Helena Slobodskaya - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Helena Slobodskaya

Personality and Individual Differences, 2005

... be seriously compromised by the widespread exposure to a combination of adverse social, famil... more ... be seriously compromised by the widespread exposure to a combination of adverse social, family and economic factors such as new poverty, rising ... The mean monthly family income in 49% of the families was below the official living wage level, 44% around the official ... Measures. ...

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-4-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negati... more Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-4-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negative emotionality: A multilevel analysis from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium by Eric E. Desmarais, Brian F. French, Emine Ahmetoglu, Ibrahim Acar, Carmen Gonzalez-Salinas, Elena Kozlova, Helena Slobodskaya, Oana Benga, Mirjana Majdandžić, Roseriet Beijers, Carolina de Weerth, Blanca Huitron, Eun Gyoung Lee, Sae-Young Han, Seong-Yeon Park, Lorenzo Giusti, Rosario Montirosso, Soile Tuovinen, Kati Heinonen, Katri Raikkonen, Zhengyan Wang, Felipe Lecannelier, Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares, Sara Casalin, Samuel P. Putnam and Maria A. Gartstein in International Journal of Behavioral Development

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-2-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negati... more Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-2-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negative emotionality: A multilevel analysis from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium by Eric E. Desmarais, Brian F. French, Emine Ahmetoglu, Ibrahim Acar, Carmen Gonzalez-Salinas, Elena Kozlova, Helena Slobodskaya, Oana Benga, Mirjana Majdandžić, Roseriet Beijers, Carolina de Weerth, Blanca Huitron, Eun Gyoung Lee, Sae-Young Han, Seong-Yeon Park, Lorenzo Giusti, Rosario Montirosso, Soile Tuovinen, Kati Heinonen, Katri Raikkonen, Zhengyan Wang, Felipe Lecannelier, Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares, Sara Casalin, Samuel P. Putnam and Maria A. Gartstein in International Journal of Behavioral Development

Infant Behavior and Development, 2021

Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effe... more Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.

Toddlers, Parents, and Culture, 2018

International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2021

This study advances the cross-cultural temperament literature by comparing temperament ratings of... more This study advances the cross-cultural temperament literature by comparing temperament ratings of toddlers from 14 nations. Multilevel modeling (MLM) procedures were utilized to regress negative emotionality (NE) and component subscales on Hofstede’s cultural value dimensions while controlling for age and gender. More individualistic values were associated with lower NE, and component discomfort, fear, motor activity, perceptual sensitivity, and soothability scales. The discomfort subscale was negatively associated with power distance and positively associated with masculine cultural values. Higher ratings of shyness were related to a more long-term cultural orientation. Results illustrate the feasibility of an MLM approach to cross-cultural research and provide a new perspective on the intersection of culture and temperament development. Limitations and future implications are discussed.

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2012

The present study addressed differences in infant and toddler temperament, utilizing translations... more The present study addressed differences in infant and toddler temperament, utilizing translations of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised (IBQ-R) and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ), for children growing up in the United States, Russia, and Japan. Results indicated a number of significant differences in higher-order dimensions and fine-grained components of early temperament between the three cultural groups. U.S. children scored higher for Surgency and related traits, compared to Japanese and Russian children; Negative Affectivity showed the opposite pattern of cross-cultural differences, wherein Japanese children received the highest scores from their caregivers. In addition, Japanese infants and toddlers scored lower for Effortful Control. Significant Culture × Age interactions indicated that patterns of cross-cultural differences in different age groups varied across and within the three higher-order dimensions. Surgency, as well as positive affect to both...

Acknowledgements: Authors greatly appreciate the contribution of many individuals assisting with ... more Acknowledgements: Authors greatly appreciate the contribution of many individuals assisting with a variety of research activities (instrument translation/validation, recruitment, data collection, etc.

Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 2018

Background: Effortful control is a core aspect of self-regulation and refers to the ability to vo... more Background: Effortful control is a core aspect of self-regulation and refers to the ability to voluntarily regulate behaviour and attention, measured by temperament questionnaires. Although the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire is widely used in different countries, this measure has not been fully explored. Most research on the links of effortful control with personality and important outcomes has been carried out in Western nations; the possibility of extending these findings to other cultures requires study. Objective: To examine effortful control and its relations to personality and wellbeing in a community sample of primary schoolchildren in Russia. Design: Parents of 7-10-year-olds (N = 614) completed the abbreviated Effortful Control scale of the TMCQ, the Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short version, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); teachers provided SDQ data and school grades; children completed the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale. Results: The findings supported a four-factor structure of Effortful Control, including Attention Focusing, Inhibitory Control, Activation Control, and Low-Intensity Pleasure. Effortful Control was associated with the personality traits of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness, and also with Positive Emotions and low Neuroticism. Effortful Control was also associated with academic achievement, subjective well-being, and lower levels of externalising and internalising problems. Structural modelling showed that Attentional Control contributed to problem behaviour and subjective wellbeing; Inhibitory Control contributed to externalising problems; and Activation Control contributed to academic achievement. Effortful Control in Primary Schoolchildren… 3 Conclusion: Effortful Control and its components were strongly related to higherand lower-order personality traits. The findings confirmed the important role of effortful control in the academic success and well-being of Russian primary schoolchildren.

Journal of Research in Personality, 2014

The study examined the hierarchical structure of child personality and common psychopathology in ... more The study examined the hierarchical structure of child personality and common psychopathology in a community sample of 2-18-year-olds (N = 1926) using parent reported Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short version and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. A joint higher-order factor analysis suggested a four-factor solution; the hierarchical framework showed that normal personality traits and problem behaviors are integrated within the same structural model from the early years onwards. The three-factor level, with a positive personality factor and two broad psychopathology factors, externalizing and internalizing, resembled the three developmental orientations of moving toward, against or away from the world. The findings suggest that personality and common psychopathology share the same temperamental origins in behavioral inhibition and negative affect.

Toddlers, Parents, and Culture

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

The present follow-up study examined the contribution of early temperament to mental health in pr... more The present follow-up study examined the contribution of early temperament to mental health in preschool and school years. Participants represent a community sample of 96 children (54% female) from urban and rural areas of Russia. Temperament was measured by the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire; mental health was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Effortful control and negative affectivity accounted for 17% of the variance in internalizing problems and 6% in externalizing problems, and results also highlighted the contribution of lower-order traits. Our findings emphasize the importance of broadband and fine-grained early temperamental traits for later mental health in the Russian context and support the predominant role of effortful control and negative affectivity.

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2015

International journal of circumpolar health, 1999

Cultural and biological influences on psychological health were examined in 256 schoolchildren, a... more Cultural and biological influences on psychological health were examined in 256 schoolchildren, aged 13 to 17 years, in Novosibirsk, Russia. Children's competence and problems were assessed using the Youth Self-Report (YSR), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher's Report Form (TRF). Compared with Americans, Siberian children scored lower on competencies and higher on somatic complaints. Height predicted mothers' ratings for children's Total Competence and Delinquent Behaviour and was negatively related to boys' Anxious/Depressed problems. Triceps skinfold thickness predicted children's self-ratings for somatic complaints. In girls, self-ratings for Delinquent Behaviour were related to heart period variability and subscapular skinfold thickness and self-ratings for Attention Problems were related to triceps skinfold thickness. Systolic blood pressure was negatively associated with behavioural problems, thought problems and somatic complaints. Ove...

Personality and Individual Differences, 2007

The associations among the Big Five, Behavioural Inhibition (BIS), Behavioural Approach (BAS) sys... more The associations among the Big Five, Behavioural Inhibition (BIS), Behavioural Approach (BAS) systems and adjustment measured by academic achievement and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were examined with parent-reports of 944 Russian 3-18 year old children and self-reports of 1013 adolescents. Personality was measured by the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (ICID), which assessed dimensions of the Five Factor Model; in addition, adolescents completed a short form of the Gray-Wilson Personality Questionnaire which assessed dimensions of BIS and BAS. BAS was negatively related to Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and BIS was positively associated with Neuroticism and negatively related to Extraversion. Both BIS and BAS were associated with Negative Emotionality. Overall, all personality measures accounted for 11-25% of the variance in self reported adjustment measures, explaining more than 20% of emotional and behavioural problems. The predictive power of child's personality for parent reported adjustment measures was higher, explaining 28% of academic achievement and 32% of total psychological problems. The results are discussed in light of the possible role of BIS and BAS in shaping child personality and adjustment.

Personality and Individual Differences, 2001

A translated, shortened version of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire was administered, al... more A translated, shortened version of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire was administered, along with an abbreviated adult Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, to 251 Russian schoolchildren aged 14–16 years. Girls were significantly higher than boys on ...

Journal of Research in Personality, 2014

ABSTRACT The study examined interactions between personality and family environment in the predic... more ABSTRACT The study examined interactions between personality and family environment in the prediction of child well-being in the large and diverse samples of parent reports of 2–18-year-olds (N = 1978) and adolescent self reports (N = 2550). Well-being was measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and academic achievement, personality was measured by the Inventory of Child Individual Differences at three levels of the hierarchical structure. The results showed specificity of interactive effects in terms of the outcome, personality trait, environment and informant. The majority of interactions indicated that the link between child personality and well-being was stronger in more difficult circumstances; this pattern applied mainly to proximal environment and family risk.

International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2010

The aim of this study was to explore child and adolescent personality in the Russian culture, add... more The aim of this study was to explore child and adolescent personality in the Russian culture, addressing gender and age differences, and to examine personality and family effects on children’s Internalizing and Externalizing problems. Parents of 1,640 Russian children aged 3—18 years completed the Inventory of Child Individual Differences measuring personality, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire measuring problem behavior, and reported about family background. Girls scored higher than boys on the Conscientiousness domain and on the Intelligent and Considerate scales, but lower on Activity. In younger children, Extraversion was higher; in older children, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Shyness were higher; Distractibility was highest in early adolescence. The gender and age differences were small. Personality explained about 30% of variance in children’s Internalizing problems, and 50% in Externalizing problems; family factors contributed less than 4%. Internalizing Pr...

Personality and Individual Differences, 2005

... be seriously compromised by the widespread exposure to a combination of adverse social, famil... more ... be seriously compromised by the widespread exposure to a combination of adverse social, family and economic factors such as new poverty, rising ... The mean monthly family income in 49% of the families was below the official living wage level, 44% around the official ... Measures. ...

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-4-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negati... more Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-4-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negative emotionality: A multilevel analysis from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium by Eric E. Desmarais, Brian F. French, Emine Ahmetoglu, Ibrahim Acar, Carmen Gonzalez-Salinas, Elena Kozlova, Helena Slobodskaya, Oana Benga, Mirjana Majdandžić, Roseriet Beijers, Carolina de Weerth, Blanca Huitron, Eun Gyoung Lee, Sae-Young Han, Seong-Yeon Park, Lorenzo Giusti, Rosario Montirosso, Soile Tuovinen, Kati Heinonen, Katri Raikkonen, Zhengyan Wang, Felipe Lecannelier, Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares, Sara Casalin, Samuel P. Putnam and Maria A. Gartstein in International Journal of Behavioral Development

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-2-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negati... more Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-2-jbd-10.1177_01650254211020128 for Cultural contributors to negative emotionality: A multilevel analysis from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium by Eric E. Desmarais, Brian F. French, Emine Ahmetoglu, Ibrahim Acar, Carmen Gonzalez-Salinas, Elena Kozlova, Helena Slobodskaya, Oana Benga, Mirjana Majdandžić, Roseriet Beijers, Carolina de Weerth, Blanca Huitron, Eun Gyoung Lee, Sae-Young Han, Seong-Yeon Park, Lorenzo Giusti, Rosario Montirosso, Soile Tuovinen, Kati Heinonen, Katri Raikkonen, Zhengyan Wang, Felipe Lecannelier, Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares, Sara Casalin, Samuel P. Putnam and Maria A. Gartstein in International Journal of Behavioral Development

Infant Behavior and Development, 2021

Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effe... more Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.

Toddlers, Parents, and Culture, 2018

International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2021

This study advances the cross-cultural temperament literature by comparing temperament ratings of... more This study advances the cross-cultural temperament literature by comparing temperament ratings of toddlers from 14 nations. Multilevel modeling (MLM) procedures were utilized to regress negative emotionality (NE) and component subscales on Hofstede’s cultural value dimensions while controlling for age and gender. More individualistic values were associated with lower NE, and component discomfort, fear, motor activity, perceptual sensitivity, and soothability scales. The discomfort subscale was negatively associated with power distance and positively associated with masculine cultural values. Higher ratings of shyness were related to a more long-term cultural orientation. Results illustrate the feasibility of an MLM approach to cross-cultural research and provide a new perspective on the intersection of culture and temperament development. Limitations and future implications are discussed.

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2012

The present study addressed differences in infant and toddler temperament, utilizing translations... more The present study addressed differences in infant and toddler temperament, utilizing translations of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised (IBQ-R) and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ), for children growing up in the United States, Russia, and Japan. Results indicated a number of significant differences in higher-order dimensions and fine-grained components of early temperament between the three cultural groups. U.S. children scored higher for Surgency and related traits, compared to Japanese and Russian children; Negative Affectivity showed the opposite pattern of cross-cultural differences, wherein Japanese children received the highest scores from their caregivers. In addition, Japanese infants and toddlers scored lower for Effortful Control. Significant Culture × Age interactions indicated that patterns of cross-cultural differences in different age groups varied across and within the three higher-order dimensions. Surgency, as well as positive affect to both...

Acknowledgements: Authors greatly appreciate the contribution of many individuals assisting with ... more Acknowledgements: Authors greatly appreciate the contribution of many individuals assisting with a variety of research activities (instrument translation/validation, recruitment, data collection, etc.

Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 2018

Background: Effortful control is a core aspect of self-regulation and refers to the ability to vo... more Background: Effortful control is a core aspect of self-regulation and refers to the ability to voluntarily regulate behaviour and attention, measured by temperament questionnaires. Although the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire is widely used in different countries, this measure has not been fully explored. Most research on the links of effortful control with personality and important outcomes has been carried out in Western nations; the possibility of extending these findings to other cultures requires study. Objective: To examine effortful control and its relations to personality and wellbeing in a community sample of primary schoolchildren in Russia. Design: Parents of 7-10-year-olds (N = 614) completed the abbreviated Effortful Control scale of the TMCQ, the Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short version, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); teachers provided SDQ data and school grades; children completed the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale. Results: The findings supported a four-factor structure of Effortful Control, including Attention Focusing, Inhibitory Control, Activation Control, and Low-Intensity Pleasure. Effortful Control was associated with the personality traits of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness, and also with Positive Emotions and low Neuroticism. Effortful Control was also associated with academic achievement, subjective well-being, and lower levels of externalising and internalising problems. Structural modelling showed that Attentional Control contributed to problem behaviour and subjective wellbeing; Inhibitory Control contributed to externalising problems; and Activation Control contributed to academic achievement. Effortful Control in Primary Schoolchildren… 3 Conclusion: Effortful Control and its components were strongly related to higherand lower-order personality traits. The findings confirmed the important role of effortful control in the academic success and well-being of Russian primary schoolchildren.

Journal of Research in Personality, 2014

The study examined the hierarchical structure of child personality and common psychopathology in ... more The study examined the hierarchical structure of child personality and common psychopathology in a community sample of 2-18-year-olds (N = 1926) using parent reported Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short version and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. A joint higher-order factor analysis suggested a four-factor solution; the hierarchical framework showed that normal personality traits and problem behaviors are integrated within the same structural model from the early years onwards. The three-factor level, with a positive personality factor and two broad psychopathology factors, externalizing and internalizing, resembled the three developmental orientations of moving toward, against or away from the world. The findings suggest that personality and common psychopathology share the same temperamental origins in behavioral inhibition and negative affect.

Toddlers, Parents, and Culture

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

The present follow-up study examined the contribution of early temperament to mental health in pr... more The present follow-up study examined the contribution of early temperament to mental health in preschool and school years. Participants represent a community sample of 96 children (54% female) from urban and rural areas of Russia. Temperament was measured by the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire; mental health was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Effortful control and negative affectivity accounted for 17% of the variance in internalizing problems and 6% in externalizing problems, and results also highlighted the contribution of lower-order traits. Our findings emphasize the importance of broadband and fine-grained early temperamental traits for later mental health in the Russian context and support the predominant role of effortful control and negative affectivity.

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2015

International journal of circumpolar health, 1999

Cultural and biological influences on psychological health were examined in 256 schoolchildren, a... more Cultural and biological influences on psychological health were examined in 256 schoolchildren, aged 13 to 17 years, in Novosibirsk, Russia. Children's competence and problems were assessed using the Youth Self-Report (YSR), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher's Report Form (TRF). Compared with Americans, Siberian children scored lower on competencies and higher on somatic complaints. Height predicted mothers' ratings for children's Total Competence and Delinquent Behaviour and was negatively related to boys' Anxious/Depressed problems. Triceps skinfold thickness predicted children's self-ratings for somatic complaints. In girls, self-ratings for Delinquent Behaviour were related to heart period variability and subscapular skinfold thickness and self-ratings for Attention Problems were related to triceps skinfold thickness. Systolic blood pressure was negatively associated with behavioural problems, thought problems and somatic complaints. Ove...

Personality and Individual Differences, 2007

The associations among the Big Five, Behavioural Inhibition (BIS), Behavioural Approach (BAS) sys... more The associations among the Big Five, Behavioural Inhibition (BIS), Behavioural Approach (BAS) systems and adjustment measured by academic achievement and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were examined with parent-reports of 944 Russian 3-18 year old children and self-reports of 1013 adolescents. Personality was measured by the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (ICID), which assessed dimensions of the Five Factor Model; in addition, adolescents completed a short form of the Gray-Wilson Personality Questionnaire which assessed dimensions of BIS and BAS. BAS was negatively related to Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and BIS was positively associated with Neuroticism and negatively related to Extraversion. Both BIS and BAS were associated with Negative Emotionality. Overall, all personality measures accounted for 11-25% of the variance in self reported adjustment measures, explaining more than 20% of emotional and behavioural problems. The predictive power of child's personality for parent reported adjustment measures was higher, explaining 28% of academic achievement and 32% of total psychological problems. The results are discussed in light of the possible role of BIS and BAS in shaping child personality and adjustment.

Personality and Individual Differences, 2001

A translated, shortened version of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire was administered, al... more A translated, shortened version of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire was administered, along with an abbreviated adult Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, to 251 Russian schoolchildren aged 14–16 years. Girls were significantly higher than boys on ...

Journal of Research in Personality, 2014

ABSTRACT The study examined interactions between personality and family environment in the predic... more ABSTRACT The study examined interactions between personality and family environment in the prediction of child well-being in the large and diverse samples of parent reports of 2–18-year-olds (N = 1978) and adolescent self reports (N = 2550). Well-being was measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and academic achievement, personality was measured by the Inventory of Child Individual Differences at three levels of the hierarchical structure. The results showed specificity of interactive effects in terms of the outcome, personality trait, environment and informant. The majority of interactions indicated that the link between child personality and well-being was stronger in more difficult circumstances; this pattern applied mainly to proximal environment and family risk.

International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2010

The aim of this study was to explore child and adolescent personality in the Russian culture, add... more The aim of this study was to explore child and adolescent personality in the Russian culture, addressing gender and age differences, and to examine personality and family effects on children’s Internalizing and Externalizing problems. Parents of 1,640 Russian children aged 3—18 years completed the Inventory of Child Individual Differences measuring personality, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire measuring problem behavior, and reported about family background. Girls scored higher than boys on the Conscientiousness domain and on the Intelligent and Considerate scales, but lower on Activity. In younger children, Extraversion was higher; in older children, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Shyness were higher; Distractibility was highest in early adolescence. The gender and age differences were small. Personality explained about 30% of variance in children’s Internalizing problems, and 50% in Externalizing problems; family factors contributed less than 4%. Internalizing Pr...