The Link Between Personality, Sibling Relationship Quality and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Three Developmental Periods

• In Event: Temperament and Social Relationships: Multiple Methods for Understanding the Whole Child Across Development

Abstract

A growing body of literature suggests personality traits are related with various aspects of psychopathology, including internalizing and externalizing problems. Research also suggests the social environment plays a role in the association between personality traits and problem behavior. According to the mediation model, personality exerts its effect on problem behavior through the social environment. From earlier work we also know personality factors are associated with sibling warmth and conflict, and that sibling warmth and conflict are consistently linked to internalizing and externalizing problems. So, it could be that the association between personality and problem behavior is mediated by sibling relationship quality. However, knowledge about this potential mediating effect is scarce. Earlier work also suggests the links between personality, sibling relationship quality and problem behavior may differ as a function of age (with stronger links for adolescents vs. younger children) and birth order (with stronger links for older sibling personality vs. younger sibling personality).
The aims of the present study were 1) to examine the associations between child/adolescent personality, sibling relationship quality, and problem behavior; 2) to examine whether sibling relationship quality mediates the associations between child/adolescent personality traits and problem behavior; and 3) to examine whether these patterns differ as a function of age group and birth order. We examined these study aims in three separate cross-sectional samples: Study 1 concerns children at school entry, Study 2 concerns children in late childhood and Study 3 concerns adolescents.
Participants in Study 1 were 977 Dutch mothers (mean age 35.7 years) reporting about a target child at school entry (mean age 4.7 years, 51.9% girls). Mothers filled out questionnaires concerning temperament (surgency, negative affect, and effortful control), sibling relationship quality (warmth and conflict), and problem behavior (internalizing and externalizing) of the target child.
Participants in Study 2 were 629 children (52.1% girls; mean age 11.4 years), and participants in Study 3 were 505 adolescents (50.6% girls; mean age 14.6 years). These children and adolescents reported on their own personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to new experiences), sibling relationship quality (warmth and conflict), and problem behavior (anxiety/depression and aggressive behavior).
Preliminary analyses indicated that across all three developmental periods, personality factors were significantly associated with sibling warmth and conflict, as well as with internalizing and externalizing problems. Additionally, sibling warmth and conflict were significantly associated with internalizing and externalizing problems. We also found evidence that many of the associations between temperament or personality and problem behavior were partially or fully mediated by sibling relationship quality. E.g., higher scores on extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were related to less sibling conflict, and less sibling conflict was related to less externalizing problems. Preliminary analyses also suggest that these mediation models were moderated by birth order, but not by age.

Author

• Kirsten Buist, Utrecht University
  Presenting Author