Triarchic Neurobehavioral Correlates of Psychopathology in Young Children: Evidence from the Healthy Brain Network Initiative

Abstract

Recent initiatives emphasize the need to consider developmental and transdiagnostic contributions of temperamental variation to psychopathological expression. Triarchic neurobehavioral trait dimensions (boldness, meanness, disinhibition), which demonstrate compatibility with established temperament models and can be quantified using items from different existing inventories, are well-suited to pursuing these goals. We undertook to develop item-based scales for indexing these traits in 285 children (ages 5-10) tested in the Child Mind Institute’s Healthy Brain Network (HBN) study, and evaluated their psychometric properties in two separate samples of similar-aged children: 519 others from the HBN study and 261 for whom parental-informant ratings were obtained through MTurk. Associations with psychopathology measures provided evidence for a) transdiagnostic utility of the triarchic scales, b) (reversed) boldness as the strongest predictor of internalizing problems, c) meanness as related to both internalizing and externalizing problems, d) disinhibition as the strongest predictor of externalizing problems, and e)a moderating effect of meanness level on disinhibition’s relationship with externalizing problems. This research demonstrates that the triarchic traits can be effectively represented in young children and show expected relations with clinical outcome measures. As such, this work provides a foundation for developmental research clarifying the role that core neurobehavioral dispositions play in mental health.

Data Availability Statement

This manuscript was prepared using a limited access dataset obtained from the Child Mind Institute Biobank, Healthy Brain Network. This manuscript reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Child Mind Institute. Data collected via Child Mind Institute Healthy Brain Network is available via http://fcon_1000.projects.nitrc.org/indi/cmi_healthy_brain_network/index.html; data usage agreement is required.

Notes

1 The Construct Definition Form can be found in the online supplement to Hall et al. (2014), available at: http://supp.apa.org/psycarticles/supplemental/a0035665/a0035665_supp.html

2 Supplemental analyses were performed controlling for age and sex. Observed associations of triarchic traits with psychopathology variables remained the same in the two validation samples.