Personality and Psychopathology in Flemish Referred Children: Five Perspectives of Continuity

Abstract

The present study investigates five types of continuity of personality and internalizing and externalizing problems (i.e. structural, differential, mean-level, individual-level and ipsative continuity) in a sample of referred children and adolescents (N = 114) with a broad variety of psychological problems. Mothers were administered a child personality and psychopathology measure, i.e. the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) [1] and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) [2] at two measurement occasions, with a 26-months interval. Personality was substantially stable, paralleling findings for non-referred peers. Internalizing and Externalizing Problem Behavior were almost as stable as personality traits, suggesting that childhood psychopathology is more persistent than generally assumed. Strengths and limitations of the present study and implications for further research are discussed.status: publishe