Browsing by Author "Montgomery, Johanna"

Objectives: Previous studies have demonstrated that family environment can impact widely on children's development, including their personality. Harsh home environments, such as negative parental child-rearing attitudes, can lead into negative developmental paths. Associations between childhood internalizing and externalizing problem behaviour and development of personality traits are less researched. However, behavioural styles of young children have been linked to their later mental health and personality style. The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine the effects of childhood problem behaviour and maternal child-rearing attitudes on development of negative emotionality and sociability traits. The hypotheses were that childhood problem behaviour and maternal negative child-rearing attitudes predict higher negative emotionality, lower sociability as well as changes in those traits at the second point of personality trait measurement. Methods: The participants (n = 1352) were derived from the longitudinal "Cardiovascular risk in Young Finns" study that began in 1980. Childhood problem behaviour and child-rearing attitudes were self-rated by the participants' mothers' in 1983, when the participants age varied from 6 to 21. The participants then self-rated their negative emotionality and sociability twice in 1992 and 1997, aged between 15 to 35. The associations between childhood problem behaviour, maternal child-rearing attitudes and the later personality traits were examined by linear regression analysis. Results and conclusions: Both internalizing and externalizing childhood problem behaviour were associated with higher level of negative emotionality in youth and early adulthood, but only internalizing behaviour predicted lower sociability. Surprisingly there were no associations between maternal child-rearing attitudes and personality trait development. Also, problem behaviour and child-rearing attitudes did not predict any trait changes at the second point of personality trait measurement. Knowledge about possible long-term effects of childhood problem behaviour on personality development can be utilized in preventative child and youth work.