An Inspiring School Day : An Effort to Transform Research Findings into Policy

This paper is a description of a report that the author prepared in the winter of 2015 at the request of the Minister of Education in the previous government of Finland. The purpose of the report was to collect information based on research and effective practices on the impacts on student well-being of a flexible school day and to make development proposals concerning an appropriate structure for a school day that would encompass lessons, club activities, and morning and afternoon activities. The report found indications of strong pressures to modify the school day. Research results concerning the significance to student well-being of activities organized at school outside the actual lesso…

Personality Antecedents of Career Orientation and Stability among Women Compared to Men

Abstract The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development in which 151 women and 160 men were followed from age 8 through age 36. Data were collected at ages 8, 14, 27, and 36 using teacher ratings, interviews, and personality inventories. The participants' career paths are defined in terms of “career orientation,” which is a composite score made up of four indicators: occupational status, education, present work situation, and career stability. In accordance with our hypotheses, the results for both sexes showed that high career orientation was explained by personality characteristics indicating high self-control of emotions (constructiveness, st…

Peer reports of adaptive behavior in twins and singletons: is twinship a risk or an advantage?

We compared twins to their gender-matched singleton classmates in peer-assessed behavioral adjustment. Our samples include 1874 11- to 12-year-old Finnish twins (687 monozygotic, MZ; 610 same-sex dizygotic, SSDZ; 577 opposite-sex dizygotic, OSDZ) and their 23,200 non-twin classmates. Data were collected using a 30-item Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory containing three factors and their subscales. We found twin-singleton differences: classmates rated twin girls and boys higher than gender-matched singletons in Adaptive Behaviors (constructive, compliant, and socially active behavior), and those effects were particularly evident among OSDZ twins for assessments of social interaction…

Age of onset of drinking and the use of alcohol in adulthood: a follow-up study from age 8–42 for females and males

Aim To investigate longitudinally for both genders the relation between the age of onset of drinking and several indicators of alcohol use. Design and setting In the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, data have been collected by interviews, inventories, and questionnaires. Data on alcohol consumption was gathered at ages 14, 20, 27, 36 and 42 years; behavioural data at age 8. Participants A total of 155 women and 176 men; 90.4% of the original sample consisting of 12 complete school classes in 1968. Measurements The age of onset of drinking was determined based on participants’ responses that were closest to the actual age of onset of drinking. Four …

The Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS)

The Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development is an ongoing long-term study that began in 1968. From the very beginning, data have been collected within a framework of emotional and behavioral regulation. This chapter presents the framework model and its theoretical rationales. Data collection waves are described, first, from childhood to adolescence, and second, in adulthood. Results on continuity in socioemotional behavior and its developmental background, problem behavior and health, and positive development are presented so as not to overlap with results in the other chapters of this book. INTRODUCTION The title of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality…

Self-esteem: An antecedent or a consequence of social support and psychosomatic symptoms? Cross-lagged associations in adulthood

Abstract This study investigated the relationships of self-esteem with social support and psychosomatic symptoms in cross-lagged longitudinal data with two measurement points and a time lag of 6 years. Two hundred thirteen participants were drawn from the ongoing Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, Finland. The present study focused on data collected by questionnaires at ages 36 and 42. The cross-lagged analyses of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated that high self-esteem at age 36 predicted high social support 6 years later and simultaneously, but to a lesser extent, high social support at age 36 predicted high self-esteem at age 42. In addition, lo…

Ten Pillars of a Good Childhood: A Finnish Perspective

Adapted from a presentation given at the Decade for Childhood 2012-2022 Launch during the Global Summit on Childhood, March 30, 2012, Washington, D.C. Author Note: The preparation of this paper has...

Child socioemotional behavior and adult temperament as predictors of physical activity and sedentary behavior in late adulthood

Background Most studies investigating the association of temperament with physical activity and sedentary behavior have examined children or adolescents, employed cross-sectional or longitudinal designs that do not extend from childhood into adulthood, and utilized self- or parent-reported data on physical activity and sedentary behavior. This longitudinal study investigated whether socioemotional behavior in childhood and temperament in middle adulthood predict accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary behavior in late adulthood. Methods This study was based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS). Socioemotional behavior (behavioral ac…

Behavioral Precursors to Accidents and Resulting Physical Impairment

The main goal of the study was to determine, within a model of emotional and behavioral regulation, if there are developmental precursors to accidents and resulting physical impairment. Data collected at ages 8 and 14 with 147 males and 142 females using peer nomination and teacher rating were related to the number of types of accidents the subjects had been in and impairment as a result of an accident by the age of 27 when the subjects were interviewed on their health. The results showed that 44% of the men and 14% of the women had been in an accident. Severe effects on health were obtained for 19% of the men and 5% of the women. Accidents and impairment were most frequent among individual…

Childhood aggression and the co-occurrence of behavioural and emotional problems: results across ages 3–16 years from multiple raters in six cohorts in the EU-ACTION project

Childhood aggression and its resulting consequences inflict a huge burden on affected children, their relatives, teachers, peers and society as a whole. Aggression during childhood rarely occurs in isolation and is correlated with other symptoms of childhood psychopathology. In this paper, we aim to describe and improve the understanding of the co-occurrence of aggression with other forms of childhood psychopathology. We focus on the co-occurrence of aggression and other childhood behavioural and emotional problems, including other externalising problems, attention problems and anxiety-depression. The data were brought together within the EU-ACTION (Aggression in Children: unravelling gene-…

Aikuisten ristiriitaisesta suhtautumisesta kirkkoon

Keski-Suomen lapsiohjelma : lasten hyvinvoinnista hyvinvoivaan yhteiskuntaan

Keski-Suomen lapsiohjelman kehittäminen alkoi Lapsifoorumista 2016, jossa todettiin, että maakunnalliselle lapsistrategialle on tarvetta. Yhteiseksi tavoitteeksi asetettiin, että KeskiSuomi tullaan tuntemaan vuonna 2025 lasten, nuorten ja perheiden hyvinvoinnin maakuntana. Haukkalan säätiö otti tehtäväkseen lapsistrategian laatimisen maakunnan kokonaisstrategiaan sisältyvänä lapsiohjelmana. Työtä edisti samanaikainen Sipilän hallituksen kärkihanke Lasten ja perheiden palvelujen muutosohjelma (LAPE) ja sen maakunnallinen toteutus (KSLAPE), jonka osaksi lapsiohjelman laatiminen sisällytettiin pyrkimyksenä edistää erityisesti LAPEn yhtä kehittämiskokonaisuutta: toimintakulttuurin muutosta laps…

Work–family conflict and psychological well-being: Stability and cross-lagged relations within one- and six-year follow-ups

Abstract The rank-order stability and cross-lagged relations between work-to-family conflict (WFC), family-to-work conflict (FWC), and psychological well-being were examined in two longitudinal studies with full two-wave panel designs. In Study 1 ( n  = 365), the time lag was one year, and in Study 2 ( n  = 153), six years. The Structural Equation Modeling showed that the stability for WFC was .69 over one and .73 over six years. The respective stabilities for FWC were .57 and .48. Cross-lagged relations were not detected between WFC/FWC and low psychological well-being (job exhaustion, marital adjustment, parental stress, and psychological distress), expected to exist on the basis of the i…

The heritability of depressive symptoms: multiple informants and multiple measures

Background: Earlier research suggests large rater differences in heritability estimates of children's depressive symptoms in the context of significant age and sex-limitation effects. Methods: With data from an ongoing, population-based twin-family study, we estimated genetic and environmental influences on children's depression with models allowing for sex-specific effects. Our assessments of twins included self-reports and ratings made by their classmate peers, their parents and their teachers, allowing estimates of genetic and environmental effects with data from different informants. Model-fitting used maximum likelihood estimation of log-transformed data from a sample of 1,366 11- and …

Longitudinal heritability of childhood aggression

The genetic and environmental contributions to the variation and longitudinal stability in childhood aggressive behavior were assessed in two large twin cohorts, the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR), and the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS; United Kingdom). In NTR, maternal ratings on aggression from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were available for 10,765 twin pairs at age 7, for 8,557 twin pairs at age 9/10, and for 7,176 twin pairs at age 12. In TEDS, parental ratings of conduct disorder from the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ) were available for 6,897 twin pairs at age 7, for 3,028 twin pairs at age 9 and for 5,716 twin pairs at age 12. In both studies, stability and…

Extraversion and Neuroticism as antecedents of emotion regulation and dysregulation in adulthood

This longitudinal study examined the role of Extraversion and Neuroticism as antecedents of emotion regulation and dysregulation among 89 women and 81 men. When participants were 27 years old, their Extraversion and Neuroticism were assessed with the standardized version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. At age 33, they completed the Big‐Five Personality Inventory, an authorized adaptation of the NEO Personality Inventory. Emotion regulation, operationalized as an active attempt to turn a negative emotion toward a more positive direction, and measured by the Repair subscale of the Meta‐Regulation Scale, and emotional social support, as measured by the Life Situation Questionnaire, …

Dimensions of executive functioning: Evidence from children

This study investigated dimensions of executive functioning in 8- to 13-year-old children. Three tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), two tasks from the NEPSY battery and some additional executive function (EF) tests were administered to 108 children. In line with earlier work, modest correlations among EF measures were obtained (r < .4). Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded three interrelated factors, which resembled those obtained by Miyake et al. (2000) and which were—with some reservations—labelled Working Memory (WM), Inhibition and Shifting. Age correlated with performance on most individual EF measures as well as Shifting a…

The accumulation of problems of social functioning as a long-term process: Women and men compared

Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the developmental processes involved in the accumulation of problems of social functioning from age 8 to age 36 in men ( n = 152) and women ( n = 145). The accumulation of risk factors in childhood and adolescence, including low control of emotions (aggressiveness and anxiety), school problems (poor adjustment, success, and motivation), and problems in the family (parental drinking and low socioeconomic status), predicted career instability, early timing of parenthood, and a sense of failure at age 27 in both sexes. Similarly, the accumulation of problems of social functioning (e.g. poor financial standing, poor intimate relationships, and d…

Leisure activity patterns and their associations with overweight: A prospective study among adolescents

We examined longitudinal associations between individual leisure activities (television viewing, video viewing, computer games, listening to music, board games, musical instrument playing, reading, arts, crafts, socializing, clubs or scouts, sports, outdoor activities) and being overweight using logistic regression and latent class analysis in a cohort of Finnish twins responding to self-report questionnaires at 11–12 (N = 5184), 14, and 17 years. We also studied activity patterns (“Active and sociable”, “Active but less sociable”, “Passive but sociable”, “Passive and solitary”) thought to represent different lifestyles. Among boys, activity patterns did not predict becoming overweight, but…

Antisocial Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence

Antisocial behavior is a broad construct that encompasses not only delinquency and crime, but also disruptive behavior of children, such as aggression, below the age of criminal responsibility. Legal, clinical, and developmental definitions of antisocial behavior have different foci. Development of antisocial behavior is studied using a longitudinal design. A high association has been obtained between aggression and hyperactivity in childhood and later antisocial behavior particularly in life-course-persistent offenders. The adolescence-limited pattern of offending is less strongly associated with disruptive behavior in childhood. Individual differences in aggression emerge early in life, a…

Long-term stability in the Big Five personality traits in adulthood

This study investigated the stability of the Big Five personality traits in adulthood from age 33 to 42. Participants (89 men, 103 women) were drawn from the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. The results showed that the mean-level of Neuroticism decreased whereas the mean-level of Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness increased from age 33 to 42. The Structural Equation Modeling analyses revealed both gender differences and similarities in the rank-order stability of the Big Five: Neuroticism and Extraversion were more stable in men than in women, whereas Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousne…

Continuities in aggressive behavior from childhood to adulthood

The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study on Social Development. The subjects (originally 173 females, 196 males) were studied at age 8, 14, 20, and 26. Stability of aggression from the age of 8 to 14 was as high for girls as for boys when peer nomination was employed, but lower for girls in teacher rating. For males, both peer nominations and teacher ratings on aggression at age 8 and 14 predicted criminality, arrests for alcohol abuse, and problem drinking as well as self-reports on aggression at age 26. The outcomes were most negative if aggression was patterned with other adjustment problems. For females, teacher ratings on aggression were biased by school adjustment, and t…

Hostility, unemployment and health status: testing three theoretical models.

This study examined three theoretical models of hostility, health and life context. According to the psychosocial vulnerability hypothesis, there is an interaction between hostility and adverse conditions. The increased health risk in hostile individuals is assumed to stem from their lower ability to benefit from existing psychosocial resources. The second hypothesis, called here the social context model, considers adverse conditions as an antecedent of both hostility and health problems. The third model states that hostility is a predictor of being selected to adverse conditions involving risk to health (the selection hypothesis). The results from a survey of a population-based random samp…

Finnish Twin Research in the 1930s: Contributions of Arvo Lehtovaara and His Mentor, Eino Kaila.

We offer a brief sketch of an overlooked early twin researcher, Arvo Johannes Lehtovaara (1905–1985), Professor of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä, 1939–1952, and the University of Helsinki, 1952–1970, with background notes on his mentor, Eino Kaila.

Patterns of Boys' Social Adjustment in Two Cultures and at Different Ages: A Longitudinal Perspective

In the comparison of two longitudinal studies, patterns of boys' social adjustment were identified by using aggression, hyperactivity, inattentiveness, anxiety, and lack of prosocial behaviour as clustering variables. Eight comparable clusters were obtained across two cultures, French Canada and Finland; three age groups, 6, 8, and 10 years; and two decades, the 1960s and 1980s. The clusters confirmed three frequently used categories of behaviour: (1) normal (for no adjustment problems); (2) anxious; and (3) inattentive; two infrequently used categories: (1) passive; and (2) nervous; and the importance of subcategorising aggressive-hyperactive boys into three categories: (1) bully; (2) unc…

Socioemotional behavior and school achievement in relation to extracurricular activity participation in middle childhood

This 3-year longitudinal study investigated the associations of student (aged 9 to 10 years at the beginning of the study; n = 281; 51% girls) participation in extracurricular activities with teacher-rated socioemotional behavior and school achievement. MANOVA results showed that, after controlling for the grade level and the initial level of the outcome variables, participation in arts and crafts and music activities was related to higher adaptive behavior, academic attainments (i.e., reading, writing, arithmetic), and working skills (persistence, concentration, carefulness). Participation in performing arts was associated with higher academic working skills, and participation in academic …

Inattentiveness, parental smoking and adolescent smoking initiation

Aims  To examine how adolescents’ inattentive behaviour, together with parental smoking patterns, predicts smoking initiation by age 14. Design, settings  A prospective, longitudinal study: baseline at ages 11–12, follow-up at age 14. A population-based sample of Finnish twins, born 1983–1987, with parents and classroom teachers as additional informants. Two groups were formed, allocating the co-twins of each family into separate groups: the study sample and a replication sample. Participants  Twin individuals (n = 4552), aged 11–12 at baseline and 14 (average 14.04 years) at follow-up. Measurements  At baseline, inattentiveness was assessed with the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Invento…

Goals for the Decade of Childhood 2012-2022 Based on Ten Pillars of a Good Childhood : a Finnish perspective

The Association for Childhood Education International (www.ACEI.org) , the mission of which is to promote and support the optimal education, development, and well-being of children worldwide, organized the Global Summit on Childhood in Washington, D.C., USA from 28 – 31 March, 2012, along with a number of other organizations such as the Alliance for Childhood. The Association for Childhood Education International (www.ACEI.org) , the mission of which is to promote and support the optimal education, development, and well-being of children worldwide, organized the Global Summit on Childhood in Washington, D.C., USA from 28 – 31 March, 2012, along with a number of other organizations such as t…

Country, sex, and parent occupational status: Moderators of the continuity of aggression from childhood to adulthood

Using data from two American and one Finnish long-term longitudinal studies, we examined continuity of general aggression from age 8 to physical aggression in early adulthood (age 21-30) and whether continuity of aggression differed by country, sex, and parent occupational status. In all samples, childhood aggression was assessed via peer nominations and early adulthood aggression via self-reports. Multi-group structural equation models revealed significant continuity in aggression in the American samples but not in the Finnish sample. These relations did not differ by sex but did differ by parent occupational status: whereas there was no significant continuity among American children from …

Genetic and environmental influences on non-specific neck pain in early adolescence: A classical twin study

Background Prevalence of neck pain has increased among adolescents. The origins of adult chronic neck pain may lie in late childhood, but for early prevention, more information is needed about its aetiology. We investigated the relative roles of genetic and environmental factors in early adolescent neck pain with a classic twin study. Methods Frequency of neck pain was assessed with a validated pain questionnaire in a population‐based sample of nearly 1800 pairs of 11–12‐year‐old Finnish twins. Twin pair similarity for neck pain was quantified by polychoric correlations, and variance components were estimated with biometric structural equation modelling. Results Prevalence of neck pain repo…

Genetic and environmental influences on pubertal timing assessed by height growth

Secular trends towards earlier puberty, possibly caused by new environmental triggers, provide a basis for periodic evaluation of the influence and interaction of genetic and environmental effects on pubertal timing. In such studies, a practical marker that reflects timing of puberty in both genders needs to be used. We investigated genetic and environmental influences on pubertal timing by using change in the relative height between early and late adolescence (HD:SDS, height difference in standard deviations) as a new marker of pubertal timing. HD:SDS correlated well with age at peak height velocity in a population of men and women with longitudinal growth data. In 2,309 twin girls and 1,8…

The role of personality and role engagement in work-family balance

The relations between personality, role engagement, and a four-dimensional typology of work-family balance (WFB) were examined within a community-based sample (n = 213) derived from the Jyv&auml;skyl&auml; Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS). The typology was formed based on both work-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment (WFE) experiences. The profiles of personality and role engagement differentiated the four WFB types &#8211; Beneficial, Harmful, Active, and Passive types. The Beneficial type (low WFC, high WFE; 48.4%) was characterized by low neuroticism, high agreeableness and high conscientiousness. The opposite was observed for the Harmful type (high WFC, l…

Identity Formation, Personal Control Over Development, and Well-Being

Individuals' conceptions of their personal goals have been studied in the psychology literature from different perspectives. In this chapter, the processes and implications of one's orientations and self-definitions were analyzed along two dimensions: one's sense of identity, and the self-percepts of autonomous control over development. Several researchers (e.g., Archer, 1989; Brandtstädter & Baltes-Götz, 1990; Pulkkinen & Rönkä, 1994) have concluded, on the basis of literature reviews and empirical findings, that adaptive capacities are associated with a clear sense of identity and personal control over development. Although any given cultural and historical context confines the possible a…

Genetic and environmental factors affecting self-esteem from age 14 to 17: a longitudinal study of Finnish twins.

ABSTRACTBackgroundWe analysed genetic and environmental influences on self-esteem and its stability in adolescence.MethodFinnish twins born in 1983–1987 were assessed by questionnaire at ages 14 (n=4132 twin individuals) and 17 years (n=3841 twin individuals). Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg global self-esteem scale and analyzed using quantitative genetic methods for twin data in the Mx statistical package.ResultsThe heritability of self-esteem was 0·62 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·56–0·68] in 14-year-old boys and 0·40 (95% CI 0·26–0·54) in 14-year-old girls, while the corresponding estimates at age 17 were 0·48 (95% CI 0·39–0·56) and 0·29 (95% CI 0·11–0·45). Rosenberg self-…

Human Development from Middle Childhood to Middle Adulthood : Growing Up to be Middle-Aged

Prospective associations of early-onset Axis I disorders with developing eating disorders

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the developmental relationships of adolescent-onset Axis I mental disorders and eating disorders (EDs).Method: One thousand three hundred eighteen adolescent twins born from 1983 to 1987 completed a professionally administered semistructured psychiatric interview at the age of 14 years and a questionnaire follow-up at the age of 17.5 years.Results: Eating disorders at the age of 17.5 years were significantly predicted by major depressive disorder (odds ratio, 5.9; 95% confidence interval, 2.6-15.3) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (odds ratio, 4.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-15.6) at the age of 14 years, when baseline EDs were exclu…

Intensity of Aggression in Childhood as a Predictor of Different Forms of Adult Aggression: A Two-Country (Finland and United States) Analysis

This study examined the prediction of different forms of adult aggression in 2 countries from child and adolescent aggression. It was based on 2 longitudinal projects: the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS; N=196 boys and 173 girls) conducted in Finland and the Columbia County Longitudinal Study (CCLS; N=436 boys and 420 girls) conducted in the United States. The same peer‐nominated items for aggression were used in both studies at age 8; comparable measures of aggression were also available in adolescence (age 14 in the JYLS/19 in the CCLS) and adulthood (ages 36/30 and 42/48). Results showed that in both countries and in both genders, aggression in s…

Personal goals and personality traits among young adults: Genetic and environmental effects

To assess genetic and environmental contributions to personal goals, 1279 twins aged 20-26 filled in Personal Project Analysis and NEO-FFI inventories. Personal goals relating to education, the respondent's own family, friends, property, travel and self showed primarily genetic and unique environmental effects, whereas goals related to parents and relatives showed both shared and unique environmental effects. The variation in goals related to health, work, hobbies and life philosophy was attributable to non-shared environmental effects. Openness to experience and personal goals related to family, education and property shared a significant amount of genetic influence. The same was true for …

Selection into long-term unemployment and its psychological consequences

The factors which predict a person’s long-term unemployment were studied within the framework of an emotional and behavioural regulation model consisting of two orthogonal dimensions: behavioural inhibition versus expression, and low versus high self-control of emotions (Pulkkinen, 1995, 1996). The participants were drawn from the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, in which the same individuals have been followed up from age 8 ( n = 369) to 36 ( n = 311). In the present study, data collected at ages 8, 14, 27, and 36 were used. The findings showed that low self-control of emotions, especially aggression, at age 8 directly predicted long-term unemplo…

Genetic and Environmental Influences Underlying Externalizing Behaviors, Cigarette Smoking and Illicit Drug Use Across Adolescence

We investigated genetic and environmental influences common to adolescent externalizing behavior (at age 12), smoking (at age 14) and initiation of drug use (at age 17) using the FinnTwin12 cohort data. Multivariate Cholesky models were fit to data from 737 monozygotic and 722 dizygotic twin pairs. Heritability of externalizing behavior was 56%, that of smoking initiation/amount 20/32%, and initiation of drug use 27%. In the best-fitting model common environmental influences explained most of the covariance between externalizing behavior and smoking initiation (69%) and amount (77%). Covariance between smoking initiation/amount and drug use was due to additive genetic (42/22%) and common en…

Decreased prevalence of left-handedness among females with male co-twins: Evidence suggesting prenatal testosterone transfer in humans?

Studies of singletons suggest that right-handed individuals may have higher levels of testosterone than do left-handed individuals. Prenatal testosterone levels are hypothesised to be especially related to handedness formation. In humans, female members from opposite-sex twin pairs may experience elevated level of prenatal exposure to testosterone in their intrauterine environment shared with a male. We tested for differences in rates of left-handedness/right-handedness in female twins from same-sex and opposite-sex twin pairs. Our sample consisted of 4736 subjects, about 70% of all Finnish twins born in 1983–1987, with information on measured pregnancy and birth related factors. Circulatin…

A prospective study of the precursors to problem drinking in young adulthood.

This study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study on Social Development. The subjects (196 males, 173 females) were studied at age 8, 14 and 26. Three components in drinking habits were obtained at age 26: social, problem and controlled drinking. Moderate to severe problem drinking was obtained for 26% of the men and 1% of the women, and mild problem drinking for 23% of the men and 15% of the women. Problem drinking (defined by the CAGE Questionnaire, arrest for alcohol abuse and other indicators of heavy drinking) was directly accounted for by poor school success at age 14 and, for men, by conduct problems and low anxiety. Variables at age 8 that contributed indirectly to adult probl…

Innostava koulupäivä : ehdotus joustavan koulupäivän rakenteen vakiinnuttamiseksi

Selvitystyön tehtävänä oli koota tutkimukseen ja toimiviin käytänteisiin perustuvaa tietoa joustavan koulupäivän hyvinvointivaikutuksista sekä tehdä kehittämisehdotuksia siitä, miten joustava koulupäivä on tarkoituksenmukaista rakentaa kytkien kokonaisuuteen myös aamu- ja iltapäivätoiminnan. Selvitystyö on johtanut havaintoon vahvasta koulupäivän muutospaineesta. Painetta tulee (1) YK:n lapsen oikeuksien yleissopimuksesta, joka korostaa lapsen oikeutta tulla kuulluksi ja yhtäläisten mahdollisuuksien tarjoamista kulttuuri-, taide-, virkistys- ja vapaa-ajan toimintoihin, (2) Euroopan komission suosituksesta investoida lapsiin heidän hyvinvointinsa edistämiseksi, (3) Euroopan muissa maissa tap…

From Country Girl in Southern Finland to Longitudinal Research into Alternatives to Aggression and Violence

Lea Pulkkinen, born in Finland in 1939, is Emerita Professor of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). She is best known for creating the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JLSPSD). The study was specifically intended to test the hypothesis that the human brain allows for more variation in behavior than the simple ‘fight or flight’ response observed in animal studies of aggression. She further hypothesized that humans’ capacity for cognitive control over emotional behavior was the key factor involved in controlling aggressive behavior. These hypotheses led her to devise an impulse control model to depict behavioral alternatives, which s…

Emotion regulation strategies in relation to personality characteristics indicating low and high self-control of emotions

Abstract The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, in which children's (196 boys, 173 girls) behavioral characteristics indicating the self-control of emotions were studied at age 8 using teacher ratings. At age 36, 140 men and 128 women filled in several inventories, including the Meta-Regulation Scale [Mayer, J. D., & Stevens, A. A. (1994). An emerging understanding of the reflective (meta-)experience of mood. Journal of Research in Personality , 28 , 351–373] and the Karolinska Scales of Personality [Af Klinteberg, B., Schalling, D., & Magnusson, D. (1986). Childhood behavior and adult personality in male and female subjects. European J…

It does take a village: nonfamilial environments and children's behavior.

Family characteristics influence children's behavioral development, but so do variations in schools, neighborhoods, and communities. We documented extrafamilial environmental effects by fitting maximum likelihood models to questionnaire data collected from double dyads consisting of twins and their classmate controls. The classmate controls in each double dyad were genetic strangers living in separate households, but they shared school, neighborhood, and community environments with their yoked twin pair and with one another. At ages 11 to 12, the control classmates showed significant similarities in religious practices and smoking and drinking patterns, demonstrating that environmental inf…

Job skill discretion and emotion control strategies as antecedents of recovery from work

Recovery from work protects employees’ health and well-being, and therefore it is important to understand its antecedents. The aim of this study conducted among 183 middle-aged participants drawn from the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development was to examine whether job skill discretion and emotion control strategies (emotional rumination and emotional inhibition) are related to psychological aspects of recovery from work (subjective recovery evaluation, psychological detachment and relaxation). The results of hierarchical general linear models confirmed the hypothesis that job skill discretion is positively associated with subjective recovery evaluation …

Harmonization of Neuroticism and Extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium:an application of Item Response Theory

Mega- or meta-analytic studies (e.g. genome-wide association studies) are increasingly used in behavior genetics. An issue in such studies is that phenotypes are often measured by different instruments across study cohorts, requiring harmonization of measures so that more powerful fixed effect meta-analyses can be employed. Within the Genetics of Personality Consortium, we demonstrate for two clinically relevant personality traits, Neuroticism and Extraversion, how Item-Response Theory (IRT) can be applied to map item data from different inventories to the same underlying constructs. Personality item data were analyzed in >160,000 individuals from 23 cohorts across Europe, USA and Australia…

Child personality characteristics and selection into long-term unemployment in Finnish and Swedish longitudinal samples

The main aim of the present study was to test a model of selection into long-term unemployment obtained for a sample of 36-year-old Finns (Kokko, Pulkkinen, &amp; Puustinen, 2000) to see whether it similarly explained long-term unemployment among 26- to 27-year-old Finns and Swedes. The participants were drawn from two ongoing longitudinal studies: the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (conducted in Finland) and the Individual Development and Adaptation study (conducted in Sweden). At both ages, that is 36 and 26–27, low education was related to long-term unemployment, and explained by personality characteristics in middle childhood, such as low self-contro…

The effects of social anxiety on alcohol and cigarette use across adolescence: Results from a longitudinal twin study in Finland.

Conflicting reports exist on the direction of the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and alcohol/cigarette use (AU/CU) and alcohol/nicotine dependence (AD/ND), with both positive and negative associations reported. A prospective, longitudinal sample of Finnish twins (n = 1,906) was used to test potential explanations for these discrepancies. Specifically, this study used peer, parent, and teacher ratings of SA, and a clinical interview screening item for social anxiety disorder (SAD-Sc) to examine associations between SA and AU/CU and AD/ND from early adolescence into young adulthood. Peer-rated SA was negatively associated with AU, CU, and AD from age 14 through age 22, implying a pr…

The Circumplex Model of Occupational Well-being : Its Relation with Personality

The purpose of this study was to identify different types of occupational well-being based on the circumplex model (Russell, 1980; Warr, 1994), and to examine how these types are related to the Big Five personality profiles. The middle-aged participants were drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (N = 183). Application of a person-oriented approach with latent profile analysis yielded four types of occupational well-being: (a) Engaged (30%), (b) Ordinary (54%), (c) Bored-out (9%), and (d) Burned-out (7%). The personality profiles showed a strong relationship with these occupational well-being types. Resilient individuals (low in neuroticism and hig…

Income and Mental Well-Being : Personality Traits as Moderators

Using data from the participants of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS) at ages 42 and 50 (N = 326), this study provides empirical evidence of the relation between income and mental well-being and of the possible role of personality traits in modifying this relation. The relationships were analyzed using pooled ordinary least squares (OLS; bi- and multivariate settings) and fixed effects estimations (FE; multivariate settings). Positive bivariate associations were found between gross monthly income and the sum score of mental well-being and its separate dimensions (emotional, psychological, and social well-being and the absence of depression) as wel…

Identitetens uppklarnande och kulturvärden

Pulkkinen, L.: Identity achievement and cultural values. Nordisk Psykologi, 1987, 39 (3), 186–202. Relationships between identity achievement and cultural values were studied with 240 young adults. A questionnaire contained a scale for Identity Achievement modified from Crotevant & Adams' (1984) EOM-EIS and questions concerning the importance of various values (e.g. religious, scientific) for one's life, and expectations about and fears of the future. LISREL analyses revealed that Identity Achievement was divided into two components, ethical (friendship, religion) and functional identity (sex roles, politics), rather than ideological and interpersonal identity suggested by Grotevant and Ada…

Parenting mechanisms in links between parents’ and adolescents’ alcohol use behaviors

Background: Adolescence has been identified as a critical period with regard to the initiation and early escalation of alcohol use. Moreover, research on familial risk and protective processes provides independent support for multiple domains of parental influence on adolescent drinking; including parents’ own drinking behaviors, as well as the practices they employ to socialize their children. Despite this prevalence of findings, whether and how these distinct associations are related to one another is still not entirely clear. Methods: The present study used data from 4,731 adolescents and their parents to test the nature of associations between (a) parents’ frequencies of alcohol use and…

Functions of adolescent drinking in Finland and the Soviet Union

The present study was conducted in Finland and the USSR (Estonia) with two birth cohorts (14 and 17 years old) and their parents. The subjects, 504 in Finland and 329 in Estonia, were drawn from urban and rural areas. 85% of the Estonian and 55% of the Finnish parents returned the questionnaire. The results supported the hypothesis that adolescent drinking is an age-related behaviour aimed at active coping efforts to adopt adult-like behaviour. In both countries abstinence decreased with age, and the use of alcohol was seen as behaviour which became acceptable at an older age than the age when the actual initiation occurred. However, the use of alcohol remained occasional through the ages o…

Effects of physical provocations on heart rate reactivity and reactive aggression in children

This article presents complementary data on the relationship between the intensity of offensive and defensive aggression that was investigated by means of the computerised Pulkkinen Aggression Machine (PAM) paradigm [Juujarvi et al., 2001; Aggr Behav 27:430-445]. The recording of the electrocardiogram was conducted in a sample of 109 children (61 boys and 48 girls) while they completed the PAM. Across the conditions of controlled aggression, the simulated attack and defence evoked a mean increase of HR by 2.7 beats per minute (bpm), but the variation between children was substantial (-10.9 to +11.4 bpm). Children who showed a strong HR increase, moderate HR increase, or HR decrease were com…

Human Development from Middle Childhood to Middle Adulthood

This seminal work focuses on human development from middle childhood to middle adulthood, through analysis of the research findings of the groundbreaking Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS). The JYLS project, which began in 1968, has generated extensive publications over many years but this is the first comprehensive summary that presents the conceptual framework, the research design and methodology, and the findings. The study looks at the development over time of issues related to personality, identity, health, anti-social behavior, and well-being and is unparalleled in its duration, intensity, comprehensiveness and psychological richness. The thoroug…

Drinking, smoking, and educational achievement: Cross-lagged associations from adolescence to adulthood

Background Adolescent substance use is associated with lower educational achievement but the directionality of the association remains uncertain. We analyzed data on drinking, smoking and educational achievement to study the associations between substance use and education from early adolescence to young adulthood. Methods Longitudinal data from four time points (ages 12, 14, 17, and 19–27 years) from a population-based cohort study of Finnish twin individuals were used to estimate bivariate cross-lagged path models for substance use and educational achievement, adjusting for sex, parental covariates, and adolescent externalizing behavior. A total of 4761 individuals (49.4% females) were in…

Parental Identity and Its Relation to Parenting and Psychological Functioning in Middle Age

SYNOPSIS Objective. This article focuses on identity as a parent in relation to parenting and psychological functioning in middle age. Design. Drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, 162 participants (53% females) with children (age 36), represented the Finnish age-cohort born in 1959. Parental identity was assessed at ages 36, 42, and 50. Results. In both women and men, parental identity achievement increased from age 36 to 42 and remained stable to 50. The level of parental identity achievement was higher in women than in men. Achievement was typical for women and foreclosure for men. Participants’ education, occupational status, and number of of…

Linking Economic Stress to Marital Quality Among Finnish Marital Couples

Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediators of economic circumstances on marital quality using a sample of married or cohabiting 36-year-old Finnish men ( n = 133) and women ( n = 117). The model tested was an adapted version of the model presented by Conger, Ge, and Lorenz. For the men, the results were consistent with the proposed model: Poor employment status caused economic strain and affected the lives of the men to the extent that current economic strain increased expected financial strain, leading to greater depression and greater hostility in the marriage, both of which, in turn, predicted poor marital quality. For the women, poor economic circumstances and, in part…

Intergenerational continuity in parents’ and adolescents’ externalizing problems: The role of life events and their interaction with GABRA2.

We examine whether parental externalizing behavior has an indirect effect on adolescent externalizing behavior via elevations in life events, and whether this indirect effect is further qualified by an interaction between life events and adolescents’ GABRA2 genotype (rs279871). We use data from 2 samples: the Child Development Project (CDP; n = 324) and FinnTwin12 (n = 802). In CDP, repeated measures of life events, mother-reported adolescent externalizing, and teacher-reported adolescent externalizing were used. In FinnTwin12, life events and externalizing were assessed at age 14. Parental externalizing was indexed by measures of antisocial behavior and alcohol problems or alcohol dependen…

Lapset tarvitsevat kasvamisen rauhaa myös myöhäislapsuudessa

Julkaisin 40 vuotta sitten artikkelin otsikolla Jättäkää lapsi rauhaan (Pulkkinen, 1980). Vetoomukseni oli reaktio esikoulua koskeviin suunnitelmiin, joissa näkyi pyrkimys kiirehtiä kehitystä ja lyhentää lapsuutta. Kasvatus- ja koulutustoimikunnan mietinnössä 1978 esitetyistä tavoitteista näkyivät koulutusyhteiskunnan kuusivuotiaisiin lapsiin kohdistamat kovat odotukset ja pyrkimykset saada jäsenistään mahdollisimman suuri hyöty mahdollisimman varhain. Toisena kriittisenä näkökohtana mainitsin lasten kehitystä koskevan tiedon ja yksilöiden välisten erojen vähäisen huomioonoton ja siitä seuraavan kehityksen kiirehtimisen. Kolmanneksi kritisoin sitä, että suunnittelusta puuttui lapsi- ja laps…

A Longitudinal Study on Social Development as an Impetus for School Reform Toward an Integrated School Day

The Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, in which the same individuals have been studied from the age of 8 to age 42, has warranted the conclusion that children should be encouraged toward prosocial development at an early age, because it helps them to integrate into the school environment and saves them from the cycle of maladaptation. A project was designed at the invitation of a Finnish parliamentary group for the enhancement of children's socioemotional development at school. The project comprises seven subprojects including interventions at three levels: the child's behavior, school as a learning environment, and the school's relationships with the surro…

Associations between Mental Well-being and Personality from a Llife Span Perspective

The associations between personality traits and mental well-being are analyzed using data from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (initial N = 369; 53% males). At ages 33/36 to 50, the NEO-PI and Scales of Psychological and Social Well-Being as well as indicators of emotional well-being were administered. At ages 8 and 14, socioemotional behaviors were assessed by teachers. First, both genders show high relative continuity in the Big Five personality traits and mental well-being during mid-adulthood. Second, the developmental course of neuroticism and extraversion during mid-adulthood is similar to that of psychological well-being: over 80% of the partici…

Antisocial and human capital pathways to socioeconomic exclusion: A 42-year prospective study.

Nordic welfare states have been very successful at reducing poverty and inequality among their citizens. However, the presence of a strong social safety net in these countries has not solved the problem of socioeconomic exclusion, manifesting in such outcomes as chronic unemployment and welfare dependency. In an effort to understand this phenomenon, the current study builds on the assumption that psychological risk factors emerge as important determinants of socioeconomic disadvantage in an environment where ascribed characteristics have less impact on educational and occupational attainment. Using data from Finland, this research examined a life course model linking childhood differences i…

Tobacco, Cannabis, and Other Illicit Drug Use Among Finnish Adolescent Twins: Causal Relationship or Correlated Liabilities?*

Contains fulltext : 90566.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Objective: Among Finnish adolescent twins, we compared (a) a model that describes a direct impact of liability to tobacco use on cannabis and other illicit drug use with (b) a model that included a shared underlying liability for these substances. Furthermore, the extent to which genetic and environmental influences contribute to the covariation between liabilities to use these substances was examined. Method: Tobacco and illicit drug use were assessed at age 17.5 years. Twin data on 3,744 individuals were analyzed using standard biometrical methods. Two alternative multivariate models were fit and compared with Mx, a statis…

Genetic and environmental effects on body mass index during adolescence: a prospective study among Finnish twins

Objective: To study genetic and environmental factors affecting body mass index (BMI) and BMI phenotypic correlations across adolescence. Design: Prospective, population-based, twin cohort study. Participants and methods: We used twin modeling in 2413 monozygotic and same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic Finnish twin pairs born in 1983–1987 and assessed using self-report questionnaires at 11–12, 14 and 17 years of age. Results: Heritability of BMI was estimated to be 0.58–0.69 among 11–12- and 14-year-old boys and girls, 0.83 among 17-year-old boys and 0.74 among 17-year-old girls. Common environmental effects shared by siblings were 0.15–0.24 among 11–12- and 14-year-old boys and girls but n…

The Interplay between Genes and Psychosocial Home Environment on Physical Activity

Introduction Genetic factors contribute to individual differences in physical activity, but it remains uncertain whether the magnitude of the genetic effects is modified by variations in home environments. We aimed to examine to what extent the psychosocial home environment in childhood and adolescence modifies the genetic influences on leisure time physical activity in young adulthood. Methods Participants were Finnish twins (N = 3305) who reported their leisure time physical activity at age 24 yr. The psychosocial home environment was assessed by twins at ages 12, 14, and 17 yr, as well as by their parents when the twins were age 12 yr. Gene–environment interaction modeling was performed …

Cross-national and longitudinal investigation of a short measure of workaholism

The present study investigated the factor structure of the 10-item version of the Dutch Work Addiction Scale (DUWAS). The DUWAS-10 is intended to measure workaholism with two correlated factors: working excessively (WE) and working compulsively (WC). The factor structure of the DUWAS-10 was examined among multi-occupational samples from the Netherlands (n=9,010) and Finland (n=4,567) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). CFAs revealed that the expected correlated two-factor solution showed satisfactory fit to the data. However, a second-order factor solution, where WE comprised the first-order factors “working frantically” and “working long hours”, and WC the first-order factors “obsess…

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use are Genetically and Environmentally Correlated Across Adolescence

Depressive symptoms and alcohol use are frequently positively associated during adolescence. This study aimed to assess the heritability of each phenotype across adolescence; to assess potential shared liabilities; to examine changes in the nature of shared liabilities across adolescence; and to investigate potential causal relationships between depressive symptoms and alcohol use. We studied a longitudinally assessed sample of adolescent Finnish twins (N = 1,282) to test hypotheses about genetic and environmental influences on these phenotypes within and across ages, using data from assessments at ages 12, 14, and 17.5 years. The heritability of depressive symptoms is consistent across ado…

Introduction

Femininity and Fertility in Sisters with Twin Brothers: Prenatal Androgenization? Cross-Sex Socialization?

Are sisters of twin brothers behaviorally or physiologically masculinized? Prenatal exposure to their brothers' androgens and postnatal socialization experiences unique to girls growing up with twin brothers might influence their attitudes, pubertal development, and reproductive histories. To investigate, we studied age- and cohort-matched samples of Finnish sisters from same-sex and opposite-sex twin pairs. Using data from two ongoing longitudinal studies of consecutive birth cohorts of Finnish twins, we assessed pubertal development at ages 11 and 14 and endorsement of attitudes associated with femininity at age 16. We also studied fertility in Finnish women from same- and opposite-sex t…

Minor depression in adolescence: Phenomenology and clinical correlates

Background Depressions that fail to meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) may be underdiagnosed and undertreated in adolescent population. Traditionally, they are not considered as serious conditions and the phenomenological nature and clinical correlates of these disorders are largely unknown. In the present study, we used a large, representative and age-standardized sample of adolescents to examine the phenomenology and clinical correlates of minor depression, a poorly understood condition included in the category of Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fourth Edition–Text Revised (DSM-IV-TR). Metho…

Children's help seeking: the role of parenting

Abstract Ninety-nine families with a school-age child participated in this study, aimed at analysing the relationship between parenting and children's help seeking. The parenting data included self-reports on parents' child-rearing principles and behavioural observations during parent–child interactions. To test help seeking, the children were placed in a problem-solving situation and had the opportunity to seek help from the experimenter. For girls, higher levels of parental nurturance were linked to longer thinking times preceding help seeking and to lessened capacity to reuse previously received help. For boys, higher levels of fathers' emotional warmth were related to higher rates of ir…

Problem behavior as a precursor of male criminality

AbstractThe participants (originally 196 boys and 173 girls) in an ongoing longitudinal study were examined using peer nomination and teacher rating at ages 8 and 14 years. Criminal records were collected at age 27 years. The results showed that (a) criminal offenses were best predicted if the accumulation of behavior problems over the school years was considered; (b) the risk for different types of offenses was highest for boys who exhibited escalating conduct problems and school failure over the school years; (c) norm-breaking behavior in early adolescence was strongly related to a propensity to later criminal offenses; (d) childhood aggressiveness did not predict arrests without the pres…

Personality – a resource or risk for successful development

Personality as a resource or risk for development was discussed in the light of the results of the ongoing Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (FJYLS) which the author has conducted since 1968 when the participants (N = 369, b. 1959) were 8 years of age. A general hypothesis presented within a two-dimensional framework of self-control and activity was that the child's high self-control of emotions and behavior would be associated with adaptive behavior in adulthood. The results have provided evidence in support for and limitations to the hypothesis. High self-control was a resource and low self-control was a risk for development, but there were gender …

Identity Processes in Adulthood: Diverging Domains

Patterns of identity formation were analyzed in a longitudinal framework, from ages 27 to 36 and then to 42 years of age. Information from all 3 ages was available for 197 participants (100 women, 97 men). A variation of Marcia’s (1966) Identity Status Interview included 5 domains: religious beliefs, political identity, occupational career, intimate relationships, and lifestyle. Great variability in identity status assessments was found across the domains at each age level. The domains representing work and family (occupation, relationships, and lifestyle) were more salient for middle- aged adults than were ideological domains (religion and politics). Development along the hypothesized sequ…

The moderating effect of extraversion on the relation between self-reported and observed parenting

Abstract The present study examined multiple measures of parenting (i.e., nurturance reported by parents themselves, child-centered behavior rated by trained observers, and child-reported parenting and family atmosphere) and their association with parents' personality trait of extraversion ( E ). The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development and it concerned 106 families with school-aged children (8–13 years of age). Data on parenting were collected from parents (54 mothers and 52 fathers) and children (48 girls and 58 boys) through questionnaires; in addition, behavioral observations were conducted to measure parent–child interaction. The resu…

Early-onset tobacco use and suicide-related behavior – A prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood

Abstract Background Developmental relationships between tobacco use and suicide-related behaviors (SRB) remain unclear. Our objective was to investigate the longitudinal associations of tobacco use in adolescence and SRB in adulthood. Methods Using a prospective design, we examined whether tobacco use in adolescence is associated with SRB (intentional self-injury, suicide ideation) in young adulthood in a population-based sample of 1330 twins (626 males, 704 females). The baseline and follow-up data were collected by professionally administered semi-structured poly-diagnostic interviews at ages 14 and 22, respectively. Results After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, those who re…

Genetic Influences on Alcohol Use Behaviors Have Diverging Developmental Trajectories: A Prospective Study Among Male and Female Twins

Background Both alcohol-specific genetic factors and genetic factors related to externalizing behavior influence problematic alcohol use. Little is known, however, about the etiologic role of these 2 components of genetic risk on alcohol-related behaviors across development. Prior studies conducted in a male cohort of twins suggest that externalizing genetic factors are important for predicting heavy alcohol use in adolescence, whereas alcohol-specific genetic factors increase in importance during the transition to adulthood. In this report, we studied twin brothers and sisters and brother–sister twin pairs to examine such developmental trajectories and investigate whether sex and cotwin se…

Interactive effects of internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors on recurrent pain in children

Objective: To examine, in children, relationships between self-reported recurrent pain and emotion regulation indicated by rated internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors and adjustment. Method: Finnish 11-12-year-old schoolchildren (N = 414) completed a questionnaire measuring recurrent pain. Emotion regulation was assessed by a Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory, Teacher Rating Form. Relationships between recurrent pain and emotion regulation were examined in logistic regression analyses, after controlling for past injuries and chronic illnesses. Results: Independent of injuries and chronic illnesses, externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors related to recurrent p…

Stability of aggressive behavior from childhood to middle age in women and men

The aim of this study was to investigate the stability of aggression from childhood to middle age in women and men. The participants were drawn from the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, where aggression in 145 women and 154 men was assessed at ages 8, 14, 36, and 42. Data were collected at ages 8 and 14 by teacher ratings and peer nominations, and at ages 36 and 42 by self-ratings on aggression. The stability of aggression from childhood to middle adulthood was tested using three different LISREL models: a simplex model; a model linking aggression at age 8 to age 14 to a latent adult aggression variable (ages 36 and 42); and a model linking a laten…

Identity Status Change Within Personal Style Clusters : A Longitudinal Perspective From Early Adulthood to Midlife

Differences in identity stability and change from age 36 through 42 to 50 were examined between three male and female personal style clusters extracted at age 27. We expected, first, the identity statuses to consistently differ between the clusters and, second, those with the least mature identity to move closer to others during midlife. Differences between the personal style clusters were discovered on all identity statuses across ages. Although significant personal style × age interactions were not detected, some evidence of pace-of-development differences emerged for women: Initial differences in identity maturation between the female groups partially leveled off by midlife. In men, earl…

Genetic and environmental effects on body mass index during adolescence: a prospective study among Finnish twins

To study genetic and environmental factors affecting body mass index (BMI) and BMI phenotypic correlations across adolescence. Prospective, population-based, twin cohort study. We used twin modeling in 2413 monozygotic and same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic Finnish twin pairs born in 1983–1987 and assessed using self-report questionnaires at 11–12, 14 and 17 years of age. Heritability of BMI was estimated to be 0.58–0.69 among 11–12- and 14-year-old boys and girls, 0.83 among 17-year-old boys and 0.74 among 17-year-old girls. Common environmental effects shared by siblings were 0.15–0.24 among 11–12- and 14-year-old boys and girls but no longer discernible at 17 years of age. Unique enviro…

Personality traits and parenting: neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience as discriminative factors

This study used variable‐ and person‐oriented approaches to examine the relationship between personality traits (at age 33) and parenting (at age 36) among 94 mothers and 78 fathers. The SEM revealed that Openness to Experience (O), low Neuroticism (N), and Extraversion (E) were related to parental nurturance; low O to parental restrictiveness; and low N to parental knowledge about the child's activities. Cluster analysis based on the three parenting factors yielded six gender‐related parenting types with distinguishable personality profiles. Authoritative parents (mostly mothers) and emotionally involved parents (mostly fathers), who were high in nurturance and high to moderate in parenta…

Labor market performance of dropouts: the role of personality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on labor market careers of dropouts with various levels of education. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the labor market careers of dropouts and non-dropouts between ages 15 and 50 by using longitudinal data. The paper analyses how the results change when the authors control for differences in personality characteristics. Findings – The paper finds that dropping out diminishes one's success in the labor market but this connection is reduced when the model is augmented with personality. Dropouts seem to have or lack certain personality characteristics that are associated with labor market success. These findings sugge…

The Role of Family Background, School Success, and Career Orientation in the Development of Sense of Coherence

Abstract. This study investigates family background (child-centered parenting, parental socioeconomic status), school success in adolescence, and career orientation (education, stability of career line) in adulthood as antecedents of adult sense of coherence (SOC; Antonovsky, 1987a ), which has been posited to be a disposition crucial to understanding individual differences in successful coping with stress. Participants (104 men and 98 women) were drawn from the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS), which was started when the participants were 8- or 9-year-old children (in 1968). Data gathered at ages 14, 27, 36, and 42 were used in this study. …

Ketone body 3-hydroxybutyrate: a biomarker of aggression?

Human aggression is a complex behavior, the biological underpinnings of which remain poorly known. To gain insights into aggression biology, we studied relationships with aggression of 11 low-molecular-weight metabolites (amino acids, ketone bodies), processed using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We used a discovery sample of young adults and an independent adult replication sample. We studied 725 young adults from a population-based Finnish twin cohort born 1983-87, with aggression levels rated in adolescence (ages 12, 14, 17) by multiple raters and blood plasma samples at age 22. Linear regression models specified metabolites as the dependent and aggression ratings as indepen…

Child behaviour and adult personality: comparisons between criminality groups in Finland and Sweden

Background; Lately there has been an increasing interest in whether personality traits are associated with criminal behaviour in male and female subjects. Criminality and alcohol abuse are often associated. Delinquent adolescents are impulsive and danger seeking. Childhood aggression may be a precursor of adult criminality. Method Using longitudinal data, adult personality and childhood behaviours were examined for groups of non-criminals and criminals of Finnish (n = 268) and Swedish (n + 169) samples, and crime groups were compared in the two cultures. Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) were given at adult age and the participants had been observed and rated by their teachers in respe…

Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults

Kinnunen, M.-L., Metsapelto, R. L., Feldt, T., Kokko, K., Tolvanen, A., Kinnunen, U., Leppanen, E. & Pulkkinen, L. (2012). Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 512–522. This study investigates the associations of longitudinal Big Five personality profiles with long-term health in 304 adults (53% males). Personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness) were assessed at ages 33, 42, and 50. Subjective (self-rated health, symptoms, psychological distress) and objective (body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides) indicators of health were…

Implications of Timing of Entering Adulthood for Identity Achievement

Five external markers of adulthood, self-perceived adulthood at age 27, and identity achievement at ages 27, 36, and 42 were explored for 95 women and 94 men in a cohort of Finns born in 1959. Earlier transition to adulthood in family life (moving from the parental home, entering marriage or cohabitation, having a child) anticipated higher identity achievement in adulthood. However, later transition to adulthood in working life, composed of the first certification conferral, and entering a full-time job were associated with higher identity achievement. Both components correlated with the higher level and thus the length of education. Self-perceived adulthood was unrelated to the age of ach…

The integrated school day: Improving the educational offering of schools in Finland

The term Integrated School Day (ISD) refers to a school day in which extracurricular activities and children’s care are organized at the school before and after lessons, and sometimes between lessons. In a three year project, the extracurricular activities consisted of two types of activities for each child as selected by the parents and child: 1) adult-supervised, mostly self-organized recreation and indoor and outdoor activities in the morning before school hours and/or in the afternoon after school hours, and 2) hobby clubs available for children to attend a few times per week to enrich the activities offered in the morning and afternoon. Seven schools with students in grades 1 - 9 (from…

Examination of the paths between personality, current mood, its evaluation, and emotion regulation

In an ongoing longitudinal study, a Big Five Personality Inventory was completed by 122 men and 126 women at age 33. At age 36, the Brief Mood Introspection Scale, the Meta‐Evaluation Scale, and the Meta‐Regulation Scale were administered to 140 men and 127 women. The results, based on path analyses, lent support to a hypothesized model, according to which current mood (Negative, Positive, Active, Calm) and mood evaluation (Mood Influence, Typicality and Acceptance, Clarity) mediate the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and emotion regulation strategies (Repair, Dampening, Maintenance). For both sexes, Neuroticism was the most significant trait in terms of emotion regulat…

Chernobyl exposure as stressor during pregnancy and behaviour in adolescent offspring.

Objective: Research in animals has shown that exposure to stressors during pregnancy is associated with offspring behavioural disorders. We aimed to study the effect of in utero exposure to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and maternal anxiety presumably associated with that exposure, on behaviour disorder observed at age 14. Method: Exposed (n = 232) and non-exposed Finnish twins (n = 572) were compared. A semi-structured interview was used to assess lifetime symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Results: Adolescents who were exposed from the second trimester in pregnancy o…

Harmonizing behavioral outcomes across studies, raters, and countries: application to the genetic analysis of aggression in the ACTION Consortium

BACKGROUND: Aggression in children has genetic and environmental causes. Studies of aggression can pool existing datasets to include more complex models of social effects. Such analyses require large datasets with harmonized outcome measures. Here, we made use of a reference panel for phenotype data to harmonize multiple aggression measures in school-aged children to jointly analyze data from five large twin cohorts.METHODS: Individual level aggression data on 86,559 children (42,468 twin pairs) were available in five European twin cohorts measured by different instruments. A phenotypic reference panel was collected which enabled a model-based phenotype harmonization approach. A bi-factor i…

FinnTwin12 Cohort: An Updated Review

AbstractThis review offers an update on research conducted with FinnTwin12 (FT12), the youngest of the three Finnish Twin Cohorts. FT12 was designed as a two-stage study. In the first stage, we conducted multiwave questionnaire research enrolling all eligible twins born in Finland during 1983–1987 along with their biological parents. In stage 2, we intensively studied a subset of these twins with in-school assessments at age 12 and semistructured poly-diagnostic interviews at age 14. At baseline, parents of intensively studied twins were administered the adult version of the interview. Laboratory studies with repeat interviews, neuropsychological tests, and collection of DNA were made of in…

Life‐styles in personality development

The concept of life‐style was introduced as an integrative concept for the individual's personality characteristics, life attitudes, and everyday activities. Antisocial (AL) and socially adaptable (SAL) life‐styles were analysed based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal data. The original sample consisted of 196 boys and 173 girls aged 8 years; 87 percent of them were followed up to the age of 26. Male life‐styles defined at age 26 by illicit behaviour and career orientation were compared and their developmental prerequisites at ages 8 and 14 were examined. The results showed that (1) dispositional, cognitive, and behavioural approaches to personality could be linked for the analysis of individua…

Low Self-Control of Emotions as an Antecedent of Self-Reported Physical Symptoms: A Longitudinal Perspective

The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, underway since 1968, in which children's low self-control of emotions was studied using teacher ratings at age 8 in terms of inattentiveness, shifting moods, aggression, and anxiety. The study was based on data from 112 women and 112 men who participated in the previous data collections at ages 8, 27, and 36. At age 27, the participants had been assessed in Neuroticism (N) using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire , and at age 36 they filled in several inventories measuring, among others, conscious and active attempts to repair negative emotions in a more positive direction as well as physical s…

Types of work-family interface: Well-being correlates of negative and positive spillover between work and family

Item does not contain fulltext The aim of the present study was to test the structure of the work-family interface measure, which was intended to take into account both the positive and negative spillover between work and family demands in both directions. In addition, the links among the types of work-family spillover and the subjects' general and domain-specific well-being were examined. The sample (n= 202) consisted of Finnish employees, aged 42, who had a spouse/partner. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a four-factor model, including negative work-to-family spillover, negative family-to-work spillover, positive work-to-family spillover, and positive family-to-work spillover, …

Youthful smoking and drinking in a longitudinal perspective.

The incidence and continuity of smoking and drinking, precursory social-behavioral characteristics of smokers and drinkers, and life conditions related to smoking and drinking are described. The study was part of an extensive Finnish longitudinal study of social development, the original sample of which consisted of 8-year-old subjects (196 boys, 173 girls) studied in 1968 by employing peer nomination and teacher ratings. The follow-up studies were made at ages 14 and 20. 154 Ss at age 14 and 135 Ss at age 20 were interviewed about their smoking and drinking habits, among others. The results showed that about 20% of the subjects smoked at age 14 and about 30% at age 20. The proportion of ab…

Identity Development in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract Identity status interviews involving five domains of life (religious beliefs, political ideology, occupational career, intimate relationships, and lifestyle) were conducted with 249 women and men at ages 27 and 36. The results on overall identity and domain-specific identities confirmed our general hypothesis as to the strengthening of the commitment process: (1) stability was higher in the identity statuses involving commitment (identity achievement and foreclosure) than in the statuses not involving commitment (identity diffusion and moratorium); (2) an increase in the salience of identity domains could be attributed to an increase in the commitment process; (3) transitions into …

Patterns of adult roles, their antecedents and psychosocial wellbeing correlates among Finns born in 1959

The study aimed to identify patterns of adult role combinations across the transitional domains of housing, educational attainment, work, partnership, and parenthood at age 27, and to investigate their antecedents and concurrent psychosocial well-being correlates. Data were derived for 354 Finns (born in 1959) from the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. Three latent classes were identified: Work-orientation with delayed parenthood ( WO ; 46%; completed adult transitions of independent living, education, work, and partnership), Traditional work and family (35%; completed all five adult transitions), and Academic track with no children ( AT ; 19%; completed in…

Longitudinal study on reciprocity between personality traits and parenting stress

Reciprocal associations between the Big Five personality traits and parenting stress—including both parents’ feelings of their distress and perception of their incompetence as parents—were studied with 248 participants (49% of which were males). Longitudinal data, collected at ages 33/36, 42 and 50 years, were used. Cross-lagged path analysis revealed that in case of both mothers and fathers, neuroticism at age 33 predicted high parenting stress, and extraversion at age 33 predicted low parenting stress at age 42. Also, parenting stress at age 36 predicted high neuroticism and low extraversion at age 42. From age 42 to 50, only high parenting stress contributed to low neuroticism. Thus, mo…

Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development: Insights about Aggression after Five Decades

Early adolescent aggression predicts antisocial personality disorder in young adults : a population-based study

Modestly prevalent in the general population (~ 4%), but highly prevalent in prison populations (> 40%), the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) involves aggression as one of several possible criteria. Using multiple informants, we aimed to determine if general aggression, as well as direct and indirect subtypes, assessed in early adolescence (ages 12, 14) predict young adulthood ASPD in a population-based sample. Using data from a Finnish population-based longitudinal twin cohort study with psychiatric interviews available at age 22 (N = 1347), we obtained DSM-IV-based ASPD diagnoses. Aggression measures from ages 12 (parental and teacher ratings) and 14 (teacher, self, and…

Aggression in television programs in Finland

A detailed coding system was constructed to study the frequency and salience of aggression in TV programs broadcast on Finnish television. Salience of aggression was measured by the brutality index which consisted of ratings concerning the 1) program context, 2) seriousness, 3) justification, and 4) dramatization of aggressive acts. When compared to previous studies of TV-violence, the rate of aggression in Finnish TV was moderate with 3.5 aggressive acts per program hour. Only 14% of aggressive acts portrayed brutal aggression, which was mostly seen in fictional films and serials. A clear 9 pm watershed was not seen in Finland, since aggressive acts were distributed quite evenly during the…

Parental Socialization and Adolescents' Alcohol Use Behaviors: Predictive Disparities in Parents' Versus Adolescents' Perceptions of the Parenting Environment

Among adolescents, many parenting practices have been associated with the initiation and development of drinking behaviors. However, recent studies suggest discrepancies in parents' and adolescents' perceptions of parenting and their links with adolescent use. In this study, we derive two independent sets of underlying parenting profiles (based on parent and adolescent reported behaviors at age 11–12 years), which were then examined in relation to adolescents' drinking behaviors at ages 14 and 17½. Results indicated that the two sets of profiles accounted for little shared variance, with those based on adolescents' reports being stronger predictors of adolescent drinking. Moreover, comparis…

Higher aggression is related to poorer academic performance in compulsory education

Background To conduct a comprehensive assessment of the association between aggression and academic performance in compulsory education. Method We studied aggression and academic performance in over 27,000 individuals from four European twin cohorts participating in the ACTION consortium (Aggression in Children: Unraveling gene‐environment interplay to inform Treatment and InterventiON strategies). Individual level data on aggression at ages 7–16 were assessed by three instruments (Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment, Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) including parental, teacher and self‐reports. Academic performance was measu…

Is social capital a mediator between self-control and psychological and social functioning across 34 years

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of social capital assessed in early adulthood in linking self-control in childhood with psychological and social functioning in middle age. Data collected at ages 8, 27, and 42 years were based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (159 females, 177 males). Self-control was assessed at age 8 using teacher ratings and peer nominations. Social capital at age 27 was operationalized in terms of the breadth of the individuals’ social network and the depth of their close relationships. Psychological functioning at age 42 was indicated by, for instance, psychological well-being, and social functioning was indica…

Genetic and Environmental Influences on BMI From Late Childhood to Adolescence are Modified by Parental Education

To investigate how parental education modifies genetic and environmental influences on variation in BMI during adolescence, self-reported BMI at 11-12, 14, and 17 years of age was collected from a population sample of 2,432 complete Finnish twin pairs born in 1983-1987. Based on parental report, twins were divided to those with high (both parents high school graduates), mixed level (one parent a graduate, the other not), and limited (neither parent a graduate) parental education. Genetic and environmental influences on variation in BMI in different education classes were modeled using twin analysis. Heritability of BMI among 11-12-year-olds with high parental education was 85-87% whereas it…

Early-onset depressive disorders predict the use of addictive substances in adolescence: a prospective study of adolescent Finnish twins

Aims  To explore the developmental relationships between early-onset depressive disorders and later use of addictive substances. Design, setting and participants  A sample of 1545 adolescent twins was drawn from a prospective, longitudinal study of Finnish adolescent twins with baseline assessments at age 14 years and follow-up at age 17.5 years. Measurements  At baseline, DSM-IV diagnoses were assessed with a professionally administered adolescent version of Semi-Structured Assessment for Genetics of Alcoholism (C-SSAGA-A). At follow-up, substance use outcomes were assessed via self-reported questionnaire. Findings  Early-onset depressive disorders predicted daily smoking [odds ratio (OR) …

Talo lapsiperheelle

Minor depression in adolescence: phenomenology and clinical correlates.

Abstract Background Depressions that fail to meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) may be underdiagnosed and undertreated in adolescent population. Traditionally, they are not considered as serious conditions and the phenomenological nature and clinical correlates of these disorders are largely unknown. In the present study, we used a large, representative and age-standardized sample of adolescents to examine the phenomenology and clinical correlates of minor depression, a poorly understood condition included in the category of Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fourth Edition–Text Revised (DSM-IV-T…

Mental health and hostility as predictors of temporary employment: Evidence from two prospective studies

We used two studies to examine whether mental health and hostility predicted temporary employment. Study 1 involved a cohort of 970 Finnish hospital employees (102 men, 868 women) who had temporary job contracts at baseline. After adjustment for demographics, organisational tenure and part-time work status, doctor-diagnosed psychiatric disorder predicted continuing in temporary employment instead of receiving a permanent job by the end of the 2-year follow-up. A higher level of hostility was also associated with temporary employment, but only among employees in low socioeconomic positions. In Study 2, anxiety and aggressive behaviour were measured in a cohort of 226 Finnish school children …

Genetics of Perceived Family Interaction From 12 to 17 Years of Age

We analyzed how the effects of genetic and environmental factors on the perceptions of family interaction change from early to late adolescence. The data were collected by postal surveys on Finnish twins (N = 4808) at 12, 14 and 17 years of age and analyzed using genetic twin modeling. Additive genetic factors explained a modest share of the variation in perceived relational support (a2 = 0.30 in boys and 0.18 in girls) and relational tensions (a2 = 0.13 and 0.14, respectively) at 12 years of age, with the proportions becoming larger through 17 years of age (a2 = 0.53 in boys and 0.49 in girls for relational support; a2 = 0.35 in boys and 0.33 in girls for relational tensions). Simultaneous…

Incorporating Functional Genomic Information to Enhance Polygenic Signal and Identify Variants Involved in Gene-by-Environment Interaction for Young Adult Alcohol Problems

BACKGROUND: Characterizing aggregate genetic risk for alcohol misuse and identifying variants involved in gene-by-environment (G × E) interaction effects has so far been a major challenge. We hypothesized that functional genomic information could be used to enhance detection of polygenic signal underlying alcohol misuse and to prioritize identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) most likely to exhibit G × E effects.METHODS: We examined these questions in the young adult FinnTwin12 sample (n = 1,170). We used genomewide association estimates from an independent sample to derive 2 types of polygenic scores for alcohol problems in FinnTwin12. Genomewide polygenic scores included…

Sex differences in genetic and environmental effects on aggression

The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic and environmental factors influencing teacher and parental rated aggression in boys and girls, asking whether the magnitude of these effects is similar across rater and sex. The study is part of an ongoing nationwide twin-family study of behavioral development and health habits carried out in Finland. The sample consisted of 1651 twin pairs (264 monozygotic male, 300 monozygotic female, 292 dizygotic male, 278 dizygotic female, and 517 dizygotic opposite-sex twin pairs), representing subsets of five 11- to 12-year-old twin cohorts (b. 1983-1987). The data were collected using the teacher and parental rating forms of the Multidimens…

Television violence: A development of a coding scheme

Traditional analyses have treated TV violence as a homogenous entity disregarding the nature and context of the violent acts. A new coding scheme was designed to examine the amount of violence portrayed on TV; the degree to which it is obtrusive; and the messages it conveys. The final, 37 item coding scheme is sensitive to features of televised messages whether in fiction, or in non‐fiction. It included contextual themes concerning intensity (seriousness, realism, way of dramatization), and attractiveness (justification, glamorization, efficacy) of TV violence. The coding scheme was applied to an analysis of a program sample which consisted of all genres (N = 259) presented on Finnish netwo…

Timing of parenthood in relation to other life transitions and adult social functioning

The timing of having one's first child, in relation to the timing of other transitions into adulthood and to social functioning, was investigated based on the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, conducted from age 8 (173 females and 196 males) to 42. Results showed that in women, relatively early (&lt; 25 years) motherhood was associated with the early timing of all studied transitions (move from parental home, intimate relationship, education, full-time job); in men, early fatherhood was associated only with the early start of an intimate relationship. In women, but not in men, early parenthood was linked to a lower level of education, lower occupat…

Positive human development: A spontaneous or guided process? Policy lessons from 45 years of longitudinal research in Finland

The Big Five Personality Dimensions, Work-Family Conflict, and Psychological Distress

Abstract. The Big Five personality dimensions were examined as possible risk, resource, vulnerability, or protective factors in the link between work-family conflict and psychological distress. Data were derived for 75 men and 80 women from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS), in which the NEO Personality Inventory was completed at age 33, and work-family conflict and psychological distress were assessed at age 36. Neuroticism was positively linked to work-to-family conflict (WFC), family-to-work (FWC) conflict, and psychological distress in both genders. Neuroticism was also a moderator strengthening the link between WFC and psychological distress…

Early maturation and substance use across adolescence and young adulthood: A longitudinal study of Finnish twins.

AbstractEarly maturation, indexed by pubertal development (PD), has been associated with earlier initiation and greater frequency of adolescent substance use, but this relationship may be biased by confounding factors and effects that change across development. Using a population-based Finnish twin sample (N = 3,632 individuals), we conducted twin modeling and multilevel structural equation modeling of the relationship between PD and substance use at ages 12–22. Shared environmental factors contributed to early PD and heavier substance use for females. Biological father absence was associated with early PD for boys but not girls, and did not account for the relationship between PD and subst…

Proactive and reactive aggression in early adolescence as precursors to anti- and prosocial behavior in young adults

Three groups of adolescents who were 14 years old in 1974 were formed on the basis of peer nominations and teacher ratings in an ongoing longitudinal study: 1) reactively aggressive (REA) individuals who displayed reactive, that is, self-defensive aggression but not proactive aggression (43 boys, 35 girls); 2) proactively aggressive (PROA) individuals who attacked another person without a reason (56 boys, 35 girls); and 3) nonaggressive (NONA) individuals who were low in proactive and reactive aggression (48 boys, 45 girls). The groups were compared at ages 8, 14, and 27 in variables representing the constructs of a two-dimensional model of emotional and behavioral regulation. The REA Ss we…

Changing Environmental Influences on Substance Use Across Development

AbstractIn contrast to many phenotypes that have been studied using twin designs, substance use shows considerable evidence of environmental influence. Accordingly, specifying the relevant environments and understanding the nature of their effects is an important research priority. Twin studies also have demonstrated that the importance of genetic and environmental influences varies across development for a variety of behavioral outcomes, including substance use. Here, we report analyses exploring moderating effects associated with parenting and peer characteristics on adolescent smoking and drinking, measured at ages 14 and 17. We find significant evidence of moderating effects associated …

Introduction: the unusualness and contribution of life span longitudinal studies of aggressive and criminal behavior

Associations of temperament and personality traits with frequency of physical activity in adulthood

Temperament and physical activity (PA) have been examined in children and adolescents, but little is known about these associations in adulthood. Personality traits, however, are known to contribute to PA in adults. This study, which examined both temperament and personality characteristics at age 42 in relation to frequency of PA at age 50 (JYLS, n = 214-261), also found associations with temperament traits. Positive associations were found between Orienting sensitivity and overall PA and between Extraversion and vigorous PA among women and between low Negative affectivity and overall and vigorous PA among men. Furthermore, Orienting sensitivity and Agreeableness were associated with vigor…

Chernobyl exposure as stressor during pregnancy and hormone levels in adolescent offspring

Background: Animal research suggests a programming effect of prenatal stress in the fetal period, resulting in disruptions in behavioural and neuromotor development. Physiological changes that mediate these effects include alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and in testosterone levels. This human study focuses on changes related to these physiological systems after prenatal stress exposure. Methods: We examined the potential effect of prenatal stress associated with the Chernobyl disaster in an ongoing genetic epidemiological study in Finland. One birth cohort of twins (n = 121 twin pairs) was exposed in utero to maternal stress, and their saliva cortisol and testosterone…

Prospective relationships of ADHD symptoms with developing substance use in a population-derived sample

BackgroundClinically ascertained reports suggest that boys and girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may differ from each other in their vulnerability to substance use problems.MethodA total of 1545 Finnish adolescents were assessed for DSM-IV-based ADHD symptoms by their parents and classroom teachers using standardized rating scales at age 11–12 years. At age 14, substance use disorders and psychiatric co-morbidity were assessed with the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism, providing DSM-III-R/DSM-IV diagnoses for Axis I disorders. At age 17.5, substance use was assessed by multi-item questionnaire.ResultsAlthough baseline ADHD symptoms were less…

Widespread pain among 11-year-old Finnish twin pairs

Objective To examine the prevalence of widespread musculoskeletal pain (WSP) symptoms in 11-year-old Finnish twins and to determine the relative role of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of WSP. Methods Data on current pain items were collected from 1995 to 1998 from a national sample of Finnish families with 11-year-old twins born between 1984 and 1987. The presence of WSP was determined using a validated questionnaire method. Pairwise similarity was computed for 583 monozygotic (MZ) pairs, 588 same-sex dizygotic (DZ) pairs, and 618 opposite-sex DZ twin pairs. Variance components for genetic and environmental factors were estimated using biometric structural equation modeli…

Low self-control as a precursor to crime and accidents in a Finnish longitudinal study

Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Relationship Between Aggression and Hyperactivity-impulsivity as Rated by Teachers and Parents

This study examined genetic and environmental contributions to the covariance between aggression and hyperactivity-impulsivity as rated by twins' teachers and parents. Sex-differences in these genetic and environmental contributions and rater bias/sibling interaction effects were of interest as well. Part of an ongoing nation-wide twin-family study of behavioral development and health habits, the sample consisted of 1636 Finnish twin pairs ascertained from five consecutive and complete twin birth cohorts. Data were collected at ages 11-12, using teacher and parental rating forms of the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory. Bivariate analyses were performed using structural equation mo…

A new model for the relations between longitudinal personality profiles and psychological functioning through middle age

Personality traits and psychological functioning were assessed three times between the ages from 33 to 50 years (average N = 250) in the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. Five longitudinal personality profiles were extracted: Resilient, Overcontrolled, Undercontrolled, Reserved, and Ordinary. The Resilients (neuroticism low, other traits high) were higher in optimism and personal control over development than the Overcontrolleds (neuroticism high, other traits low) at all ages, whereas the Overcontrolleds were higher in anxiety and depressive symptoms. Other profiles were between them in these characteristics. The Undercontrolleds (high openness and…

Parental relationship and adolescents’ conceptions of their interaction with significant others

Three problems were investigated with a sample of 329 Estonian and 504 Finnish adolescents (aged 14 to 18 years) and their parents. In Estonia, the responses of parents were received from 85% of the families, and in Finland from 55%. The main findings for each problem were as follows: (1) The adolescent’s, especially girl’s, conceptions of the atmosphere of the parent-child interaction and satisfaction with significant others were more strongly related to the adolescent’s perceptions of a harmonious relationship between the parents than to the parent’s satisfaction with the relationship with the spouse. (2) From the point of view of the adolescent’s conception of the atmosphere of the paren…

Children's help seeking and impulsivity

Abstract The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between students' (100 children aged 8 to 12) help-seeking behavior and impulsivity. Help-seeking behavior was evaluated using a naturalistic experimental paradigm in which children were placed in a problem-solving situation and had the opportunity to seek help from the experimenter, if needed. Impulsivity was analyzed using the Hyperactivity–Impulsivity Scale from the Teacher Rating Form of the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory (TR-MPNI), Circle Tracing Task (CTT), Matching Familiar Figures (MFF), and Impulsiveness and Venturesomeness scales from the Eysenck Junior I 6 questionnaire. Structural equation modeling…

Trajectories Based on Postcomprehensive and Higher Education: Their Correlates and Antecedents

The aim of this study was to investigate different trajectories of education, based on annual attendance in postcomprehensive and higher education between ages 15 and 42, and their correlates and antecedents. A special focus was on education that occurred after spending several years in the labor market (i.e., off-time education). Analyses were based on the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development in which the same participants have been followed from age 8 to 42. Four trajectories were obtained: no or early, off-time, on-time, and continuing education. Through adulthood, career stability, and occupational status were lower among off-time and no or early ed…

Allostatic Load of Men and Women in Early Middle Age

Abstract. The present longitudinal study investigated three aspects of allostatic load, a long-term negative consequence of physical responses to stress: (1) sex differences in allostatic load in early middle age, (2) associations between career stability history and allostatic load, and (3) relationships between allostatic load and health problems. Participants consisted of 62 men and 55 women from the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, Finland. Allostatic load was the sum of eight parameters (dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, 12-h urinary norepinephrine, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, glycosylated hemoglobin, systolic and diastolic blood p…

Parenting Mechanisms in Links Between Parents’ and Adolescents’ Alcohol Use Behaviors

Background: Adolescence has been identified as a critical period with regard to the initiation and early escalation of alcohol use. Moreover, research on familial risk and protective processes provides independent support for multiple domains of parental influence on adolescent drinking; including parents' own drinking behaviors, as well as the practices they employ to socialize their children. Despite this prevalence of findings, whether and how these distinct associations are related to one another is still not entirely clear. Methods: The present study used data from 4,731 adolescents and their parents to test the nature of associations between (a) parents' frequencies of alcohol use and…

Externalizing Behaviors and Cigarette Smoking as Predictors for Use of Illicit Drugs: A Longitudinal Study Among Finnish Adolescent Twins

We examined whether externalizing problem behaviors (hyperactivity–impulsivity, aggressiveness, and inattention) predict illicit drug use independently, or whether their associations with drug use are mediated through cigarette smoking. We used a prospective longitudinal design within theFinnTwin12-17study among Finnish adolescents with baseline at age 12 and follow-up surveys at ages 14 and 17. Path models were conducted withMplusand included 1992 boys and 2123 girls. The outcome was self-reported ever use of cannabis or other illicit drugs at age 17. The predictors were: externalizing behaviors (hyperactivity–impulsivity, aggressiveness, and inattention) assessed by teachers and parents (…

Motor Development and Physical Activity: A Longitudinal Discordant Twin-Pair Study.

ntroduction : Previous longitudinal research suggests that motor proficiency in early life predicts physical activity in adulthood. Familial effects including genetic and environmental factors could explain the association, but no long-term follow-up studies have taken into account potential confounding by genetic and social family background. The present twin study investigated whether childhood motor skill development is associated with leisure-time physical activity levels in adulthood independent of family background. Methods : Altogether, 1550 twin pairs from the FinnTwin12 study and 1752 twin pairs from the FinnTwin16 study were included in the analysis. Childhood motor development wa…

Country, Sex, and Parent Occupational Status: Moderators of the Continuity of Aggression from Childhood to Adulthood

Using data from two American and one Finnish long-term longitudinal studies, we examined continuity of general aggression from age 8 to physical aggression in early adulthood (age 21–30) and whether continuity of aggression differed by country, sex, and parent occupational status. In all samples, childhood aggression was assessed via peer nominations and early adulthood aggression via self-reports. Multi-group structural equation models revealed significant continuity in aggression in the American samples but not in the Finnish sample. These relations did not differ by sex but did differ by parent occupational status: whereas there was no significant continuity among American children from …

Are computer and cell phone use associated with body mass index and overweight? A population study among twin adolescents

Abstract Background Overweight in children and adolescents has reached dimensions of a global epidemic during recent years. Simultaneously, information and communication technology use has rapidly increased. Methods A population-based sample of Finnish twins born in 1983–1987 (N = 4098) was assessed by self-report questionnaires at 17 y during 2000–2005. The association of overweight (defined by Cole's BMI-for-age cut-offs) with computer and cell phone use and ownership was analyzed by logistic regression and their association with BMI by linear regression models. The effect of twinship was taken into account by correcting for clustered sampling of families. All models were adjusted for gen…

Persistent offenders and adolescence-limited offenders: Differences in life-courses.

Background and Aims As our previous study indicated, almost half of juvenile delinquents continued offending in adulthood, while the rest ceased to do so. We compared these groups with each other and with non‐offenders in the life‐course use of alcohol, identity development and life situation. Methods Based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, four groups were formed at age 42 for men and women: persistent, adolescence‐limited and adult‐onset offenders and non‐offenders. Longitudinal data (N = 369; 53% males) have been collected at ages 8, 14, 20, 27, 36, 42 and 50. Results Persistent offending, but not adolescence‐limited offending, was associated with…

Attitudes concerning nuclear war in finland and in the united states

Four hundred seventy residents of Ridgewood, New Jersey, and 493 residents of Jyvaskyla, Finland, were randomly selected and interviewed about their attitudes concerning nuclear war. In both areas, a high proportion of the samples believed that some kind of nuclear incident is likely in the next decade. The vast majority stated that a nuclear war could not be won and that they expected to die in the event of war. About three fourths in both communities seldom discuss nuclear issues with anyone including their own children, and only one fourth of the U.S sample and about one half of the Finnish sample have ever done anything personally to oppose the arms race. About one half of the Americans…

Changing Economic Conditions and Identity Formation in Adulthood

Identity formation in political and occupational domains was examined from young to middle adulthood based on an ongoing longitudinal study. In addition to the participants’ identity status (diffused, moratorium, foreclosed, achieved), we assessed their perceived importance of politics, future orientation, and career stability four times in adulthood, at ages 27, 36, 42, and 50. The number of participants varied between analyses, from 168 to 291. Changes in the economic situation in Finland from 1986 to 2009 provided a context for the study. Data collections at ages 36 (in 1995) and 50 (in 2009) took place during economic recessions, and at age 42 (in 2001) during an economic boom. The res…

A Big Five personality inventory in two non‐Indo‐European languages

In this study we report on two successful replications of a five‐factor personality inventory in two non‐Indo‐European languages, Estonian and Finnish, which both belong to the group of Uralic languages. Costa and McCrae's (1985) NEO Personality Inventory was adapted to these two languages. By all relevant psychometric parameters neither developed construct differs from the original construct: the reliabilities of only 11 per cent for the Estonian and 36 per cent for the Finnish subscale were lower than those of the respective NEO‐PI scales. The factor structure of both Estonian and Finnish inventories was very close to the five‐factor structure of the NEO‐PI, accounting for 71.7 per cent …

A developmental approach to alcohol drinking behaviour in adulthood: a follow-up study from age 8 to age 42

AIMS: To study the links of family background, child and adolescent social behaviour, and (mal)adaptation with heavy drinking by age 20 and with the frequency of drinking, binge drinking, Cut-down, Annoyed, Guilt, Eye-opener (CAGE) questionnaire scores and problems due to drinking at ages 27 and 42 years. DESIGN: In the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, data have been collected by interviews, inventories and questionnaires. Behavioural data were gathered at ages 8 and 14; data on alcohol consumption were gathered at ages 14, 20, 27, 36 and 42. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 184 males and 163 females; 94% of the original sample of the 8-year-olds. FINDINGS…

Genetic and environmental factors in health-related behaviors: Studies on Finnish twins and twin families

Family, twin and adoption studies have provided evidence for familial and genetic influences on individual differences in disease risk and in human behavior. Attempts to identify individual genes accounting for these differences have not been outstandingly successful to date, and at best, known genes account for only a fraction of the familiality of most traits or diseases. More detailed knowledge of the dynamics of gene action and of specific environmental conditions are needed. Twin and twin-family studies with multiple measurements of risk factors and morbidity over time can permit a much more detailed assessment of the developmental dynamics of disease risk and the unfolding of behavior…

Adult life‐styles and their precursors in the social behaviour of children and adolescents

165 males and 155 females (87 per cent of the sample, N = 369, first studied at age 8) were retrieved after 18 years, at the age of 26, in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Social Development. A mailed questionnaire, personality inventories, and criminal records were used in the analysis of adult life‐styles. Continuity in social behaviour from the age of 8 to 20 was studied earlier (Pulkkinen, 1982) within a two‐dimensional model of impulse control defined by Social Activity vs. Passivity and Strength vs. Weakness of Self‐control. The present results showed that developmental trajectories for weak and strong self‐control obtained at the earlier stages were continued in young adulthood. …

Home atmosphere and adolescent future orientation

Adolescent future orientation was studied from the point of view of orienting expectations about the future, consisting of three aspects: cognitive (clarity of plans for the use of future time), affective (optimistic vs pessimistic attitudes toward the future), and motivational (realistic vs unrealistic wishes for the future). The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Social Development, the original sample for which consisted of 8-year-old subjects. Follow-up studies were made using a semistructured interview covering several aspects of home atmosphere (child-rearing and external home conditions) and youthful life orientation at ages 14 and 20 with 115 subjects. Results obt…

Role of individual, peer and family factors in the use of cannabis and other illicit drugs: A longitudinal analysis among Finnish adolescent twins

Background: Although use of illicit drugs shows varying degree of heritability, the influence of shared and unique environmental factors predominate among adolescents. We explored factors predicting use of cannabis and other illicit drugs among Finnish adolescent twins. Methods: We used longitudinal data from the FinnTwin 12-17 study with baseline at age 11-12 and follow-up at ages 14 and 171/2, including 4138 individuals. The outcome was self-reported ever use of cannabis or other illicit drugs at age 171/2. The potential predictors were measures reported by the twins, their parents or teachers. As individual factors we tested smoking, alcohol use, behavioral and emotional problems; as pee…

Kohti yhteistä lapsikäsitystä

Lapsikäsitys on sidoksissa maailmankuvaan ja siitä nousevaan ihmiskäsitykseen. Ihmiskäsitys on yksilön tai yhteisön käsitys siitä, mikä on ihmisen olemus, alkuperä ja päämäärä ja mikä asema ihmisellä on suhteessa toisiin ihmisiin ja ympäristöön. Lapsikäsityksessä sanaan lapsi sisältyy myös lapsen ja lapsuuden suhde aikuiseen ja aikuisuuteen. Eri uskonnoilla ja filosofisilla suuntauksilla on erilaisia ihmiskäsityksiä samoin kuin eri tieteen- ja hallinnonaloilla. Tämä julkaisu avaa lasten kanssa työskentelevien ammattilaisten työn taustalla olevia lapsikäsityksiä ja samalla keskustelun yhteisen lapsikäsityksen etsimiseksi. Aihetta on lähestytty tarkastelemalla eri alojen lainsäädännön (varhai…

Leisure activity patterns and their associations with overweight: A prospective study among adolescents

We examined longitudinal associations between individual leisure activities (television viewing, video viewing, computer games, listening to music, board games, musical instrument playing, reading, arts, crafts, socializing, clubs or scouts, sports, outdoor activities) and being overweight using logistic regression and latent class analysis in a cohort of Finnish twins responding to self-report questionnaires at 11–12 (N=5184), 14, and 17 years. We also studied activity patterns (“Active and sociable”, “Active but less sociable”, “Passive but sociable”, “Passive and solitary”) thought to represent different lifestyles. Among boys, activity patterns did not predict becoming overweight, but s…

Personality and Labour Market Income: Evidence from Longitudinal Data

This study contributes to the literature on how personality is rewarded in the labour market by examining the relationship between personality and labour market income. Our results suggest that adulthood extraversion is positively associated with income when education, work experience, and unemployment history, measured prospectively from longitudinal data, are controlled for. In addition, childhood constructiveness indicating active and well-controlled behaviour has a positive association with income in adulthood.

Paths from socioemotional behavior in middle childhood to personality in middle adulthood.

Continuity in individual differences from socioemotional behavior in middle childhood to personality characteristics in middle adulthood was examined on the assumption that they share certain temperament-related elements. Socioemotional characteristics were measured using teacher ratings at ages 8 (N = 369; 53% males) and 14 (95% of the initial sample). Personality was assessed at age 42 (63% of the initial sample; 50% males) using a shortened version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI); the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP); and the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ). Three models were tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed paths (a) from behavioral …

Externalizing Problem Behaviors and Headache: A Follow-up Study of Adolescent Finnish Twins

Objective.To examine the association of teacher- and parent-rated behavior with headache in a prospective follow-up study of adolescent Finnish twins.Methods.Questionnaire data were collected during 1995–2001 from a nationwide sample of Finnish families of 11-year-old twins who were born 1983–1987 (n = 5393) and again at age of 14. Psychological factors were measured by using parents’ and teachers’ ratings of a 37-item multidimensional rating instrument at the ages of 11 and 14.Results.At age 11, headache frequency (5 categories) was associated with total scales of externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors and adaptive behaviors, assessed by parents, but only with externalizing prob…

An aggression machine v. determinants in reactive aggression revisited

The relations between reactive aggression, situational cues, and emotion regulation were examined by means of the Pulkkinen Aggression Machine (PAM) task. In the PAM, provocation and response were systematically varied under two conditions: the impulsive aggression condition and the controlled aggression condition. In the impulsive condition, no information about the attacker was provided, while in the controlled condition the attackers were specified in terms of sex, age, and physical strength. The task was administered to 109 children aged 8 to 13 years. Boys (n = 61) and girls (n = 48), as well as subgroups of Adjusted (n = 67) and Maladjusted (n = 26) children were compared. The results…

Associations between personality traits and psychological well-being across time in middle adulthood

Associations of personality traits with psychological well-being (PWB) were analyzed across ages 33�50 as part of an ongoing Finnish longitudinal study (initial N = 369). Bivariate latent growth curve analyses indicated that a low initial level of neuroticism (.75) and high extraversion (.55) correlated strongly with a high level of PWB. Moreover, a high level of conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness also correlated significantly with PWB. The change factor was significant only for openness: the higher the initial level of PWB, the higher the increase in openness from age 33�50. In comparison with emotional well-being, indicated by general life satisfaction, the associations of the…

Parental monitoring moderates the importance of genetic and environmental influences on adolescent smoking.

Although there is a substantial literature on the role of parenting in adolescent substance use, most parenting effects have been small in magnitude and studied outside the context of genetically informative designs, raising debate and controversy about the influence that parents have on their children (D. C. Rowe, 1994). Using a genetically informative twin-family design, the authors studied the role of parental monitoring on adolescent smoking at age 14. Although monitoring had only small main effects, consistent with the literature, there were dramatic moderation effects associated with parental monitoring: At high levels of parental monitoring, environmental influences were predominant …

Teacher-rated aggression and co-occurring behaviors and problems among schoolchildren: A comparison of four population-based European cohorts

AbstractAggressive behavior in school is an ongoing concern, with the current focus mostly on specific manifestations such as bullying and extreme violence. Children spend a substantial amount of time in school, but their behaviors in the school setting tend to be less well characterized than in the home setting. Since aggression may index multiple behavioral problems, we assessed associations of teacher-rated aggressive behavior with co-occurring externalizing/internalizing problems and social behavior in 39,936 schoolchildren from 4 population-based cohorts from Finland, the Netherlands, and the UK. Mean levels of aggressive behavior differed significantly by gender. Correlations of aggre…

The associations of emotion regulation and dysregulation with the metabolic syndrome factor

Abstract Objective Emotion regulation has been associated with good, and dysregulation with poor subjective health; but it is unclear if emotion regulation is related to metabolic syndrome. Methods Associations between the metabolic syndrome factor (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and glucose), emotion regulation (the strategies of repair and maintenance, self-perceived emotion regulation) and dysregulation (emotional ambivalence); and subjective health (self-rated health and psychosomatic symptoms) were studied using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. The participants (96 women, 85 men) were drawn from the Jy…

Identity Formation in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study from Age 27 to 50.

Longitudinal patterns of identity formation were analyzed in a representative cohort group of Finnish men and women born in 1959 across ages 27, 36, 42, and 50. The data were drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality. Identity status (diffused, moratorium, foreclosed, achieved) from all four ages was available for 172 participants (54% females). Marcia’s Identity Status Interview used in this research included five domains: religious beliefs, political identity, occupational career, intimate relationships, and lifestyle. The findings indicated great variability in identity status across domains at each age level, and the identity trajectories fluctuated from age 27 to 50. T…

Decreased prevalence of left-handedness among females with male co-twins: evidence suggesting prenatal testosterone transfer in humans?

Studies of singletons suggest that right-handed individuals may have higher levels of testosterone than do left-handed individuals. Prenatal testosterone levels are hypothesised to be especially related to handedness formation. In humans, female members from opposite-sex twin pairs may experience elevated level of prenatal exposure to testosterone in their intra-uterine environment shared with a male. We tested for differences in rates of left-handedness/right-handedness in female twins from same-sex and opposite-sex twin pairs. Our sample consisted of 4736 subjects, about 70% of all Finnish twins born in 1983–1987, with information on measured pregnancy and birth related factors. Circulati…

Neljäkymmentä plus : erään ikäluokan selviytymistarina

Childhood Verbal Development and Drinking Behaviors from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Discordant Twin-Pair Analysis

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that better cognitive and verbal abilities in childhood predict earlier experimentation with alcohol and higher levels of drinking in adolescence, whereas poorer ability is related to a higher likelihood of remaining abstinent. Whether individual differences in language development in childhood predict differences in adolescent drinking behaviors has not been studied. METHODS: To address that question, we compared co-twins from twin pairs discordant for their childhood language development and studied associations of parental reports of within-pair differences in age at speaking words, age at learning to read, and expressive language skills during school age with…

"I met this wife of mine and things got onto a better track" turning points in risk development.

In this study, qualitative and quantitative approaches were combined to study the mechanisms involved in turning-point experiences among individuals who had been exposed to several risk factors in childhood and adolescence. The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, in which the lives of the participants (196 boys and 173 girls) have been followed from age 8 to age 36. The data concerning turning points was collected by semi-structured interview when the participants were 36 years old. Participants were classified into six developmental trajectories according to risk factors at ages 8-14 and problems of social functioning at age 36. The res…

Association Between Long-Term Job Strain and Metabolic Syndrome Factor Across Sex and Occupation

The present study investigated whether long-term job strain increases the prevalence of risk for metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, across sex and occupation. The participants (64 men, 62 women) were drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, Finland. Job strain was measured by a combination of high job demands and low job control ( Karasek, 1979 ) at ages 36 and 42. Metabolic syndrome was measured at age 42. The results indicated that both sex and occupational group moderated the association between long-term job strain and the metabolic syndrome factor but in an unexpected way. In women, low long-term job str…

Pathways from childhood socioemotional characteristics and cognitive skills to midlife health behaviours.

Objective: This longitudinal study investigated the pathways from childhood socioemotional characteristics and cognitive skills to health behaviours in midlife. Methods: Participants in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS) were followed from age 8 (n=369) to age 50 (n=271). Outcomes included physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and body mass index (BMI) assessed at ages 36, 42 and 50. Predictors were socioemotional characteristics (behavioural activity, negative emotionality, and well-controlled behaviour) and parents’ occupational status collected at age 8, cognitive skills (school success at age 14 and the highest education at age 27) an…

The Psychopathy Checklist and non-violent offender groups

Cleckley’s concept of psychopathy includes characteristics such as superficial charm, unreliability, and affective poverty. In this study, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and personality questionnaires (MMPI, CPI, EPQ, and SSS) were used to assess 92 non-violent male offenders. The variable-based approach was applied in order to study the structure of the PCL and the relationships between the PCL, the PCL factors and the personality questionnaire scores. The results indicated that the personality scale scores failed to correlate positively with the PCL score, with the exception of the MMPI hypomania score. Two PCL factors emerged: factor 1 related to the core personality characteristics of …

The role of parents' self‐esteem, mastery‐orientation and social background in their parenting styles

In order to examine the extent to which parents' levels of education, financial resources, self-esteem, and their mastery-orientation versus task-avoidance are associated with their parenting styles and parental stress, data from two studies were analyzed. In Study I, parents of 105 6 to 7-year old children were asked to fill in scales measuring their parenting styles and parental stress, mastery-orientation, financial resources, and their level of education. In Study II, 235 parents were asked to fill in the same scales. An identical pattern of results was found in the two studies. Parents' self-esteem and their use of mastery-oriented strategy were found to be associated with authoritativ…

Genetic and environmental influences on non-specific neck pain in early adolescence: A classical twin study

Background Prevalence of neck pain has increased among adolescents. The origins of adult chronic neck pain may lie in late childhood, but for early prevention, more information is needed about its aetiology. We investigated the relative roles of genetic and environmental factors in early adolescent neck pain with a classic twin study. Methods Frequency of neck pain was assessed with a validated pain questionnaire in a population-based sample of nearly 1800 pairs of 11–12-year-old Finnish twins. Twin pair similarity for neck pain was quantified by polychoric correlations, and variance components were estimated with biometric structural equation modelling. Results Prevalence of neck pain repo…

Life success of males on nonoffender, adolescence-limited, persistent, and adult-onset antisocial pathways: follow-up from age 8 to 42

A random sample of 196 males, drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, was divided into four groups of offenders using information from government registers of convictions between ages 21 and 47, from local police registers searched at age 21, from a Self-Report Delinquency Scale administered at age 36, from a Life History Calendar for ages 15-42, and from personal interviews at ages 27, 36, and 42. The groups were: persistent offenders (offences before and after age 21; 29% of the men); adolescence-limited offenders (offences before age 21; 27%); adult-onset offenders (offences after age 21; 16%); and nonoffenders (28%). The profile of the persiste…

THE CHILD IN THE FAMILY

Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change in teacher-rated aggression during early adolescence

Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change in aggression were studied in a sample of 1,041 twin pairs (364 monozygotic; 348 same-sex dizygotic; and 329 opposite-sex dizygotic) as part of an ongoing, population-based Finnish twin-family study. At ages 12 and 14, the twins' aggression was assessed by their classroom teachers, using a rating form of the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory. Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change were studied by fitting a longitudinal bivariate Cholesky decomposition model. Longitudinal model-fitting results indicated that both genetic and environmental factors influenced continuity in aggression during this 2-year peri…

Controlling reactive aggression through cognitive evaluation of proactive aggression cues

The authors investigated how the relationship between the acts of proactive and reactive aggression was moderated by the individual differences in cognitive regulation of emotion. An aggression paradigm, a electrocardiogram recording, a cognitive assessment battery, and a short form IQ test were completed by 109 children, aged 8 to 13 years (Juujarvi, Kaartinen, Laitinen, Vanninen, & Pulkkinen, 2006; Juujarvi, Kooistra, Kaartinen, & Pulkkinen, 2001; Lehto, Juujarvi, Kooistra, & Pulkkinen, 2003). The less the children subdued the intensity of their defence to the attacks in the aggression paradigm, the poorer they performed in the cognitive assessment battery tasks measuring Working memory c…

The inhibition and control of aggression

Are computer and cell phone use associated with body mass index and overweight? A population study among twin adolescents

Background. Overweight in children and adolescents has reached dimensions of a global epidemic during recent years. Simultaneously, information and communication technology use has rapidly increased. Methods. A population-based sample of Finnish twins born in 1983–1987 (N = 4098) was assessed by self-report questionnaires at 17 y during 2000–2005. The association of overweight (defined by Cole's BMI-for-age cut-offs) with computer and cell phone use and ownership was analyzed by logistic regression and their association with BMI by linear regression models. The effect of twinship was taken into account by correcting for clustered sampling of families. All models were adjusted for gender, ph…

A new child-centered approach to the organization of extra-curricular activities in Finnish schools

Extracurricular activities are currently included in Finnish school legislation, but their organization is fragmented. History: Club activities at school led by teachers have been arranged since 1947 on extra pay, but their amount and content have depended on available funding and often on teachers’ willingness to lead club activities. Schools have also had a possibility to use cultural or sport operators. However, system has preferred teacher-led club activities. A dramatic change occurred in the early 1990s when economic recession reduced extra funding for schools and day care. Consequently, club activities after school hours were reduced to less than half, and afternoon care services wit…