The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between four personality styles and two important indications of HIV risk behavior, at intake and 3-month follow-up, among a sample of adolescents participating in court-mandated substance abuse treatment in conjunction with an HIV prevention intervention. This study involved a secondary analysis of data from a NIDA funded project (1R01DA011875-01, R. Malow, PI). Predictor variables included levels of antisocial (unruly), dependent(submissive), avoidant (inhibited), and borderline (borderline tendency) personality styles drawn from scales of the Million Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI). Criterion variables included number of sexual partners and percentage of sex acts unprotected, derived from the Risk Behavior Assessment (RBA). A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test study hypotheses. Analyses controlled for age, ethnicity, education, gender, intervention status, the three personality variables not central to the hypothesis being tested, and baseline values of sexual risk behavior, when relevant. Results from the multiple regression analyses failed to support study hypotheses,indicating that adolescent personality styles were not important predictors of HIV risk behavior. Results are discussed within the context of the relevant literature. Study limitations and recommendations for future research are noted.

Although mental disorders are common among children all over the world, information on the extent and types of child psychiatric disorders in Ethiopia is extremely limited. A study was conducted in an urban setting of Ethiopia to look at the prevalence of child psychiatric disorders and their correlates. A two-phase survey was performed. In the first phase, parents of 5000 children in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, were interviewed using the Reporting Questionnaire for Children (RQC). In the second phase, parents of all screen-positive children (n=864) and parents of 1537 screen-negative children were interviewed using the revised parent version of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA-R), a semi-structured diagnostic instrument that is based on the third revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III-R). This thesis discusses the results of that study in comparison with other child mental health studies in Ethiopia and elsewhere. At the recommended cut-off score of 1, the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios of the RQC to DICA-R diagnoses were acceptable. The RQC had high accuracy with a misclassification rate of 17%. The weighted prevalence for any DSM-III-R diagnosis was 17%. The most prevalent condition was enuresis (12.1%) followed by simple phobia (5.5%). The prevalence rates of all other identified conditions were below 1%. Children's age, severe economic problems, and single parenthood were found to be risk factors for any DSM-III-R diagnosis in children. Male sex, younger age, and lower achieved educational grade of the child were all independently associated with childhood enuresis. The odds of having enuresis were significantly higher for children in families with extreme poverty and in children from single-parent homes. The risk of having enuresis was significantly higher in children who had anxiety disorders (AD) and disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD). Sex was significantly associated with disruptive behaviour disorders while grade level, age, family size, ethnicity, poverty, and single parenthood were not. Anxiety disorders were significantly associated with sex, ethnicity, and extreme poverty but not with the other socio-demographic variables. The absence of mood disorders and somatoform disorders, of which symptoms are often encountered in both children and adults at clinical settings and the low prevalence rates of most identified conditions, were probably related to the lack of awareness or alternative explanations at the community level regarding the understanding of behaviour changes. Campaigns of public mental health education with the aim of providing scientific information to society are highly recommended. While Ethiopia works towards mainstreaming mental health into its health care system, training health care workers in applying simple screening tools like the RQC is recommended.

The current investigation compared the fit of three models of internalizing in middle childhood: (1) a unitary factor model, (2) a two-factor model corresponding to the DSM-IV Anxiety/Depression distinction, and (3) a two-factor model corresponding to the Fear/Distress distinction observed in structural studies of adult psychopathology (Krueger, 1999; Slade & Watson, 2006). Mothers of 344 children (50.6% female, mean age = 9.97, SD = .82) reported on childhood internalizing symptoms and personality traits. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed acceptable fit indices for all three models. The unitary factor model provided the most parsimonious fit to the data. Although the structural analyses suggested that internalizing subfactors were not differentiated in middle childhood, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that personality dimensions uniquely predicted fear and distress disorders. These results suggest that personality foreshadows later psychopathology structure before it is manifest at the symptom level.

Controversy exists over the validity of child Openness to Experience (OE), which is typically considered a major trait in adult personality models. In an effort to establish construct validity for child OE, data were collected for 346 children (51% girls) approximately 9–10 years of age (M = 9.92, SD = 0.83). Parents completed questionnaires about their children’s personality, temperament, and behavioral problems and competencies. Factor analyses of relevant personality and temperament facets revealed a robust and measurable OE factor made up of three facets: Intellect, Imagination, and Sensitivity. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was established via associations with other higher-order personality traits, behavioral problems, and behavioral competencies. The results underscore the importance of drawing from both temperament and personality literatures in attempts to establish construct validity for child trait domains as well as of moving beyond the higher-order domain and examining facet-level associations between OE and child behavior.

Alcohol-related expectations have been defined as the anticipated consequences from consuming alcohol (Brown, Goldman, Inn, & Anderson, 1980). Previous research has been conducted to examine the role of alcohol expectations in the co-occurrence of alcohol problems with anxiety and depressive symptoms. In the current study, the relationship between alcohol problems, anxiety and depressive traits, and alcohol expectancies were examined within a male juvenile correction sample. Specifically, statistical analyses were conducted to test the degree to which alcohol expectancies combined with anxiety/depression traits improve the prediction of alcohol-related problems beyond that of anxiety/depression traits alone. Archival data were collected from 205 incarcerated male adolescents who completed both the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire -- Adolescent Form (AEQ-A) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--Adolescent (MMPI-A). Two research hypotheses were tested using correlation and regression analyses. The results demonstrated that depressive traits significantly predicted an increase in alcohol-related problems, and the addition of expectancies related to global positive changes and increased social behavior produced a significant gain in the prediction of alcohol problems. Furthermore, anxiety traits significantly predicted an increase in alcohol-related problems, and the inclusion of tension reduction expectancies yielded a significant gain in prediction. The results suggest that alcohol-related problems may be exacerbated by the presence of reinforcement-based expectancies in male juvenile offenders who are concurrently experiencing elevated levels of anxiety and depressive traits. These findings have implications for prevention and treatment programs that utilize cognitive-behavioral and expectancy challenge techniques to affect change in problematic alcohol consumption behaviors. / "December 2006."

The current investigation compared the fit of three models of internalizing in middle childhood: (1) a unitary factor model, (2) a two-factor model corresponding to the DSM-IV Anxiety/Depression distinction, and (3) a two-factor model corresponding to the Fear/Distress distinction observed in structural studies of adult psychopathology (Krueger, 1999; Slade & Watson, 2006). Mothers of 344 children (50.6% female, mean age = 9.97, SD = .82) reported on childhood internalizing symptoms and personality traits. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed acceptable fit indices for all three models. The unitary factor model provided the most parsimonious fit to the data. Although the structural analyses suggested that internalizing subfactors were not differentiated in middle childhood, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that personality dimensions uniquely predicted fear and distress disorders. These results suggest that personality foreshadows later psychopathology structure before it is manifest at the symptom level.

Controversy exists over the validity of child Openness to Experience (OE), which is typically considered a major trait in adult personality models. In an effort to establish construct validity for child OE, data were collected for 346 children (51% girls) approximately 9–10 years of age (M = 9.92, SD = 0.83). Parents completed questionnaires about their children’s personality, temperament, and behavioral problems and competencies. Factor analyses of relevant personality and temperament facets revealed a robust and measurable OE factor made up of three facets: Intellect, Imagination, and Sensitivity. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was established via associations with other higher-order personality traits, behavioral problems, and behavioral competencies. The results underscore the importance of drawing from both temperament and personality literatures in attempts to establish construct validity for child trait domains as well as of moving beyond the higher-order domain and examining facet-level associations between OE and child behavior.

Childhood obesity is a growing concern for practitioners and researchers. In addition to obesity being a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, children classified as obese are more likely to demonstrate other risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, children classified as obese are more likely to be victims of bullying and discrimination. This dissertation tested a dynamic cascade model of the development of childhood obesity. It was hypothesized that externalizing behaviors and internalizing problems would lead to increased body mass index. This model was tested in Mplus v7 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998) using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. This dissertation used parent report of externalizing behaviors and internalizing behaviors, teacher report of externalizing behaviors, and body mass index to examine several different ways in which developmental psychopathology related to childhood obesity. The results suggested that body mass index predicts the development of internalizing problems in late childhood. However, externalizing behaviors were not directly or indirectly associated with body mass index. These findings suggested that the assessment of children with internalizing problems should include an assessment of their weight and weight related concerns.

<p>Several studies have shown that children who grow up under adverse care giving conditions are prone to develop a broad spectrum of different problems, ranging from mild depression to severe psychosomatic pathology later in life. A carefully treated child develops a different attachment strategy and biochemical response than a maltreated child. Early adverse events seem to program the stress response to become either over or under reactive which in turn have the potential to alter brain development. Major consequences include reduced plasticity and abnormal frontal lobe activity. This review further investigates the emotional and cognitive development in children exposed to early life abuse or neglect, trying to get a comprehensive picture of different symptoms that might contribute to later psychopathology.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-47).