Psychiatric disorder in a birth cohort of young adults: Prevalence, comorbidity, clinical significance, and new case incidence from ages 11–21.

Mental health data were gathered at ages 11, 13, 15, 18, and 21 in an epidemiological sample using standardized diagnostic assessments. Prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R) mental disorders increased longitudinally from late childhood (18%) through mid- (22%) to late-adolescence (41%) and young adulthood (40%). Nearly half of age-21 cases had comorbid diagnoses; and comorbidity was associated with severity of impairment. The incidence of cases with adult onset was only 10.6%: 73.8% of adults diagnosed at age 21 had a developmental history of mental disorder. Relative to new cases, those with developmental histories were more severely impaired and more likely to have comorbid diagnoses. The high prevalence rate and significant impairment associated with a diagnosis of mental disorder suggests that treatment resources need to target the young adult sector of the population. The low new-case incidence in young adulthood, however, suggests that primary prevention and etiological research efforts need to target children and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two personalities, one relationship: Both partners' personality traits shape the quality of their relationship.

This research tested 6 models of the independent and interactive effects of stable personality traits on each partner's reports of relationship satisfaction and quality. Both members of 360 couples (N?=?720) completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and were interviewed about their relationship. Findings show that a woman's relationship happiness is predicted by her partner's low Negative Emotionality, high Positive Emotionality, and high Constraint, whereas a man's relationship happiness is predicted only by his partner's low Negative Emotionality. Findings also show evidence of additive but not interactive effects: Each partner's personality contributed independently to relationship outcomes but not in a synergistic way. These results are discussed in relation to models that seek to integrate research on individual differences in personality traits with research on interpersonal processes in intimate relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity and change: Assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood.

How is personality stability possible amid the myriad of social changes and transformations that characterize a human life? We argue that by choosing situations that are compatible with their dispositions and by affiliating with similar others, individuals may set in motion processes of social interchange that sustain their dispositions across time and circumstance. To test this proposition we examined mate selection, using data on married couples from two ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. Consistent with other research, the results point to homogamy as a basic norm in marriage. More important, the results show that marriage to a similar other promotes consistency in the intraindividual organization of personality attributes across middle adulthood. We offer some speculations for a more relational approach to the problem of individual continuity and change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Everyday problem solving in adulthood and old age.

We examined everyday problem solving in adulthood and compared it with traditional measures of cognitive abilities. In the first phase of the research, we describe the construction of an inventory to assess problem solving in situations that adults might encounter in everyday life and examine raters' judgments of effective responses to the problems. In the second phase, adults (N?=?126) between the ages of 20 and 78 were administered the inventory and tests of verbal and abstract problem-solving abilities. Results indicated modest but significant positive correlations between performance on the inventory and traditional ability tests. The examination of age differences revealed that performance on the Everyday Problem-Solving Inventory and verbal ability test increased with age, whereas performance on a traditional problem-solving test declined after middle age. In addition, education was unrelated to everyday problem solving, highly related to verbal ability, and moderately related to traditional problem solving. Results are discussed in relation to pluralistic conceptions of intelligence and theories of adult intellectual development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents of adult interpersonal functioning: Effects of individual differences in age 3 temperament.

We examined whether temperamental differences at age 3 are linked to interpersonal functioning in young adulthood. In a sample of over 900 children, we identified 5 distinct groups of children based on behavioral observations: Well-adjusted, undercontrolled, reserved, confident, and inhibited. At age 21, we assessed the children's interpersonal functioning in 4 social contexts: in the social network, at home, in romantic relationships, and at work. We found 3 patterns of relations: (a) Well-adjusted, reserved, and confident children defined a heterogeneous range of normative adult interpersonal behavior, (b) inhibited children had lower levels of social support but normative adjustment in romantic relationships and at work, and (c) undercontrolled children had lower levels of adjustment and greater interpersonal conflict across adult social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality in the life course.

Using elements borrowed from psychology, sociology, and history, this article outlines a conceptual framework for the analysis of personality in the life course. It is proposed that the interactional framework toward which personality psychology aspires may be conceived of as a sequence of interactions of personality with age-graded roles and social transitions in historically changing environments. To the extent that one can (a) identify the age-graded role paths in the social structure, (b) select the age-relevant situations in which these roles are enacted, and (c) identify measures relevant to the culture pattern across these age-relevant situations, it should be possible to uncover the coherence of personality—ways of approaching and responding to the world—across time and in diverse situations. Each of these steps is delineated and then illustrated with a longitudinal study of explosive, undercontrolled children. This is not an effort to articulate a theory of personality development but to outline the parameters of social life—temporal and situational—to which personality research should attend. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperamental and familial predictors of violent and nonviolent criminal convictions: Age 3 to age 18.

This study examined the relations between family characteristics, childhood temperament, and convictions for violent and nonviolent offenses at age 18 in a representative birth cohort of men who are part of a longitudinal study. Three groups of men were identified on the basis of their conviction status at age 18: Participants who had never been convicted (n?=?404), participants who had been convicted for nonviolent offenses only (n?=?50), and participants who had been convicted for violent offenses (n?=?21). Multivariate analysis of variance and logistic regression analyses indicated that family factors were associated with both types of conviction outcomes, whereas childhood temperament was associated primarily with convictions for violent offenses. The potentially distinct roles of social- and self-regulation in the development of antisocial behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The developmental mental-disorder histories of adults with posttraumatic stress disorder: A prospective longitudinal birth cohort study.

Clinical and epidemiologic studies have established that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly comorbid with other mental disorders. However, such studies have largely relied on adults' retrospective reports to ascertain comorbidity. The authors examined the developmental mental health histories of adults with PTSD using data on mental disorders assessed across the first 3 decades of life among members of the longitudinal Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study; 100% of those diagnosed with past-year PTSD and 93.5% of those with lifetime PTSD at age 26 had met criteria for another mental disorder between ages 11 and 21. Most other mental disorders had first onsets by age 15. Of new cases of PTSD arising between ages 26 and 32, 96% had a prior mental disorder and 77% had been diagnosed by age 15. These data suggest PTSD almost always develops in the context of other mental disorders. Research on the etiology of PTSD may benefit from taking lifetime developmental patterns of comorbidity into consideration. Juvenile mental-disorder histories may help indicate which individuals are most likely to develop PTSD in populations at high risk of trauma exposure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood.

Using prospective data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study birth cohort, the authors found that adolescents with low self-esteem had poorer mental and physical health, worse economic prospects, and higher levels of criminal behavior during adulthood, compared with adolescents with high self-esteem. The long-term consequences of self-esteem could not be explained by adolescent depression, gender, or socioeconomic status. Moreover, the findings held when the outcome variables were assessed using objective measures and informant reports; therefore, the findings cannot be explained by shared method variance in self-report data. The findings suggest that low self-esteem during adolescence predicts negative real-world consequences during adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring impulsivity and examining its relationship to delinquency.

A multimethod, multisource assessment of impulsivity was conducted in a sample of more than 400 boys (mean age 10.2 yrs at screening) who were members of a longitudinal study of the development of antisocial behavior. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the 11 different impulsivity measures revealed 2 impulsivity factors: Cognitive and Behavioral. Cognitive and behavioral impulsivity had similar correlations with socioeconomic status. Cognitive impulsivity was more strongly related to IQ than was behavioral impulsivity. Behavioral impulsivity was more strongly related to delinquency at ages 10 yrs and 12–23 yrs than was cognitive impulsivity. Consistent with theoretical prediction, results also indicate that behavioral impulsivity was especially related to serious delinquency that is stable over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)