How Are Personality and Mental Health Linked in Children?

What you need to know

• There appears to be a general factor of psychopathology (called the “p factor”) in 8-year-old children that links various mental health symptoms and personality traits.
• This p factor is highly influenced by genetic factors, with about 75-82% of the differences between children being due to genetic differences.
• Being born early (preterm) is associated with higher scores on this p factor, suggesting increased risk for general mental health issues.

The Link Between Personality and Mental Health in Children

When we think about mental health in children, we often focus on specific issues like anxiety, depression, or behavior problems. However, research is increasingly showing that there may be a more general factor underlying many different mental health symptoms. This general factor, called the “p factor,” has been studied in adults, but less is known about how it appears in children.

A new study published in Psychological Medicine set out to explore this p factor in 8-year-old children, looking at how it relates to both mental health symptoms and personality traits. The researchers wanted to understand if there’s a common thread linking different aspects of a child’s psychological makeup.

What is the p Factor?

The p factor is a concept that suggests there’s a general underlying tendency toward experiencing mental health issues. Just like there’s a general factor of intelligence (often called “g”) that influences performance across different cognitive tasks, the p factor is thought to influence vulnerability to various mental health problems.

In adults, high scores on the p factor have been linked to experiencing multiple mental health issues, having more severe symptoms, and worse overall functioning. This new study aimed to see if a similar pattern could be found in children.

The Study: Personality and Mental Health in 8-Year-Olds

The researchers analyzed data from over 10,000 8-year-old children in Norway. They looked at mother-reported information on symptoms of:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Oppositional defiant disorder
• Conduct disorder

They also included measures of the “Big Five” personality traits:

• Neuroticism (tendency to experience negative emotions)
• Extraversion (outgoingness, sociability)
• Openness to experience (curiosity, creativity)
• Agreeableness (kindness, cooperativeness)
• Conscientiousness (organization, self-discipline)

Key Findings: The p Factor in Children

The study found evidence for a p factor in 8-year-old children that linked both mental health symptoms and personality traits. Here are some key takeaways:

1. Children who scored high on the p factor tended to have:

   • More symptoms of mental health issues (especially inattention and oppositional behavior)
   • Higher levels of neuroticism
   • Lower levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness

2. The p factor was highly heritable:

   • About 75-82% of the differences between children in their p factor scores could be explained by genetic differences
   • This suggests that genetic factors play a major role in a child’s general vulnerability to mental health issues

3. Being born early was linked to higher p factor scores:

   • Children born very prematurely (around 28 weeks of pregnancy) scored about 0.4 standard deviations higher on the p factor compared to children born at full term (40 weeks)
   • This indicates that being born early may increase the risk for general mental health vulnerabilities

What Does This Mean for Understanding Child Mental Health?

These findings suggest that there may be a common underlying factor influencing both personality and mental health symptoms in children as young as 8 years old. This has several important implications:

1. Holistic view: Instead of looking at mental health issues in isolation, it may be helpful to consider a child’s overall pattern of symptoms and personality traits.

2. Early identification: Children who show a combination of certain personality traits (high neuroticism, low conscientiousness and agreeableness) along with mental health symptoms may be at higher risk for developing more severe or multiple mental health issues later on.

3. Genetic influences: The strong genetic component suggests that children with a family history of mental health issues may be at higher risk for developing problems themselves.

4. Prenatal factors: The link with premature birth highlights the importance of supporting healthy pregnancies and providing extra support for children born early.

Limitations and Future Directions

It’s important to note some limitations of this study:

• All information was reported by mothers, which could introduce some bias.
• The study only looked at children at one age (8 years old), so we don’t know how the p factor might change over time.
• The sample was from Norway, so findings may not generalize to all populations.

Future research could explore:

• How the p factor develops from early childhood through adolescence
• Whether interventions targeting the p factor could help prevent multiple mental health issues
• The specific biological and environmental factors that influence the p factor

Conclusions

• There appears to be a general factor (p factor) linking mental health symptoms and personality traits in 8-year-old children.
• This p factor is strongly influenced by genetic factors.
• Being born prematurely is associated with higher scores on the p factor.
• Understanding this general factor may help in identifying children at risk for mental health issues and developing more comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies.