title: Personality symptoms and self-esteem as correlates of psychopathology in child psychiatric patients: evaluating multiple informant data.
abstract: Research on adulthood posits personality and self-esteem as important predictors of psychopathology. In childhood, however, the study of these relationships is complicated by the lack of consensus on how to combine data from multiple informants of child behavior. This study evaluates the relationships among personality symptoms, self-esteem and psychopathology in 60 child psychiatric patients (M (age) = 10.6) using principal component analysis (PCA) to aggregate data from multiple informants and compares this strategy with a single informant approach. When predictor and criterion measures were rated by a single informant, strong and differential relationships between personality symptoms, self-esteem and psychopathology are found. When multiple informant data were combined into composite scores by PCA, correlations decreased but remained significant. Hierarchical regression analyses affirm the robustness of the following pattern: Emotional Instability, Introversion and Global Self-Esteem are associated with internalizing whereas Disagreeableness and Behavioral Conduct primarily relate to externalizing problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Sarah.DePauw@UGent.be
authors.forename: Sarah S W
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: De Pauw
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mervielde
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: De Clercq
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Fruyt
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tremmery
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Deboutte
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept