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Personality Symptoms and Self-Esteem as Correlates of Psychopathology in Child Psychiatric Patients: Evaluating Multiple Informant Data

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Abstract

Research on adulthood posits personality and self-esteem as important predictors of psychopathology. In childhood, however, the study of these relationships is complicated by the lack of consensus on how to combine data from multiple informants of child behavior. This study evaluates the relationships among personality symptoms, self-esteem and psychopathology in 60 child psychiatric patients (M age = 10.6) using principal component analysis (PCA) to aggregate data from multiple informants and compares this strategy with a single informant approach. When predictor and criterion measures were rated by a single informant, strong and differential relationships between personality symptoms, self-esteem and psychopathology are found. When multiple informant data were combined into composite scores by PCA, correlations decreased but remained significant. Hierarchical regression analyses affirm the robustness of the following pattern: Emotional Instability, Introversion and Global Self-Esteem are associated with internalizing whereas Disagreeableness and Behavioral Conduct primarily relate to externalizing problems.

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Notes

  1. In the present sample, the ratio of N to the number of observed variables involved in the research problem (p) equals 30:1 (=60:2) and hence more than meets the varying guidelines recommending that this ratio should be in the 2:1–20:1 range to guarantee stable PCA solutions [47–50]. Recent research, however, demonstrates the limited value of these traditional rules-of-thumb and points to the critical role of communalities across the p variables in order to achieve a stable recovery of population components [48–50]. More in particular, it is specified that when communalities are high (benchmark set at 0.6), recovery of population factors from sample data is normally very good, even for samples much smaller than traditionally recommended [48–50]. Because the communalities across all eleven pairs included in the PCA are consistently high (all greater than 0.6), the included sample size can be considered as more than adequate for conducting principal component analysis.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Ph.D. research grant awarded by the Research Foundation Flanders to the first author (Grant nr: 1.1.212.08.N.01) under supervision of the second author. The authors are indebted to the complete staff of the University Centre of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the patients and their caregivers for support and collaboration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Sarah S. W. De Pauw, Ivan Mervielde, Barbara J. De Clercq & Filip De Fruyt

  2. Psychiatric Centre Caritas, Caritasstraat 76, 9090, Melle, Belgium

    Sabine Tremmery

  3. University Centre for Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, Block K12F, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Dirk Deboutte

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  1. Sarah S. W. De Pauw
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  2. Ivan Mervielde
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  3. Barbara J. De Clercq
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  4. Filip De Fruyt
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Correspondence to Sarah S. W. De Pauw.

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De Pauw, S.S.W., Mervielde, I., De Clercq, B.J. et al. Personality Symptoms and Self-Esteem as Correlates of Psychopathology in Child Psychiatric Patients: Evaluating Multiple Informant Data. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 40, 499–515 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-009-0140-2

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