This study reports data comparing Five Factor Model (FFM) facets with the Inventory of Children’s Individual Differences–Short Form (ICID-S) in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during middle childhood with same-age typically developing children. Two (ASD vs. Typical) × 2 (Sex) age-controlled MANCOVAs were performed: (a) ASD versus a contemporaneous comparison group and (b) ASD versus a norming data subset. Significant gender interactions are reported for the Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Extraversion facets. Most FFM facets in the ASD group were reliable, and group differences in both analyses were consistent with the broader ASD literature. Contemporary and normative analyses resulted in very similar significant differences and effect sizes.
AdamekL.NicholsS.TetenbaumS.BregmanJ.PonzioC.CarrE. (2011). Individual temperament and problem behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disorders, 76, 173–183.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
3.
AuyeungB.Baron-CohenS.WheelwrightS.AllisonC. (2008). Development of the Autism Spectrum Quotient–Children’s Version (AQ-Child). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1230–1240.
4.
BagnatoS. J.NeisworthJ. T. (1999). Normative detection of early regulatory disorders and autism: Empirical confirmation of DC: 0-3. Infants & Young Children, 12(2), 98–106.
5.
BagnatoS. J.NeisworthJ. T.SalviaJ. J.HuntF. M. (1999). Temperament and Atypical Behavior Scale (TABS). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
6.
BaileyD. B.JrHattonD. D.MesibovG.AmentN.SkinnerM. (2000). Early development, temperament, and functional impairment in autism and fragile X syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(1), 49–59.
7.
BargerB. D. (2013). Investigating the role of personality facets differentiating children with autism spectrum disorders from typically developing children (Doctoral dissertation). University of Georgia, Athens.
8.
BargerB. D.CampbellJ.SimmonsC. (2014). Measuring five factor personality traits in autism during early childhood. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 26, 775–192.
9.
Baron-CohenS. (2002). The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(6), 248–254.
10.
Baron-CohenS.HoekstraR. A.KnickmeyerR.WheelwrightS. (2006). The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)–Adolescent version. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 343–350.
11.
Baron-CohenS.WheelwrightS.SkinnerR.MartinJ.ClubleyE. (2001). The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 5–17.
12.
BerkL. E. (2007). Development Through the Lifespan (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
13.
BodfishJ. W.SymonsF. J.ParkerD. E.LewisM. H. (2000). Varieties of repetitive behavior in autism: Comparisons to mental retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 237–243.
14.
BölteS.PoustkaF.ConstantinoJ. N. (2008). Assessing autistic traits: Cross-cultural validation of the social responsiveness scale (SRS). Autism Research, 1(6), 354–363.
15.
CarverC. S.WhiteT. L. (1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319–333.
16.
CicchettiD. V.KoenigK.KlinA.VolkmarF. R.PaulR.SparrowS. (2011). From Bayes through marginal utility to effect sizes: A guide to understanding the clinical and statistical significance of the results of autism research findings. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 168–174.
17.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical Power for the Social Sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum and Associates.
18.
CoolidgeF. L.ThedeL. L.StewartS. E.SegalD. L. (2002). The Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory for Children (CPNI): Preliminary psychometric characteristics. Behavior Modification, 26, 550–566.
19.
DealJ. E.HalversonC. F.MartinR. P.VictorJ.BakerS. (2007). The Inventory of Children’s Individual Differences: Development and validation of a short version. Journal of Personality Assessment, 89, 162–166.
20.
De ClercqB.De FruytF.MervieldeI. (2003). Construction of the Dimensional Personality Symptom Item Pool (DIPSI). Ghent, Belgium: Ghent University.
21.
De ClercqB.De FruytF.Van LeeuwenK.MervieldeI. (2006). The structure of maladaptive personality traits in childhood: A step toward an integrative developmental perspective for DSM-V. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 639–657.
22.
De ClercqB.AeltermanN.De PauwS.De BolleM.DecuyperM.TackettJ. L. (2010). Delineating childhood autism spectrum symptoms from a maladaptive trait perspective. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32(4), 529–536.
23.
De PauwS.MervieldeI. (2010). Temperament, personality and developmental psychopathology: A review based on the conceptual dimensions underlying childhood traits. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 41, 313–329.
24.
De PauwS.MervieldeI.Van LeeuwenK. G. (2009). How are traits related to problem behavior in preschoolers? Similarities and contrasts between temperament and personality. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 309–325.
25.
De PauwS. S.MervieldeI.Van LeeuwenK. G.De ClercqB. J. (2011). How temperament and personality contribute to the maladjustment of children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(2), 196–212.
26.
DigmanJ. M. (1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417–440.
27.
EllisL. K.RothbartM. K. (2001, April). Revision of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
28.
Else-QuestN.HydeJ.GoldsmithH.Van HulleC. (2006). Gender differences in temperament: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 33–72.
29.
FortenberryC.GristC.McCordD. (2011). Personality trait difference between typically developing children and those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Individual Difference Research, 9, 73–83.
30.
GaronN.BrysonS. E.ZwaigenbaumL.SmithI. M.BrianJ.RobertsW.SzatmariP. (2009). Temperament and its relationship to autistic symptoms in a high-risk infant sib cohort. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 59–78.
31.
GlaserS. E.ShawS. R. (2011). Emotion regulation and development in children with autism and 22q13 Deletion syndrome: Evidence for group differences. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 926–934.
32.
HalversonC.HavillV.DealJ.VictorJ.PavlopolousV.WenL. (2003). Personality structure as derived from parental ratings of free descriptions of children: The Inventory of Children’s Individual Differences. Journal of Personality, 71, 995–1026.
33.
HepburnS. L.StoneW. L. (2006). Using Carey temperament scales to assess behavioral style in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 637–642.
34.
HillE. L. (2004). Executive dysfunction in autism. Trends in Cognition Science, 8, 26–32.
35.
Jaffari-BimmelN.JufferF.van IJzendoornM.Bakersman-KranenburgM.MooijaartA. (2006). Social development from infancy to adolescence: Longitudinal and concurrent factors in an adoption sample. Developmental Psychology, 42, 1143–1153.
36.
JensenV. K.LarrieuJ. A.MackK. K. (1997). Differential diagnosis between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified. Clinical Pediatrics, 36(10), 555–561.
37.
KaganJ. (1998). Biology and the child. In DamonW. (Series Ed.) EisenbergN. (Vol. Ed.), Social, Emotional and Personality Development: Vol. 3. Handbook of child psychology (5th ed., pp. 177–235). New York, NY: Wiley.
38.
KenworthyL. E.BlackD. O.WallaceG. L.AhluvaliaT.WagnerA. E.SirianL. M. (2005). Disorganization: The forgotten executive dysfunction in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. Developmental Neuropsychology, 28, 809–827.
39.
KimJ. A.SzatmariP.BrysonS. E.StreinerD. L.WilsonF. J. (2000). The prevalence of anxiety and mood problems among children with autism and Asperger syndrome. Autism, 4, 117–132.
40.
KonstantareasM. M.PapageorgiouV. (2006). Effects of temperament, symptom severity and level of functioning on maternal stress in Greek children and youth with ASD. Autism, 10, 593–607.
41.
KonstantareasM. M.StewartK. (2006). Affect regulation and temperament in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 143–153.
42.
KozlowskiA. M.MatsonJ. L. (2012). An examination of challenging behaviors in autistic disorder versus pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified: Significant differences and gender effects. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6, 319–325.
43.
LacharD. (1982). Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) Revised Format Manual Supplement. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
44.
LubyJ. L.SvrakicD. M.McCallumK.PrzybeckT. R.CloningerC. R. (1999). The Junior Temperament and Character Inventory: Preliminary validation of a child self-report measure. Psychological Reports, 84(3c), 1127–1138.
45.
MervieldeI.De FruytF. (2002). Assessing children’s traits with the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for children. In De RaadB.PeruginiM. (Eds.), Big Five assessment (pp. 129–146). Seattle, WA: Hogrefe & Huber.
46.
MeyerJ. A.MundyP. C.Van HeckeA. V.DurocherJ. S. (2006). Social attribution processes and comorbid psychiatric symptoms in children with Asperger syndrome. Autism, 10(4), 383–402.
47.
MilleaM. A.SheaN. M.DiehlJ. J. (2013). Understanding the interaction of temperament and social skills in the development of social anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders. Autism, S3, 2, 1–7.
48.
MylesB. S.LeeH. J.SmithS. M.TienK.ChouY.SwansonT. C.HudsonJ. (2007). A large-scale study of the characteristics of Asperger syndrome. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 42, 448–459.
49.
ParkerJ. D.MajeskiS. A.CollinV. T. (2004). ADHD symptoms and personality: Relationships with the five-factor model. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 977–987.
50.
PearsonD. A.LovelandK. A.LacharD.LaneD. M.ReddochS. L.MansourR.ClevelandL. A. (2006). A comparison of behavioral and emotional functioning in children and adolescents with autistic disorder and PDD-NOS. Child Neuropsychology, 12(4-5), 321–333.
51.
ReynoldsC. R.KamphausR. W. (2004). BASC-2: Behavior assessment system for children.
52.
RiversJ. W.StonemanZ. (2008). Child temperaments, differential parenting, and the sibling relationships of children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1740–1750.
53.
RivetT.MatsonJ. (2011). Review of gender differences in core symptomatology in autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 957–976.
54.
RothbartM. K. (2007). Temperament, development, and personality. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 207–212.
55.
SamynV.RoeyersH.BijttebierP. (2011). Effortful control in typically developing boys and in boys with ADHD or autism spectrum disorder. Research on Developmental Disability, 32, 483–490.
56.
SchwartzC. B.HendersonH. A.IngeA. P.ZahkaN. E.ComanD. C.KojkowskiN. M.. . .MundyP. (2009). Temperament as a predictor of symptomatology and adaptive functioning in adolescents with high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 842–855.
57.
ShinerR. (1998). How shall we speak of children’s personality in middle childhood? A preliminary taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 308–332.
58.
ShinerR. L.BussK. A.McClowryS. G.PutnamS. P.SaudinoK. J.ZentnerM. (2012). What is temperament now? Assessing progress in temperament research on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Goldsmith et al. (). Child Development Perspectives, 6, 436–444.
59.
SizooB.van den BrinkW.van EenigeM. G.van der GaagR. J. (2009). Personality characteristics of adults with autism spectrum disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with and without substance use disorders. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 197, 450–454.
60.
SouthM.DanaJ.WhiteS. E.CrowleyM. J. (2011). Failure is not an option: Risk-taking is moderated by anxiety and also by cognitive ability in children and adolescents diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(1), 55–65.
61.
ThedeL. L.CoolidgeF. L. (2007). Psychological and neurobehavioral comparisons of children with Asperger’s disorder versus high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 847–854.
62.
ThomasA.ChessS. (1977). Temperament and development. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
63.
WhitbyP. J. S.MancilG. R. (2009). Academic achievement profiles of children with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome: A review of the literature. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 44, 551–560.
64.
WidigerT. A.CostaP. T. (2012). Integrating normal and abnormal personality structure: The five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 80, 1471–1506.
65.
WindleM.LernerR. M. (1986). Reassessing the dimensions of temperamental individuality across the life span: The Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS-R). Journal of Adolescent Research, 1, 213–229.
66.
WorleyJ.MatsonJ. (2011). Psychiatric symptoms in children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder: An examination of gender differences. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 1086–1091.
67.
ZenterM.BatesJ. E. (2008). Child temperament: An integrative review of concepts, research programs, and measures. European Journal of Developmental Science, 2, 7–37.
68.
ZwaigenbaumL.BrysonS.RogersT.RobertsW.BrianJ.SzatmariP. (2005). Behavioral manifestations of autism in the first year of life. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 23, 143–152.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
