2004

This study investigates how temperament factors are linked to internalizing and externalizing problems in a Dutch population sample of preadolescents (N = 2230). Internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed both by the Child Behavior Checklist and the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991a,b); temperament by the parent-version of the Revised Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (Ellis, 2002). Temperamental profiles were examined in children with (1) neither internalizing nor externalizing problems, (2) only internalizing problems, (3) only externalizing problems, and (4) both internalizing and externalizing problems. The results suggest clearly diverging temperament profiles for these groups of children, with High-Intensity Pleasure and Shyness (representing the broad dimension of Surgency) steering the conditional probability of internalizing and externalizing problems (direction markers), Frustration mainly being related to maladaptation in general (severity marker), and Fear and Effortful Control being associated with both the severity and the direction of, respectively, internalizing and externalizing problems. Girls and boys differed in the distribution across the problem groups, but the associations between temperament and psychopathology were comparable for both genders.