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Information on personality development (and its linguistic predictors) in the aftermath of a critical life event among depressive patients is relatively limited. The study's aim was to verify two hypotheses: (1) Participants with depression will use concrete rather than abstract language to describe their most recent critical life event and its psychological consequences and (2) The more abstract the language used, the higher the level of personality development. 16 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy patients suffering from depression participated in the study (M = 34 years old; SD = 4.02). Their level of personality development was assessed qualitatively by two independent coders. The coding system was based on the Positive Disintegration Theory (Dabrowski 1964 (See CR21)). We used typology from the Linguistic Category Model (Semin and Fiedler 1991 (See CR53)) to analyse the level of abstractness vs. concreteness. Depressed patients were classified as either abstract language speakers or concrete language speakers. There were equal numbers of both types of speakers. Moreover participants consistently used one type of language, regardless of whether they were describing the critical life event itself or its psychological consequences. As expected, using higher levels of language abstractness when speaking correlated with possessing higher levels of personality development. Our findings provide practitioners with useful knowledge on the benefits of using abstract language to improve supportive strategies when dealing with people in crisis and modify the psychotherapeutic protocols used to treat depression., Author(s): Izabela Kazmierczak [sup.1] , Justyna Sarzynska-Wawer [sup.2] , Aleksander Wawer [sup.3] , Malgorzata Chadzynska [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.445465.2, 0000 0004 0621 398X, Institute of Psychology, Maria Grzegorzewska University, [...]

The present study examined individual differences in change in extraversion, neuroticism, and work and relationship satisfaction. Of particular interest were the correlations between changes. Data were from the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Study (B. Headey & A. Wearing, 1989, 1992), in which an overall 1,130 individuals participated (ages 16 to 70). Respondents were assessed every 2 years from 1981 to 1989. Four major findings emerged. (a) There were significant individual differences in changes in extraversion and neuroticism. (b) Change was not limited to young adulthood. (c) Development was systematic in that increased work and relationship satisfaction was associated with decreases in neuroticism and increases in extraversion over time; on average, the magnitude of the relation between changes in work and relationship satisfaction and traits was .40. (d) Cross-lagged models indicated traits had a greater influence on role satisfaction; however, marginal support emerged for work satisfaction leading to increased extraversion. Implications of correlated change are discussed. Keywords: traits, personality development, longitudinal, life-span development, well-being

In four studies, the authors investigated the extent to which expectations for personality traits in age-graded roles correspond to patterns of personality trait change across the life course. In Studies 1 (N = 43) and 2 (N = 126), the authors examined the age-graded roles of high school student, college student, parent, and grandparent and found that expectations for how people behave in these age-graded roles showed strong parallels to the documented pattern of personality trait development and that this pattern of expectations was largely shared by younger and older participants. In Studies 3 (N = 252) and 4 (N = 123), the authors separated age and role information (e.g., marital, parental, and employment status) and found that people use both sources of information independently in forming expectations of others. The implications for understanding the interplay of expectations and personality trait development are discussed. Keywords: age expectations; role expectations; roles; personality development

Existential anxiety is hypothesized to be a core human issue in a great deal of theoretical and philosophical writing. However, little is known about the emergence of these concerns and their relation to emotional functioning in youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of existential anxiety in a sample of adolescents. Data on existential concerns, identity development and psychological symptoms were collected on a sample of 139 youth in grades 9-12. Results indicated that existential anxiety concerns have a theoretically consistent factor structure, are common among adolescents, and are associated with psychological symptoms, as well as identity issues. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of existential concerns in the lives of youth and the need for additional research. KEY WORDS: existential anxiety; identity; adjustment.

Research on early childhood personality has been scarce. Self-reports of Big Five personality traits were measured longitudinally with the Berkeley Puppet Interview when children were 5, 6, and 7 years of age. For comparative purposes, Big Five self-reports were collected in a sample of college students. The children's self-reports showed levels of consistency and differentiation that approached those of the college age sample. Children's personality self-reports demonstrated significant correlations across the land 2-year longitudinal intervals. Substantial and increasing convergence was found between children's self-reports of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and conceptually relevant behavior ratings provided by mothers, fathers, and teachers. Children's self-reports of Neuroticism were unrelated to adults' reports but did predict sadness and anxious behavior observed in the laboratory. The results provide the beginnings of an account of how the Big Five dimensions begin to be salient and emerge as coherent, stable, and valid self-perceptions in childhood. Keywords: children, Big Five, self-perception, personality development

The authors used growth mixture models to study religious development during adulthood (ages 27-80) in a sample of individuals who were identified during childhood as intellectually gifted. The authors identified 3 discrete trajectories of religious development: (a) 40% of participants belonged to a trajectory class characterized by increases in religiousness until midlife and declines in later adulthood; (b) 41% of participants belonged to a trajectory class characterized by very low religiousness in early adulthood and age-related decline; and (c) 19% of participants belonged to a trajectory class characterized by high religiousness in early adulthood and age-related increases. Gender, strength of religious upbringing, number of children, marrying, and agreeableness predicted membership in the trajectory classes. Results were largely consistent with the rational choice theory of religious involvement. Keywords: religion, development, growth mixture models, longitudinal

Attempts have been made to establish objective diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders in persons with mental retardation. This paper describes the clinical features of the most important psychiatric disorders in mentally retarded adolescents: mood disorders, psychotic disorders, severe behavioral disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. The impact of mental retardation on personality development is confirmed by the high psychopathological vulnerability of the mentally retarded. All types of mental disorders can be observed, with an incidence estimated to be at least three or four times higher than in the general population. Adolescence is a particularly important phase for the mentally retarded, since adolescent turmoil can increase the risk of psychopathology., Three of the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for making a clinical diagnosis of mental retardation are consistent with the ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1992): significantly subaverage intellectual functioning […]

Foster care has a great impact on child's development and functional abilities. The negative effect of long-term foster care to children was examined with the help of dimensional analysis. Results show that identity crisis, social isolation, dependency and dysfunction were some of the efects of foster care. Implication of identity development and caregiver's understanding of normal adolescent behavior will help improve the situation.

Theories of adult development suggest that both personality and social roles are sources of adult well-being, but most research has examined only social roles. An integrated model was used, including personality, number of roles, and role quality, to predict well-being in 2 longitudinal studies of college-educated women. Results for both samples indicated that role quality and personality development were important components of the path to well-being, whereas number of roles occupied was important mainly in early adulthood. Moreover, the results provided support for E. Erikson's (1968) notion of the importance of the sequencing of personality development for later well-being. Path analyses indicated that engagement in multiple roles during early adulthood facilitated the development of identity, which predicted generativity and role quality, which in turn predicted well-being.

The Freudian, object relations and interpersonal theoretical models of adolescent maturation confirm the conceptual link between problems in adolescent development and the coming up psychopathology, but they do so from different directions. Freudian theorists, in the libidinal fixations and the structural changes of adolescence, mention integration of the drives and defenses. In Sullivan's view of personality development, adolescence was reduced to the caricature of what the person will become in the future. Some amount of insanity is required for adolescent's optimal adjustment under Winnicott's theory.

The relation between individual differences in personality and differences in developmental maturity was studied by relating observations of personality by multiple, independent judges to level of ego development. The personality characteristics of longitudinally followed Ss (104 at age 14; 98 at age 23) were evaluated by the California Adult Q-Set (CAQ); ego level was evaluated by the Washington University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development (SCT). A priori personality dimensions - consisting of CAQ items for which a common developmental pathway was expected - were constructed and related to the SCT: (a) Ego-resiliency and interpersonal integrity were associated with increasing ego development, (b) conformity was associated with the Conformist level and, unexpectedly, to the Conscientious level, (c) need regulation was associated with the Conscientious level, and (d) self-ease and expressiveness-playfulness were not associated with ego level.

Although there is a profound connection between personality and developmental psychology on the one hand, and counseling psychology, on the other, this relationship has been marked by ambivalence. Reasons for this are discussed and it is suggested that the relationship is moving in the direction of actualization. Four substantive areas are explored in which personality and developmental psychology both inform and are influenced by counseling psychology: career behavior, cultural identity, psychoanalysis, and adult development. Finally, the 'healthy personality' is examined as an area of personality and developmental psychology in which counseling psychology has not fulfilled its promise, and the importance and possible directions of such work are discussed.

Self-criticism is characteristic of individuals who feel unable to live up to standards and ideals and who consequently feel they are personally to blame for this. It has been hypothesized that the development of self-criticism may be related to seeking approval from cold, harsh, demanding, judgmental parents, and the fear losing such approval. To test this hypothesis and the stability of self-criticism as a personality trait, 156 subjects were examined at ages five and 12, and at age 31, 78 of the subjects were located and evaluated again. Mothers were interviewed when children were five as well. It was found that the development of a self-critical personality style was related to early parenting. Parenting styles that communicated restrictiveness and rejection were associated with self-criticism in the child, especially if the rejecting and restrictive parent was the same-sex parent. At age 12, it seemed that same-sex parenting was the most important influence on the development of self-criticism, and it was found that self-criticism was stable from age 12 to age 31 for women only. For men, self-criticism at age 12 was related to inhibition of aggressive impulses at age 31. These results support the theory that the development of self-criticism is tied to early parenting, and further define the relationship. It was also found that for women, the trait is relatively stable over time. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

If a person's internalized and evolving life story (narrative identity) is to be considered an integral feature of personality itself, then aspects of that story should manifest some continuity over time while also providing evidence regarding important personality change. Accordingly, college freshmen and seniors provided detailed written accounts of 10 key scenes in their life stories, and they repeated the same procedure 3 months and then 3 years later. The accounts were content analyzed for reliable narrative indices employed in previous studies of life stories: emotional tone, motivational themes (agency, communion, personal growth), and narrative complexity. The results showed substantial continuity over time for narrative complexity and positive (vs. negative) emotional tone and moderate but still significant continuity for themes of agency and growth. In addition, emerging adults (1) constructed more emotionally positive stories and showed (2) greater levels of emotional nuance and self-differentiation and (3) greater understanding of their own personal development in the 4th year of the study compared to the 1st year. The study is the first to demonstrate both temporal continuity and developmental change in narrative identity over time in a broad sampling of personally meaningful life-story scenes.