The current pair of highly powered, preregistered studies estimates the associations between personality/temperament and youth psychopathology and evaluates the generalizability of these associations across diverse populations and research designs. In Study 1, a multilevel meta-analysis of 147 studies (k effects = 829, N = 46,369) quantified the cross-sectional associations among subjects aged 1.5-18, between five-factor model personality traits and internalizing/externalizing psychopathology dimensions within the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessments (Achenbach excluding diagnoses of schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, and substance use disorders) using cross-sectional, individual-participant, item-level data and measures of temperament corollary to Study 1 personality traits. Most of Study 1's personality associations with Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessments internalizing and externalizing dimensions were replicated for higher order temperament scales (e.g., effortful control) and for their lower order scales (e.g., activation control). Again, mono-informant effects were more pronounced than cross-informant effects. Taken together, these studies provide the first quantitative synthesis of robust cross-sectional associations between personality and psychopathology in youth, highlighting the impact of mono-informant effects. Future longitudinal research may parse out directional relations as well. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Katz et al. (2026) studied this question.