizing difficulties associated with MPD. In the context of a higher level of MPD or FPD, a lower level of vagal tone was a vulnerability factor for increases in externalizing problems over time. Results are supportive of the importance of biopsychosocial perspectives in which child characteristics interact with family risk to predict psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)