Using Dispositions to Understand Otherwise Intractable Causal Pathways to Psychological Problems During Childhood and Adolescence

Figures & data

Table 1. Pearson correlations among dimensions within the parent and youth versions of the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scales (CADS) in the Tennessee twins study (N = 4,049) (Lahey et al., 2008, 2010).

	Negative emotionality	Prosociality	Daring
Parent CADS
Negative emotionality		−.297	0.140
Prosociality			−0.149
Youth CADS
Negative emotionality		−.027	0.063
Prosociality			−0.084

Figure 1. Cross-cutting associations between 10 dimensions of parent-rated psychological problems and three parent-rated CADS dispositional dimensions, adjusting for age, sex, family income, and race-ethnicity in 9–17 year old participants in the Tennessee twin study. Dimensions of dispositions were standardized to mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1. Arrows between dispositions and problem dimensions are quantified as standardized regression coefficients that were significant after 5% FDR correction for the 30 tests of associations (dashed lines represent significant inverse associations).

Figure 2. Cross-cutting associations between 10 dimensions of parent-rated psychological problems and three youth self-rated CADS dispositional dimensions, adjusting for age, sex, family income, and race-ethnicity in 9–17 year old participants in the Tennessee twin study. Dimensions of dispositions were standardized to mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1. Arrows between dispositions and problem dimensions are quantified as standardized regression coefficients that were significant after 5% FDR correction for the 30 tests of associations (dashed lines represent significant inverse associations).

Figure 3. Plots of parent ratings of aggressive (top) and nonaggressive (bottom) DSM-IV conduct disorder behaviors (means and standard errors of ratings of child and adolescent psychopathology scale items transformed to a 0–3 scale) against sample deciles of parent-rated negative emotionality and prosociality among 6–17 year olds in the Tennessee Twins study, adjusted for clustering within twin pairs. Dotted lines are best-fit exponential lines.

Lahey, B. B., Applegate, B., Chronis, A. M., Jones, H. A., Williams, S. H., Loney, J., & Waldman, I. D. (2008). Psychometric characteristics of a measure of emotional dispositions developed to test a developmental propensity model of conduct disorder. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 37(4), 794–807. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410802359635

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Lahey, B. B., Rathouz, P. J., Applegate, B., Tackett, J. L., & Waldman, I. D. (2010). Psychometrics of a self-report version of the child and adolescent dispositions scale. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 39(3), 351–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374411003691784

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