Five Factor Model of Personality and Structure of Psychopathological Symptoms in Adolescents

Abstract

This study aims to explore the factorial structure of the most prevalent psychopathological symptoms in adolescence, and to explore the associations between the resulting psychopathological factors with both the Five-Factor Model of personality and the General Factor of Personality (GFP). A sample of 835 adolescents (M = 14.35, SD = 1.58; 49% girls) completed personality and psychopathology self-reports. The confirmatory factor analyses showed that a bifactor model of psychopathology, which included a general psychopathological factor (p factor) and specific factors (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and hyperactivity and attention problems), better fitted the data than other competing models. The main associations found in the regression analyses were: neuroticism and introversion with the internalizing factor; low agreeableness with the externalizing factor; low conscientiousness with the hyperactivity and attention problems score; high neuroticism, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness with the p factor. Last, the GFP and p factor were substantially related, with β coefficients between 0.42 and 0.49 (p < .001). This study suggests that a bifactor model adequately depicts the psychopathology structure in adolescence. This structure was supported by differential associations of personality traits with each resulting factor.