Ge X, Conger R D
University of California at Davis, USA.
Am J Community Psychol. 1999 Jun;27(3):429-59. doi: 10.1023/A:1022238227937.
This 6-year longitudinal study extended earlier findings of contextual influences on adolescent adjustment problems by examining relationships between adolescent emotional and behavioral problems and late adolescent personality among more than 400 youths who were followed from 7th grade to the last year of high school. Results suggest that psychological distress and behavioral problems experienced during the adolescent years (7th-10th grades) are significantly related to personality structure during the final year of high school (12th grade). Psychological distress in adolescence was primarily related to the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) superfactors of negative and positive emotionality, whereas delinquency and substance use problems were primarily related to the MPQ superfactor of constraint. These relationships remained significant even when personality characteristics in 9th grade were taken into account. That is, emotional and behavioral problems predicted change in personality traits during the adolescent years. Moreover, both initial level and change in distress and problem behaviors were predictive of late adolescent or early adult personality. This finding suggests that personality formation is a dynamic process, dependent on the growth or decline, as well as the magnitude of earlier developmental problems. Because earlier research has shown that these developmental problems are affected by both distal and proximal environmental contexts as well as by the formative nature of adolescence, intervention efforts aimed at the reduction of maladjustment and the enhancement of healthy personality development should target early adolescent social contexts. Other theoretical implications of the findings also are discussed.
这项为期6年的纵向研究扩展了先前关于情境对青少年适应问题影响的研究结果，通过调查400多名从7年级到高中最后一年被跟踪的青少年的情绪和行为问题与青少年后期人格之间的关系。结果表明，青少年时期（7至10年级）经历的心理困扰和行为问题与高中最后一年（12年级）的人格结构显著相关。青少年时期的心理困扰主要与多维人格问卷（MPQ）的消极和积极情绪性超因素相关，而犯罪和物质使用问题主要与MPQ的约束超因素相关。即使考虑到9年级的人格特征，这些关系仍然显著。也就是说，情绪和行为问题预测了青少年时期人格特质的变化。此外，困扰和问题行为的初始水平及变化都能预测青少年后期或成年早期的人格。这一发现表明，人格形成是一个动态过程，取决于早期发展问题的增长或减少以及严重程度。由于早期研究表明这些发展问题受到远端和近端环境背景以及青春期形成性质的影响，旨在减少适应不良和促进健康人格发展的干预措施应针对青少年早期的社会环境。研究结果的其他理论意义也进行了讨论。
