Unique associations between adolescent temperament profiles and psychopathology in Latino adolescents

Temperament, the constitutionally based individual patterns in reactivity and regulation, plays a fundamental role in the development of psychopathology. This study aimed to examine the role of temperament profiles in the development of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in a sample of 961 adolescents (12–17 years). Adolescents completed the Chilean adaptation of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ) and measures of psychological symptoms concurrently and 1 year later. Results showed that temperament profile configuration was different for girls and boys, with 4-profile (i.e., regulated, dysregulated, inhibited, and average) and 3-profile (i.e., regulated, inhibited, and average) solutions, respectively. Moreover, temperament profile played a different role on concurrent and follow-up psychopathology in female and male adolescents, over and above age and SES. In comparison with other profiles, the dysregulated profile was associated with higher depressive symptoms and substance use in female adolescents. Both in female and male adolescents, the regulated profile was associated with the lowest levels of internalizing symptoms and substance use, when compared against the average profile, both concurrently and prospectively. Overall, the findings suggest that temperament profile may play a role in the onset of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology expression during adolescence. This research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the development of psychopathology in the adolescent years and broadens the evidence so far, considering a non-WEIRD sample. Efforts needed to address this important issue are discussed.