Personality Traits in Childhood and Adolescence: Structure, Development, and Outcomes

Christopher J. Soto; Jennifer L. Tackett

doi:10.1177/0963721415589345

Personality Traits in Childhood and Adolescence: Structure, Development, and Outcomes

Christopher J. Soto^*, Jennifer L. Tackett

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

210 Scopus citations

Abstract

Like adults, children and adolescents can be described in terms of personality traits: characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. We review recent research examining how youths’ specific behavioral tendencies cohere into broader traits, how these traits develop across childhood and adolescence, and how they relate to important biological, social, and health outcomes. We conclude that there are both key similarities and key differences between youth and adult personality traits, that youths’ personality traits help shape the course of their lives, and that a full understanding of youth personality traits will require additional research at the intersection of personality, developmental, and clinical psychology.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	358-362
Number of pages	5
Journal	Current Directions in Psychological Science
Volume	24
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415589345
State	Published - Oct 1 2015

Keywords

adolescence
childhood
life outcomes
personality development
personality structure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Psychology

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10.1177/0963721415589345

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AB - Like adults, children and adolescents can be described in terms of personality traits: characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. We review recent research examining how youths’ specific behavioral tendencies cohere into broader traits, how these traits develop across childhood and adolescence, and how they relate to important biological, social, and health outcomes. We conclude that there are both key similarities and key differences between youth and adult personality traits, that youths’ personality traits help shape the course of their lives, and that a full understanding of youth personality traits will require additional research at the intersection of personality, developmental, and clinical psychology.

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Personality Traits in Childhood and Adolescence: Structure, Development, and Outcomes

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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