Understanding the Leaders of Tomorrow: The Need to Study Leadership in Adolescence.

Leadership traits and behaviors are observed early in human development, and although an improved understanding of youth leadership would usefully inform many real-world contexts (e.g., education, parenting, policy), most empirical work on leadership has been limited to adult populations. The purpose of the current article is to add a developmental perspective to leadership research that has so far been absent. Here, we (a) highlight adolescence as a critical developmental period for leadership emergence and development, (b) argue that leadership among youths is poorly understood and critically understudied, (c) provide exemplars of synergy between research on leadership and adolescent development that are ripe for focused inquiry, and (d) underscore some of the positive consequences of accelerating empirical research on leadership in adolescence, including implications for a deeper understanding of leadership in adult working populations.

If an entrepreneur founded the DSM-5 alternative model of personality disorder: When Axis II meets disruptive innovation: Comment on Widiger and Hines (2022).

Personality disorder (PD) researchers proposed a highly innovative "paradigm-shifting" revamp for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (APA, 2013). Yet, 10 years later, Widiger and Hines (2022) summarize a developmental process plagued by disagreement and stagnation, with little evidence of the field having reaped the desired benefits of this diagnostic revolution. In this commentary, we draw on principles from entrepreneurial creation, operation, and success-positioning the PD scientists in the role of "disruptive innovator"-and summarize key principles from the entrepreneurial process that may be relevant in understanding the challenges and failures of the PD revolution to date. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparing recidivism rates among domestically violent men enrolled in ACTV versus Duluth/CBT.

Objective: The goal of the present study was to replicate and extend published preliminary evidence demonstrating that a relatively new treatment (Achieving Change through Value-Based Behavior [ACTV]) for men convicted of domestic violence significantly reduces recidivism compared to the standard treatment offered across the United States (the Duluth Model and/or cognitive-behavioral approaches). Method: Men convicted of domestic assault (DA) and court-mandated to a Batterers Intervention Program [N = 725; Mage = 34.9 years (SDage = 10.37 years)] were assigned to attend ACTV or treatment-as-usual (TAU). Participants were predominantly Black (63.3%). Recidivism, defined as any new convictions, any violent convictions, and any DA convictions, was examined up to 5 years posttreatment. Only men classified as medium or high risk were included. Results: Men in TAU were more likely to receive any conviction (95% CI [1.61, 4.40]), a violent conviction (95% CI [1.67, 9.60]), and a DA conviction (95% CI [1.36, 4.90]) compared to men in ACTV. Time to new conviction posttreatment was shorter for men in TAU versus ACTV (95% CI [2.16, 4.11]). Finally, the risk of receiving any new conviction (95% CI [1.46, 7.11]) was more strongly associated with noncompletion for TAU than ACTV participants. Conclusions: ACTV shows great promise for reducing recidivism compared to TAU. The present study represents the first time this intervention has been implemented in a state other than where it was developed and provides initial evidence for its generalizability and robustness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Towards construct validity of relational aggression: An examination of the Children's Social Behavior Scale.

Relational aggression-or behavior intended to harm the relationships of its victims-has been the focus of interdisciplinary study across developmental, clinical, personality, and social psychology in the last several decades. One of the primary measures used to assess relational aggression in youth is the Children's Social Behavior Scale (CSBS; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995), but despite its common usage, the construct validity of this measure has not been comprehensively assessed. In the present study, we used a multistage construct validity framework to thoroughly investigate the nature of relational aggression across six community samples totaling 3,102 youth and their caregivers. We used multiple methods to map the reliability, internal or structural validity, and external validity of this scale. Through these analyses, we found that CSBS Relational Aggression demonstrated strong internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater reliability as well as a robust single factor structure and invariance across multiple demographic groups. External validity analyses positioned relational aggression within a theoretically consistent nomological net including psychopathology, personality, and social developmental factors. Contrary to concerns about the validity of self- and parent-reports of relational aggression, both parent- and youth-report forms of the CSBS Relational Aggression scale demonstrated strong reliability and validity. While construct validation has received inadequate attention in the psychological literature to date, through this project, we aimed to demonstrate how this approach may be used to investigate existing measures across psychological research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Relational Aggression and Narcissistic Traits: How Youth Personality Pathology Informs Aggressive Behavior.

Low agreeableness features centrally in personality profiles of Cluster B personality disorder (PD) diagnoses, and it has been associated with relational aggression (RAgg; intentionally damaging others' social relationships). Researchers have hypothesized that RAgg may be a potential developmental precursor for Cluster B PDs. However, a dimensional approach to personality dysfunction is preferable to the categorical system found in the current diagnostic manual. To build a bridge between two disjointed literatures (categorical PDs and RAgg), the aim of this project is to detail how RAgg in youth is situated in the trait space represented by disagreeableness in a dimensional model of personality pathology. Caregivers of 911 youth (ages 6-18) reported on youth's RAgg and disagreeableness. We found that RAgg was most strongly related to three facets: Narcissistic traits, Hyperexpressive traits, and Dominance-Egocentrism traits. Overall, these findings provide support for RAgg as an early manifestation of personality pathology, particularly for narcissistic traits.

An N-pact factor for clinical psychological research.

Although an emphasis on adequate sample size and statistical power has a long history in clinical psychological science (Cohen, 1992), increased attention to the replicability of scientific findings has renewed focus on the importance of statistical power (Bakker, van Dijk, & Wicherts, 2012). These recent efforts have not yet circled back to modern clinical psychological research, despite the importance of sample size and power in producing a credible body of evidence. As one step in this process of scientific self-examination, the present study estimated an N-pact Factor (the statistical power of published empirical studies to detect typical effect sizes; Fraley & Vazire, 2014) in 2 leading clinical journals (the Journal of Abnormal Psychology [JAP] and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology [JCCP]) for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Study sample size, as one proxy for statistical power, is a useful focus because it allows comparisons with other subfields and may highlight some of the core methodological differences between clinical and other areas. We found that, across all years examined, the average median sample size in clinical research was 179 participants (175 for JAP and 182 for JCCP). The power to detect a small to medium effect size of .20 is just below 80% for both journals. Although the clinical N-pact factor was higher than that estimated for social psychology, the statistical power in clinical journals is still limited to detect many effects of interest to clinical psychologists, with little evidence of improvement in sample sizes over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Leveraging the Open Science Framework in clinical psychological assessment research.

The last decade has seen enormous advances in research transparency in psychology. One of these advances has been the creation of a common interface for openness across the sciences-the Open Science Framework (OSF). While social, personality, and cognitive psychologists have been at the fore in participating in open practices on the OSF, clinical psychology has trailed behind. In this article, we discuss the advantages and special considerations for clinical assessment researchers' participation in open science broadly, and specifically in using the OSF for these purposes. We use several studies from our lab to illustrate the uses of the OSF for psychological studies, as well as the process of implementing this tool in assessment research. Among these studies are an archival assessment study, a project using an extensive unpublished assessment battery, and one in which we developed a short-form assessment instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The personality context of relational aggression: A Five-Factor Model profile analysis.

Relational aggression (RAgg) is a form of behavior intended to damage the victim's social status or interpersonal relationships through the use of purposeful interpersonal manipulation or social exclusion (Archer & Coyne, 2005). RAgg is impairing, stable, and largely defined by dysfunctional patterns of interpersonal interactions-all of which invokes comparisons to personality and, more specifically, personality pathology. Leveraging research using the Five Factor Model (FFM) in personality disorder (PD) work, the present study aims to understand the personality context of RAgg by applying this FFM profile approach in 2 ways: (a) by compiling a personality profile of RAgg based on a thorough review of the relevant literature and (b) by compiling a personality profile of RAgg based on expert ratings (N = 19). We then compared these profiles to each other and to existing personality profiles of Cluster B PDs to examine how RAgg fits into the personality space represented by Cluster B PDs. These analyses indicate that both FFM profiles of RAgg show substantial overlap with the FFM profile of narcissistic PD. The present study has important implications for bridging disjointed domains of research on personality pathology and RAgg and underscores the relevance of RAgg for early emergence of PD characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record

The assessment of personality disorder: methodological, developmental, and contextual considerations.

The reliable and valid assessment of personality disorders (PDs) faces several challenges in different domains. In particular, the variety of methods, settings, and informants relevant for PD assessment raises questions about best practices. Additionally, issues surrounding assessment across the lifespan, including youth and the elderly, further complicate PD assessment. We review these issues here and point toward future directions in PD assessment, with an emphasis on the utility of dimensional PD assessment.

Does socioeconomic status mediate racial differences in the cortisol response in middle childhood?

OBJECTIVE: Race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status are both associated with stress physiology as indexed by cortisol. The present study tested the extent to which racial/ethnic disparities in cortisol reactivity are explained by socioeconomic status. METHOD: The sample consisted of 296 racially and socioeconomically diverse children ages 8-11 (47% boys). Mothers reported on children's stressors and socioeconomic status; salivary cortisol levels were assessed before and after the Trier Social Stress Test. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that racial group differences in cortisol reactivity were partially accounted for by differences in socioeconomic status, but racial group differences in cortisol recovery were not. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that cumulative effects of stress and disadvantage may result in differences in stress response physiology as early as middle childhood, and that race-specific mechanisms account for additional variance in cortisol reactivity and recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record

Measuring child personality when child personality was not measured: Application of a thin-slice approach.

Recent efforts have demonstrated that thin-slice (TS) assessment-or assessment of individual characteristics after only brief exposure to that individual's behaviour-can produce reliable and valid measurements of child personality traits. The extent to which this approach can be generalized to archival data not designed to measure personality, and whether it can be used to measure personality pathology traits in youth, is not yet known. Archival video data of a parent-child interaction task was collected as part of a clinical intervention trial for aggressive children (N = 177). Unacquainted observers independently watched the clips and rated children on normal-range (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience) and pathological (callous-unemotional) personality traits. TS ratings of child personality showed strong internal consistency, valid associations with measures of externalizing problems and temperament, and revealed differentiated subgroups of children based on severity. As such, these findings demonstrate an ecologically valid application of TS methodology and illustrate how researchers and clinicians can extend their existing data by measuring child personality using TS methodology, even in cases where child personality was not originally measured. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Adolescent Personality as Risk and Resiliency in the Testosterone-Externalizing Association.

Previous investigations of testosterone and externalizing behavior have provided mixed findings. We tested the hypothesis that self-regulatory personality moderates the testosterone-externalizing behavior association in adolescence. Parents reported on their 13- to 18-year-old (N = 106, Mage = 16.01, SD = 1.29) children's personalities and psychopathology. Testosterone was measured via drool samples. As hypothesized, personality moderated the testosterone-externalizing behavior association. High testosterone predicted higher levels of externalizing behaviors, but only for adolescents low in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Also, personality acted as a resiliency factor: high levels of Conscientiousness, in the presence of high testosterone, predicted lower levels of rule breaking. Results highlight how endogenous factors, such as personality, may interact with testosterone, and emphasize the relevance of including personality moderators in future research.

Estradiol and cortisol interactions in youth externalizing psychopathology.

Growing evidence has indicated that gonadal and stress hormones interact to shape socially dominant behavior and externalizing psychopathology; however, such work to date has focused exclusively on the testosterone-cortisol interaction, despite expectations that estradiol should be associated with similar behavioral outcomes to testosterone. Here, we present the first empirical test of the hypothesis that adolescent males and females (N=105, ages 13-18) with high estradiol and low cortisol concentrations are at highest risk for externalizing problems, but - replicating previous work - only among adolescents high on pathological personality traits. Parents reported on youth psychopathology and personality, and hormone concentrations were measured via passive drool. Results confirmed the hypothesis: high estradiol was associated with more externalizing behaviors, but only when cortisol was low and personality traits of disagreeableness and emotional instability were high. Further, these associations held when controlling for testosterone concentrations. These findings provide the first empirical evidence of a hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA)×hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis interaction that extends the "dual hormone" hypothesis beyond testosterone.

Viewing relational aggression through multiple lenses: temperament, personality, and personality pathology.

Dispositional trait frameworks offer great potential to elucidate the nature and development of psychopathology, including the construct of relational aggression. The present study sought to explore the dispositional context of relational aggression across three dispositional frameworks: temperament, personality, and personality pathology. Participants comprised a large community sample of youth, aged 6 to 18 years (N = 1,188; 51.2% female). Ratings of children's relational aggression, temperament, personality, and personality pathology traits were obtained through parent report (86.3% mothers). Results showed convergence and divergence across these three dispositional frameworks. Like other antisocial behavior subtypes, relational aggression generally showed connections with traits reflecting negative emotionality and poor self-regulation. Relational aggression showed stronger connections with temperament traits than with personality traits, suggesting that temperament frameworks may capture more relationally aggressive content. Findings at the lower order trait level help differentiate relational aggression from other externalizing problems by providing a more nuanced perspective (e.g., both sociability and shyness positively predicted relational aggression). In addition, there was little evidence of moderation of these associations by gender, age, or age2, and findings remained robust even after controlling for physical aggression. Results are discussed in the broader context of conceptualizing relational aggression in an overarching personality-psychopathology framework.

The externalizing spectrum in youth: incorporating personality pathology.

Although personality disorder characteristics are often grouped with externalizing problems in adults, little is known about the extent to which they define the externalizing spectrum in youth. We examined the extent to which personality pathology traits in youth reflected common and specific variance in externalizing problems and explored differentiation of these connections by age. Parents reported on physical aggression, rule-breaking, relational aggression, and personality pathology traits for 1080 youth (48.8% male) ages 6-18 years. Disagreeableness and emotional instability traits were correlated with a general externalizing factor as well as with specific behavioral subfactors. The magnitude of these correlations varied across age, with the highest magnitude evidenced during the developmental periods of greatest prevalence for the specific externalizing behavior subtype. Taken together, these findings suggest that personality pathology is tightly connected with externalizing problems in youth, especially during developmental periods when externalizing problems are common.