Psychometric characteristics of a measure of emotional dispositions developed to test a developmental propensity model of conduct disorder

Abstract

Lahey and Waldman proposed a developmental propensity model in which three dimensions of children's emotional dispositions are hypothesized to transact with the environment to influence risk for conduct disorder, heterogeneity in conduct disorder, and comorbidity with other disorders. To prepare for future tests of this model, a new measure of these dispositions was tested. Exploratory factor analysis of potential items was conducted in a sample of 1,358 participants 4 to 17 years of age. Confirmatory factor analyses then confirmed the three dispositional dimensions in a second sample of 2,063 pairs of 6- to 17-year-old twins. Caretaker ratings of the dispositional dimensions were associated as predicted with symptoms of conduct disorder and other psychopathology. In a third sample, caretaker ratings of each disposition correlated uniquely with relevant observational measures of child behavior and unintentional injuries. These findings provide initial support for the new dispositional measure.

Figures

Figure 1

Means of z-scores of the sum of independent observer ratings of child negative affective valence during the structured task and the play parent-child interactions (residualized for age and sex) in the Year 1 assessment among children in the four quartiles of the distribution of negative emotionality as rated by adult caretakers during the Year 6 assessment in Study 3.

Figure 2

Means of z-scores of the proportion of caretaker commands to which the child complied coded by independent raters during the structured task and the play parent-child interactions (residualized for age and sex) in the Year 1 assessment among children in the four quartiles of the distribution of prosociality as rated by adult caretakers during the Year 6 assessment in Study 3.

Figure 3

The proportion of children touching the forbidden toys during each interval in the Forbidden Toy Task coded by independent observers among children in four groups in Study 3. The four groups were based on quartiles of the sample distribution of caretaker ratings of prosociality during Year 6.

Figure 4

Percent of children reported by adult caretakers during the Year 1 assessment to have ever experienced a nontrivial unintentional injury attributed to the child's behavior among children in the four quartiles of the distribution of daring as rated by adult caretakers during the Year 6 assessment in Study 3.