Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Comorbidity between Depression and Aggression in a Child-Adolescent Community Sample: Nosological, Prognosis and Etiological Implications.

Comorbidity between depression and aggression in the child-adolescent population remains a controversial phenomenon. To our knowledge, no longitudinal study using structural equation modeling (SEM) has confirmed whether the relationship between depression and aggression is due to the fact that they share internalizing and externalizing supraordinal factors at the level of the syndrome or is due to the fact that they share common characteristics in relation to an underlying factor at the level of symptoms. We examined longitudinal comorbid relationships in a community sample (N = 251) at three waves ages from 10 to 13 years. The SEM showed that longitudinally, the comorbidity between depression and aggression is due to the fact that they share characteristics of the same underlying factor at the symptom level. These results have implications for the classification, diagnosis, and treatment of comorbidity between depression and aggression in a child-adolescent population.

[Psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index in Spanish child and adolescent population]. / Propiedades psicométricas del Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) en población infantil y adolescente española.

This article analyses the dimensions of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1980). The sample comprised 721 Spanish participants between 9 and 16 years old. Diverse exploratory factor analyses were conducted as the basis for the final confirmatory factor analysis, through self-report. The results supported a structure with 5 first-order main factors (Intellectual empathy, Positive emotional empathy, Disorganized emotional empathy, Virtual empathy, and Impassiveness), where the two first factors are nested in a second-order dimension: "Considerate Social Style". The psychometric characteristics of the instrument were adequate. The proposed model is a new alternative to conceptualize the factor structure of empathy.

The structure of Bryant's Empathy Index for children: a cross-validation study.

The present study examined the structure of Bryant's Empathy Index (BEI) using different samples for conducting exploratory and confirmatory analyses. The BEI was administered to a sample of 2714 children (mean age 11.12, SD = 1.59). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed a three-factor structure: Feelings of Sadness, Understanding Feelings and Tearful Reaction. The results revealed both the multidimensionality of the instrument and appropriate fit indices for the model proposed. Although these results were very similar to those reported in other studies with a Spanish population, the analyses were conducted in a more robust way: with a larger sample and using polychoric correlations and cross validation estimation.

Temperamental and personality variables in child and adolescent depressive symptomatology.

In this study, we analyzed the relationship between temperament and personality factors and depression in children and adolescents. Temperament was assessed with the Dimensions of Temperament Survey Revised (DOTS-R), personality with the Big Five Questionnaire-Children (BFQ-C), and depressive symptomatology with the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The sample was made up of 535 participants (274 boys and 261 girls), aged 8 to 15 years. Results show that temperament and personality are significantly related to depressive symptomatology in children and adolescents. Those with difficult temperaments showed more depressive symptomatology, as did those with high levels of emotional instability or low levels of extraversion, openness, agreeableness or conscientiousness. Multiple regression analyses revealed greater relevance of personality variables than of temperament variables.