TY - JOUR
T1 - Longitudinal associations of explosive and adventurous temperament profiles with character development
T2 - The modifying effects of social support and attachment
AU - Saarinen, Aino I.L.
AU - Rosenström, Tom H.
AU - Hakulinen, Christian A.
AU - Cloninger, Claude Robert
AU - Hintsanen, Mirka H.M.
AU - Pulkki-Råback, Laura M.
AU - Lehtimäki, Terho
AU - Raitakari, Olli T.
AU - Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa
N1 - Funding Information:
Submitted: March 18, 2017; accepted August 17, 2017. Published online: February 13, 2018. Potential conflicts of interest: The authors report no financial or other relationship relevant to the subject of this article. Funding/support: This study was supported financially by the Academy of Finland under Grants 265869 (Dr Keltikangas-Järvinen) and 258578 (Dr Hintsanen) and the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation (Dr Pulkki-Råback). The Young Finns Study has been financially supported by the Academy of Finland: Grants 134309 (Eye), 126925, 121584, 124282, 129378 (Salve), 117797 (Gendi), and 41071 (Skidi); the Social Insurance Institution of Finland; the Kuopio, Tampere, and Turku University Hospital Medical Funds; the Juho Vainio Foundation; the Sigrid Juselius Foundation; the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation; the Paavo Nurmi Foundation; the Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research and Finnish Cultural Foundation; the Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation; and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation. Role of the sponsor: The funding sources had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Copyright Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
PY - 2018/3/1
Y1 - 2018/3/1
N2 - Objective: The aim of this study was to examine (a) whether adventurous and explosive temperament profiles (presumed precursors of antisocial and borderline personality) are associated with character traits over a 15-year follow-up and (b) whether social support and attachment security modify the relationship between temperament profiles and character development. Methods: 2,028 subjects of the Young Finns study completed the Temperament and Character Inventory, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Relationship Questionnaire at 3 assessment points between 1997 and 2012. Results: Both explosive and adventurous temperament profiles seemed to predispose individuals to have less mature personalities; that is, these profiles were consistently associated with lower cooperativeness (P <.001), and explosive temperament also with lower self-directedness (P <.001), over the entire follow-up period. These relationships did not vary significantly at the individual level and were sustained after controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, the presence of high social support and secure attachment was found to decrease the likelihood that explosive temperament would lead to an immature adulthood character (P <.001). In contrast, persons with the adventurous temperament were likely to have a more mature character under low social support and an immature one under high experienced social support (P <.05). Conclusions: Individuals with the explosive temperament benefit from high social support and secure attachment. From the point of view of the therapy process, this knowledge might be of importance. In contrast, individuals with the adventurous temperament were able to direct their behavior better in social environments that were not likely to support their basic temperaments.
AB - Objective: The aim of this study was to examine (a) whether adventurous and explosive temperament profiles (presumed precursors of antisocial and borderline personality) are associated with character traits over a 15-year follow-up and (b) whether social support and attachment security modify the relationship between temperament profiles and character development. Methods: 2,028 subjects of the Young Finns study completed the Temperament and Character Inventory, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Relationship Questionnaire at 3 assessment points between 1997 and 2012. Results: Both explosive and adventurous temperament profiles seemed to predispose individuals to have less mature personalities; that is, these profiles were consistently associated with lower cooperativeness (P <.001), and explosive temperament also with lower self-directedness (P <.001), over the entire follow-up period. These relationships did not vary significantly at the individual level and were sustained after controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, the presence of high social support and secure attachment was found to decrease the likelihood that explosive temperament would lead to an immature adulthood character (P <.001). In contrast, persons with the adventurous temperament were likely to have a more mature character under low social support and an immature one under high experienced social support (P <.05). Conclusions: Individuals with the explosive temperament benefit from high social support and secure attachment. From the point of view of the therapy process, this knowledge might be of importance. In contrast, individuals with the adventurous temperament were able to direct their behavior better in social environments that were not likely to support their basic temperaments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046896789&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4088/JCP.17m11587
DO - 10.4088/JCP.17m11587
M3 - Article
C2 - 29469244
AN - SCOPUS:85046896789
SN - 0160-6689
VL - 79
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
IS - 2
M1 - 17m11587
ER -