A dimensional model of personality disturbance is presented that is defined by extreme values on interacting subsets of seven major personality traits. Being at the extreme has marked effects on the threshold for eliciting those traits under stimulus conditions: that is, the extent to which the environment affects the neurobiological functioning underlying the traits. To explore the nature of development of extreme values on these traits, each trait is discussed in terms of three major issues: (a) the neurobiological variables associated with the trait, (b) individual variation in this neurobiology as a function of genetic polymorphisms, and (c) the effects of environmental adversity on these neurobiological variables through the action of epigenetic processes. It is noted that gene–environment interaction appears to be dependent on two main factors: (a) both genetic and environmental variables appear to have the most profound and enduring effects when they exert their effects during early postnatal periods, times when the forebrain is undergoing exuberant experience–expectant dendritic and axonal growth; and (b) environmental effects on neurobiology are strongly modified by individual differences in “traitlike” functioning of neurobiological variables. A model of the nature of the interaction between environmental and neurobiological variables in the development of personality disturbance is presented.

The onset of adolescence, and more specifically the advent of pubertal maturation, represents a key developmental window for understanding the emergence of psychopathology in youth. The papers in this special section examine normative differences in the neurobiology of stress and emotional functioning over the peripubertal period. The work in this special section helps to fill in gaps in our understanding of key mechanisms that may contribute to increased vulnerabilities in behavioral and psychiatric morbidity during this developmental period.

Dermatoglyphic asymmetry of fingertip ridge counts is more frequent in schizophrenia patients than normal controls, and may reflect disruptions in fetal development during Weeks 14–22 when fingerprints develop. However, there are no data in humans linking specific adverse events at specific times to dermatoglyphic asymmetries. Our objective was to determine whether prenatal exposure to a natural disaster (1998 Quebec ice storm) during Weeks 14–22 would result in increased dermatoglyphic asymmetry in children, and to determine the roles of maternal objective stress exposure, subjective stress reaction, and postdisaster cortisol. Ridge counts for homologous fingers were scored for 77 children (20 target exposed [Weeks 14–22] and 57 nontarget exposed [exposed during other gestation weeks]). Children in the target group had more than 0.50 SD greater asymmetry than the nontarget group. Within the target group, children whose mothers had high subjective ice storm stress had significantly greater asymmetry than those with lower stress mothers, and maternal postdisaster cortisol had a significant negative correlation with the children's dermatoglyphic asymmetry (r = −.56). Prenatal maternal stress during the period of fingerprint development results in greater dermatoglyphic asymmetry in their children, especially in the face of greater maternal distress.

A developmental–evolutionary perspective is used to synthesize basic research from the neurosciences, ethology, genetics, and developmental psychology into a unified framework for understanding the nature and origins of social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder. Evidence is presented that social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and avoidant personality disorder may be alternate conceptualizations of the same disorder because they have virtually the same symptoms and genetic basis, and respond to the same pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions. A functionalist perspective on social anxiety is formulated to (a) explain the origins of normative states of anxiety, (b) outline developmental pathways in the transition from normative anxiety to social anxiety and avoidant personality disorders, and (c) account for the processes leading to gender-differentiated patterns of anxiety-related disorders after puberty.

This study investigated pupillary and behavioral responses to an emotional word valence identification paradigm among 32 pre-/early pubertal and 34 mid-/late pubertal typically developing children and adolescents. Participants were asked to identify the valence of positive, negative, and neutral words while pupil dilation was assessed using an eyetracker. Mid-/late pubertal children showed greater peak pupillary reactivity to words presented during the emotional word identification task than pre-/early pubertal children, regardless of word valence. Mid-/late pubertal children also showed smaller sustained pupil dilation than pre-/early pubertal children after the word was no longer on screen. These findings were replicated controlling for participants' age. In addition, mid-/late pubertal children had faster reaction times to all words, and rated themselves as more emotional during their laboratory visit compared to pre-/early pubertal children. Greater recall of emotional words following the task was associated with mid-/late pubertal status, and greater recall of emotional words was also associated with higher peak pupil dilation. These results provide physiological, behavioral, and subjective evidence consistent with a model of puberty-specific changes in neurobehavioral systems underpinning emotional reactivity.

Proposed changes in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) include replacing current personality disorder (PD) categories on Axis II with a taxonomy of dimensional maladaptive personality traits. Most of the work on dimensional models of personality pathology, and on personality disorders per se, has been conducted on young and middle-aged adult populations. Numerous questions remain regarding the applicability and limitations of applying various PD models to early and later life. In the present paper, we provide an overview of such dimensional models and review current proposals for conceptualizing PDs in DSM-V. Next, we extensively review existing evidence on the development, measurement, and manifestation of personality pathology in early and later life focusing on those issues deemed most relevant for informing DSM-V. Finally, we present overall conclusions regarding the need to incorporate developmental issues in conceptualizing PDs in DSM-V and highlight the advantages of a dimensional model in unifying PD perspectives across the life span.

Socially indiscriminate attachment behavior has been repeatedly observed among institutionally reared children. Socially indiscriminate behavior has also been associated with aggression and hyperactivity. However, available data rely heavily on caregiver report of indiscriminate behavior. In addition, few studies have been conducted with samples of home-reared infants exposed to inadequate care. The current study aimed to develop a reliable laboratory measure of socially indiscriminate forms of attachment behavior based on direct observation and to validate the measure against assessments of early care and later behavior problems among home-reared infants. Strange Situation episodes of 75 socially at-risk mother–infant dyads were coded for infant indiscriminate attachment behavior on the newly developed Rating for Infant–Stranger Engagement. After controlling for infant insecure–organized and disorganized behavior in all analyses, extent of infant–stranger engagement at 18 months was significantly related to serious caregiving risk (maltreatment or maternal psychiatric hospitalization), observed quality of disrupted maternal affective communication, and aggressive and hyperactive behavior problems at age 5. Results are discussed in relation to the convergent and discriminant validity of the new measure and to the potential utility of a standardized observational measure of indiscriminate attachment behavior. Further validation is needed in relation to caregiver report measures of indiscriminate behavior.

We examined puberty-specific effects on affect-related behavior and on the psychophysiology of defensive and appetitive motivation while controlling for age. Adolescents (N = 94, ages = 12 and 13 years) viewed 75 pictures (International Affective Picture System: pleasant, neutral, and aversive) while listening to auditory probes. Startle response and postauricular (PA) reflex were collected as measures of defensive and appetitive motivation, respectively. Pubertal status and measures of anxiety/stress reaction and sensation/thrill seeking were obtained. Mid-/late pubertal adolescents showed enhanced startle amplitude across all picture valences. A Puberty × Valence interaction revealed that mid-/late pubertal adolescents showed appetitive potentiation of the PA, whereas pre-/early pubertal adolescents showed no modulation of the PA reflex. Mid-/late pubertal adolescents also scored significantly higher on measures of sensation/thrill seeking than did their pre-/early pubertal peers and puberty moderated the association between psychophysiology and behavioral measures, suggesting that it plays a role in reorganizing defensive and appetitive motivational systems.

The development of language and communication may play an important role in the emergence of behavioral problems in young children, but they are rarely included in predictive models of behavioral development. In this study, cross-sectional relationships between language, attention, and behavior problems were examined using parent report, videotaped observations, and performance measures in a sample of 116 severely and profoundly deaf and 69 normally hearing children ages 1.5 to 5 years. Secondary analyses were performed on data collected as part of the Childhood Development After Cochlear Implantation Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Hearing-impaired children showed more language, attention, and behavioral difficulties, and spent less time communicating with their parents than normally hearing children. Structural equation modeling indicated there were significant relationships between language, attention, and child behavior problems. Language was associated with behavior problems both directly and indirectly through effects on attention. Amount of parent–child communication was not related to behavior problems.

The present longitudinal study investigated cascade effects linking the longitudinal trajectories of shyness and aggressiveness between age 4 and 23 and individual differences in this longitudinal relationship. Results demonstrated that there were cascade effects from shyness to adjacent measures of aggressiveness at three moments in time, and that the dynamics of these relationships changed over time. Children who were shy at age 6 became less aggressive at age 7 and the same effect was found between age 8 and age 10. From adolescence to early adulthood, the direction of the relationship changed and shy adolescents at age 17 became increasingly aggressive 5 years later. Interindividual differences were found in the latter cascade effect in that shyness at age 17 only predicted an increase in aggressiveness at age 23 for adolescents receiving low levels of support from their parents and for adolescents spending little time in part-time work. Together, findings suggest the importance of examining the development of normal variations in personality and personality disorders from a developmental perspective and taking into account person–environment interactions.

The developmental pathways leading to personality disorders are poorly understood, but clues to these pathways come from recent research on personality disorders and normal personality development in childhood and adolescence. The first section of this paper reviews recent work on personality disorders in childhood and adolescence, and concludes that personality disorders in adolescence are already prevalent, moderately stable, and impairing. The second section draws on McAdams and Pals' personality model to offer a taxonomy of personality differences that can account for the known patterns of emerging personality pathology. This taxonomy includes youths' temperament and personality traits, mental representations (including attachment), coping strategies, and narrative identities. Individual differences in all of these domains may play critical roles in the development, manifestation, and course of personality disorders. Existing knowledge of normal and abnormal personality development can inform future research on the developmental pathways leading to personality pathology, the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders, and the development of validated treatments for personality disorders in the first two decades of life.

Although antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is more common among males and borderline PD (BPD) is more common among females, some authors have suggested that the two disorders reflect multifinal outcomes of a single etiology. This assertion is based on several overlapping symptoms and features, including trait impulsivity, emotional lability, high rates of depression and suicide, and a high likelihood of childhood abuse and/or neglect. Furthermore, rates of ASPD are elevated in the first degree relatives of those with BPD, and concurrent comorbidity rates for the two disorders are high. In this article, we present a common model of antisocial and borderline personality development. We begin by reviewing issues and problems with diagnosing and studying PDs in children and adolescents. Next, we discuss dopaminergic and serotonergic mechanisms of trait impulsivity as predisposing vulnerabilities to ASPD and BPD. Finally, we extend shared risk models for ASPD and BPD by specifying genetic loci that may confer differential vulnerability to impulsive aggression and mood dysregulation among males and impulsive self-injury and mood dysregulation among females. Although the precise mechanisms of these sex-moderated genetic vulnerabilities remain poorly understood, they appear to interact with environmental risk factors including adverse rearing environments to potentiate the development of ASPD and BPD.

Children's early emotion regulation strategies (ERS) have been related to externalizing problems; however, most studies have included predominantly European American, middle-class children. The current study explores whether ERS use may have differential outcomes as a function of the mother's ethnic culture. The study utilizes two diverse samples of low-income male toddlers to examine observed ERS during a delay of gratification task in relation to maternal and teacher reports of children's externalizing behavior 2 to 6 years later. Although the frequencies of ERS were comparable between ethnic groups in both samples, the use of physical comfort seeking and self-soothing was positively related to African American children's later externalizing behavior but negatively related to externalizing behavior for European American children in Sample 1. Data from Sample 2 appear to support this pattern for self-soothing in maternal, but not teacher, report of externalizing behavior. Within group differences by income were examined as a possible explanatory factor accounting for the ethnic differences, but it was not supported. Alternative explanations are discussed to explain the pattern of findings.

Early antisocial behavior has its origins in childhood behavior problems, particularly those characterized by aggressive and destructive behavior. Deficits in self-regulation across multiple domains of functioning, from the physiological to the cognitive, are associated with early behavior problems, and may place children at greater risk for the development of later antisocial behavior. Data are presented from a longitudinal study of early self-regulation and behavior problems, the RIGHT Track Research Project, demonstrating that children at greatest risk for early and persistent problem behavior display patterns of physiological and emotional regulation deficits early in life. Parenting behavior and functioning have also been examined as predictors of trajectories of early problem behavior, and some data support the interaction of parenting and self-regulation as significant predictors of patterns of problematic behavior and ongoing problems with the regulation of affect. Peer relationships also affect and are affected by early self-regulation skills, and both may play a role in academic performance and subsequent school success. These data provide evidence that the social contexts of early family and peer relationships are important moderators of the more proximal mechanism of self-regulation, and both types of processes, social and biobehavioral, are likely implicated in early antisocial tendencies. Implications of these findings on self-regulation and early behavior problems are discussed in terms of future research and treatment approaches.

Little is known about normative variation in stress response over the adolescent transition. This study examined neuroendocrine and cardiovascular responses to performance and peer rejection stressors over the adolescent transition in a normative sample. Participants were 82 healthy children (ages 7–12 years, n = 39, 22 females) and adolescents (ages 13–17, n = 43, 20 females) recruited through community postings. Following a habituation session, participants completed a performance (public speaking, mental arithmetic, mirror tracing) or peer rejection (exclusion challenges) stress session. Salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase (sAA), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), and heart rate were measured throughout. Adolescents showed significantly greater cortisol, sAA, SBP, and DBP stress response relative to children. Developmental differences were most pronounced in the performance stress session for cortisol and DBP and in the peer rejection session for sAA and SBP. Heightened physiological stress responses in typical adolescents may facilitate adaptation to new challenges of adolescence and adulthood. In high-risk adolescents, this normative shift may tip the balance toward stress response dysregulation associated with depression and other psychopathology. Specificity of physiological response by stressor type highlights the importance of a multisystem approach to the psychobiology of stress and may also have implications for understanding trajectories to psychopathology.

Maternal depression has been consistently linked to the development of child problem behavior, particularly in early childhood, but few studies have examined whether reductions in maternal depression serve as a mediator in relation to changes associated with a family-based intervention. The current study addressed this issue with a sample of 731 families receiving services from a national food supplement and nutrition program. Families with toddlers between ages 2 and 3 were screened and then randomized to a brief family intervention, the Family Check-Up, which included linked interventions that were tailored and adapted to the families needs. Follow-up intervention services were provided at age 3 and follow-up of child outcomes occurred at ages 3 and 4. Latent growth models revealed intervention effects for early externalizing and internalizing problems from 2 to 4, and reductions in maternal depression from ages 2 to 3. In addition, reductions in maternal depression mediated improvements in both child externalizing and internalizing problem behavior after accounting for the potential mediating effects of improvements in positive parenting. The results are discussed with respect to targeting maternal depression in future intervention studies aimed at improving early child problem behavior.

Home baseline and laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test for Children) measures of salivary cortisol were obtained from 82 participants (40 girls) aged 9, 11, 13, and 15 years. Measures of pubertal development, self-reported stress, parent reports of child depressive symptoms and fearful temperament, and cardiac measures of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity were also obtained. Significant increases in the home cortisol baselines were found with age and pubertal development. Cortisol stress reactivity differed by age group with 11-year-olds and 13-year-old boys showing blunted reactivity and 9-year-olds, 13-year-old girls, and 15-year-olds showing significant cortisol reactions. Cortisol reactivity correlated marginally with sexual maturation. Measures of sympathetic activity revealed increased sympathetic modulation with age. Higher sympathetic tone was associated with more fearful temperament, whereas greater cortisol reactivity was associated with more anxious and depressed symptoms for girls. The importance of these findings for the hypothesis that puberty-associated increases in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity heightens the risk of psychopathology is discussed.

This paper reviews research on chronic patterns of antisocial behavior and places this research into a developmental psychopathology framework. Specifically, research suggests that there are at least three important pathways through which children and adolescents can develop severe antisocial behaviors. One group of youth shows antisocial behavior that begins in adolescence, and two groups show antisocial behavior that begins in childhood but differ on the presence or absence of callous–unemotional traits. In outlining these distinct pathways to antisocial behavior, we have tried to illustrate some key concepts from developmental psychopathology such as equifinality and multifinality, the importance of understanding the interface between normal and abnormal development, and the importance of using multiple levels of analyses to advance causal theories. Finally, we discuss how this development model can be used to enhance existing interventions for antisocial individuals.

One of the fundamental limitations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) categorical model of personality disorder classification has been the lack of a strong scientific foundation, including an understanding of childhood antecedents. The DSM-IV-TR personality disorders, however, do appear to be well understood as maladaptive variants of the domains and facets of the general personality structure as conceptualized within the five-factor model (FFM). Integrating the classification of personality disorder with the FFM brings to an understanding of the personality disorders a considerable body of scientific research on childhood antecedents. The temperaments and traits of childhood do appear to be antecedent to the FFM of adult personality structure, and these temperament and traits of childhood and adolescence are the likely antecedents for adult personality disorder, providing further support for the conceptualization of the adult personality disorders as maladaptive variants of the domains and facets of the FFM. Conceptualizing personality disorders in terms of the FFM thereby provides a basis for integrating the classification of abnormal and normal personality functioning across the life span.