ارتباطات میان پنج عامل بزرگ، رفتاری مهار و سیستم های رویکرد رفتاری و سازگاری کودکان و نوجوانان در روسیه

The associations among the Big Five, Behavioural Inhibition (BIS), Behavioural Approach (BAS) systems and adjustment measured by academic achievement and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were examined with parent-reports of 944 Russian 3–18 year old children and self-reports of 1013 adolescents. Personality was measured by the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (ICID), which assessed dimensions of the Five Factor Model; in addition, adolescents completed a short form of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire which assessed dimensions of BIS and BAS. BAS was negatively related to Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and BIS was positively associated with Neuroticism and negatively related to Extraversion. Both BIS and BAS were associated with Negative Emotionality. Overall, all personality measures accounted for 11–25% of the variance in self reported adjustment measures, explaining more than 20% of emotional and behavioural problems. The predictive power of child’s personality for parent reported adjustment measures was higher, explaining 28% of academic achievement and 32% of total psychological problems. The results are discussed in light of the possible role of BIS and BAS in shaping child personality and adjustment.

The link between biologically based individual characteristics and child adjustment was outlined by Thomas and Chess (1981). Since then, many attempts were made to check this assumption (e.g., Strelau, 1998 and Windle, 1999). Most of the research was carried out in the area of temperament, although one might rightfully argue that temperament constructs and biological-based personality dimensions belong to the same domain (Strelau, 1998). Digman and Shmelyov (1996) explored the relations between temperament and personality dimensions in children. They found that the temperament measures fell within the scope of the Big Five and concluded that temperament is not only a major component of personality but may be its foundation. The analysis of different temperament measures provided empirical verification for the two factor psychophysiological model, Behavioural Activation (or Impulsivity) and Inhibition being most fundamental for the development of personality (Martin, Halverson, Havill, & Lu, 2003). In Gray’s (1973) personality theory Behavioural Inhibition (BIS) and Behavioural Activation or Approach (BAS) were posited as distinct neuropsychological systems sensitive to reward and punishment that control emotion, learning and motivation and underlie personality differences. The latest development of Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) viewed BIS and BAS as joint subsystems sensitive to reward and conflict between the approach and avoidance (Corr, 2002 and Smillie et al., 2006). In children, the influential work of Kagan and colleagues with the Behavioural Inhibition construct has examined the biological basis of temperament (e.g. Kagan, Reznick, Snidman, Gibbons, & Johnson, 1988). Several different BIS and BAS measures have been proposed to date. Kagan and associates used extensive laboratory procedures to assess Behavioural Inhibition in children (Kagan et al., 1988). Several self-report scales have been put forward to measure traits that directly correspond to Gray’s BIS and BAS systems (Carver and White, 1994, MacAndrew and Steele, 1991 and Wilson et al., 1989) and a number of parent-reported measures have been developed (Bishop et al., 2003, Blair, 2003 and Muris et al., 2003). Colder and O’Connor (2004) used both laboratory and questionnaire assessment. In addition, some temperament and personality scales are used as proxies for impulsiveness and inhibition (or anxiety) (Jackson, 2002 and Martin and Bridger, 1999). In Gray’s theory BIS and BAS were postulated to underlie the personality dimensions of anxiety and impulsiveness, thus clearly indicating the nature of the related adjustment problems. Indeed, the research has shown that BIS is a predictor of emotional problems while BAS (or Impulsivity) predicts behavioural problems in childhood (Biederman et al., 2001, Colder and O’Connor, 2004, Muris et al., 2003 and Slobodskaya et al., 2003). The other line of research linked child adjustment with individual differences in the personality domain (Hagekull and Bohlin, 1998, Lamb et al., 2002 and Robins et al., 1994). The work with parental and teacher descriptions of children during the last decade demonstrated the robustness of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality development (Caspi et al., 2005, Halverson et al., 2003 and Kohnstamm et al., 1998). The Big Five framework for childhood personality has been validated using different instruments (e.g., Digman and Shmelyov, 1996 and Lamb et al., 2002) and behavioural observations (Markey, Markey, & Tinsley, 2004). Research has demonstrated the positive role of Openness for academic achievement (Lamb et al., 2002 and Robins et al., 1994); while Extraversion predisposes to underachievement in adolescence (Eysenck, 1996). Extraversion and Agreeableness are well known factors of social adjustment (Caspi et al., 2005), while Introversion and Neuroticism predispose to problem relationships (Asendorpf & Van Aken, 2003). It has been consistently shown that Neuroticism is a risk factor for emotional problems, and Disagreeableness predisposes to behavioural problems (Caspi et al., 2005). Despite the numerous findings linking both BIS and BAS and the Big Five with developmental adjustment measures such as academic achievement and mental health, there is little evidence of the links between these two personality models and their respective role in child adjustment. Besides, most of the research on individual differences and child adjustment has been conducted in Western societies. The present study was designed to explore the relations between BIS and BAS on one hand, and the Big Five personality dimensions on the other. In addition, it aimed to determine how well these individual differences can explain child and adolescent adjustment in Russia. Regarding the first research question, it was hypothesized from the literature (Martin et al., 2003, Smillie et al., 2006 and Smits and Boeck, 2006) that BIS is linked to Negative Emotions, positively related to the Neuroticism domain and negatively associated with the Extraversion domain. BAS was expected to be negatively related to Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, no specific hypothesis was made on the sign of its emotional manifestations. Regarding the second research question, it was hypothesized that Introversion and Openness are positively associated with academic achievement (Eysenck, 1996 and Robins et al., 1994); Extraversion and Agreeableness are associated with social adjustment; Neuroticism and BIS are linked to emotional problems, while Disagreeableness and BAS relate to behavioural problems.