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Affective Latent Profiles and Personality Dimensions in Spanish Children

Sanmartín, Ricardo ; Garcia, Danilo LU orcid ; Vicent, María ; Gonzálvez, Carolina and García-Fernández, José Manuel (2023) p.145-158
Abstract

Background: During the last years, the affective profiles model has been applied to study individual differences among Spanish children in psychological characteristics, such as optimism and pessimism. This research has replicated past studies from adult and adolescent Swedish populations by identifying four profiles using clustering methods on self-reports of children’s experience of positive (PA) and negative affect (NA): self-fulfilling (high PA and low NA), high affective (high PA and high NA), low affective (low PA and NA), and self-destructive (low PA and high NA). Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated individual differences in personality using the affective profiles model as the framework, none of them among... (More)

Background: During the last years, the affective profiles model has been applied to study individual differences among Spanish children in psychological characteristics, such as optimism and pessimism. This research has replicated past studies from adult and adolescent Swedish populations by identifying four profiles using clustering methods on self-reports of children’s experience of positive (PA) and negative affect (NA): self-fulfilling (high PA and low NA), high affective (high PA and high NA), low affective (low PA and NA), and self-destructive (low PA and high NA). Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated individual differences in personality using the affective profiles model as the framework, none of them among children. Personality is, for instance, a topic with an important impact on child development. Moreover, more advanced person-centred techniques for the clustering of profiles need to be tested to confirm these observed patterns of affectivity or profiles. Aims: Our aims were the identification of affective profiles through latent class analysis (LCA) and to test individual differences in personality between children with these distinct affective profiles. Methods: The Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Short Form (PANAS-C-SF) was used to assess positive and negative affect and the Big-Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C) to measures the traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These instruments were administered to a sample of 533 Spanish children aged between 8 and 11 (M = 9.77; SD = 1.09). LCA was used to identify the affective profiles and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) to study differences in personality traits between children with distinct affective profiles. Results: Three, rather than four, affective latent profiles were identified: self-fulfilling, self-destructive, and neutral affective profile (characterised by neutral scores both in PA and in NA, that is, neither high nor low). The children with a self-fulfilling profile reported the highest scores in Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness in comparison with the rest of the profiles, whereas the children with a self-destructive profile reported higher scores in Neuroticism in comparison with children with a self-fulfilling profile. Conclusions: We verified a three affective profile distribution through LCA, including a new group characterised by neutral affect. Moreover, adaptive personality traits (high Extraversion, high Openness, high Agreeableness, high Conscientiousness, and low Neuroticism) were found to be related to children with a self-fulfilling profile, whereas maladaptive personality traits (e.g. high Neuroticism) were related to children with a self-destructive profile. We suggest that these findings need to be considered in the creation of person-centred programmes for children that aim to promote well-being, welfare, and positive affect and to reduce stress and negative affect.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Affective profiles model, Childhood, Latent profiles, Negative affect, PANAS, Personality, Positive affect
host publication
The Affective Profiles Model : 20 Years of Research and Beyond - 20 Years of Research and Beyond
pages
14 pages
publisher
Springer International Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85206047192
ISBN
9783031242205
9783031242199
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-24220-5_8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
90a7868f-93e2-4209-8062-cf9e49068706
date added to LUP
2024-12-16 13:37:40
date last changed
2025-05-20 02:12:39
@inbook{90a7868f-93e2-4209-8062-cf9e49068706,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: During the last years, the affective profiles model has been applied to study individual differences among Spanish children in psychological characteristics, such as optimism and pessimism. This research has replicated past studies from adult and adolescent Swedish populations by identifying four profiles using clustering methods on self-reports of children’s experience of positive (PA) and negative affect (NA): self-fulfilling (high PA and low NA), high affective (high PA and high NA), low affective (low PA and NA), and self-destructive (low PA and high NA). Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated individual differences in personality using the affective profiles model as the framework, none of them among children. Personality is, for instance, a topic with an important impact on child development. Moreover, more advanced person-centred techniques for the clustering of profiles need to be tested to confirm these observed patterns of affectivity or profiles. Aims: Our aims were the identification of affective profiles through latent class analysis (LCA) and to test individual differences in personality between children with these distinct affective profiles. Methods: The Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Short Form (PANAS-C-SF) was used to assess positive and negative affect and the Big-Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C) to measures the traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These instruments were administered to a sample of 533 Spanish children aged between 8 and 11 (M = 9.77; SD = 1.09). LCA was used to identify the affective profiles and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) to study differences in personality traits between children with distinct affective profiles. Results: Three, rather than four, affective latent profiles were identified: self-fulfilling, self-destructive, and neutral affective profile (characterised by neutral scores both in PA and in NA, that is, neither high nor low). The children with a self-fulfilling profile reported the highest scores in Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness in comparison with the rest of the profiles, whereas the children with a self-destructive profile reported higher scores in Neuroticism in comparison with children with a self-fulfilling profile. Conclusions: We verified a three affective profile distribution through LCA, including a new group characterised by neutral affect. Moreover, adaptive personality traits (high Extraversion, high Openness, high Agreeableness, high Conscientiousness, and low Neuroticism) were found to be related to children with a self-fulfilling profile, whereas maladaptive personality traits (e.g. high Neuroticism) were related to children with a self-destructive profile. We suggest that these findings need to be considered in the creation of person-centred programmes for children that aim to promote well-being, welfare, and positive affect and to reduce stress and negative affect.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sanmartín, Ricardo and Garcia, Danilo and Vicent, María and Gonzálvez, Carolina and García-Fernández, José Manuel}},
  booktitle    = {{The Affective Profiles Model : 20 Years of Research and Beyond}},
  isbn         = {{9783031242205}},
  keywords     = {{Affective profiles model; Childhood; Latent profiles; Negative affect; PANAS; Personality; Positive affect}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{145--158}},
  publisher    = {{Springer International Publishing}},
  title        = {{Affective Latent Profiles and Personality Dimensions in Spanish Children}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24220-5_8}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-031-24220-5_8}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}