Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12

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Journal of Adolescence
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the

transition to adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big
Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems
Valeria Castellani a, *, Concetta Pastorelli a, Nancy Eisenberg b, Maria Gerbino a,
Laura Di Giunta a, Rosalba Ceravolo c, Michela Milioni c
a
Psychology Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
b
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, USA
c
Interuniversity Center for Research on Development of Prosocial and Antisocial Motivations, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

a b s t r a c t

Keywords: The goal of this longitudinal study was to investigate the relation of adolescents’ Big Five
Mother hostile aggressive conflict factor (BFF) personality to the development of different patterns of mother–adolescent
Trajectories hostile, aggressive conflict (MHAC) from late adolescence to young adulthood. Further-
Emerging adulthood
more, we examined the prediction of Antisocial Problems (AP) and Depressive Problems
Big Five
(DP) in emerging adulthood from BFF and MHAC trajectories. 385 adolescents participated
Antisocial problems
Depressive problems in this study (age 15–16 at Time 1 and 21–22 at Time 4). Using latent growth curve
analysis, Low stable (69.1%), Medium Increasing, (23.3%), and High decreasing (7.6%) tra-
jectories were distinguished. Low adolescents’ emotional stability was directly related to
AP and indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of both Medium Increasing and
High Decreasing trajectories. Agreeableness was directly negatively related to DP and
indirectly throughout the mediation of High Decreasing trajectory. Low Conscientiousness
was indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of Medium Increasing trajectory.
385 adolescents participated in this study (age 15–16 at Time 1 and 21–22 at Time 4).
Using latent growth curve analysis, Low stable (69.1%), Medium Increasing, (23.3%), and
High decreasing (7.6%) trajectories were distinguished. Low adolescents’ emotional sta-
bility was directly related to AP and indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of
both Medium Increasing and High Decreasing trajectories. Agreeableness was directly
negatively related to DP and indirectly throughout the mediation of High Decreasing
trajectory. Low Conscientiousness was indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation
of Medium Increasing trajectory.
Ó 2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.

It is well recognized that the transition to adulthood brings an augmentation of uncertainty in different domains of in-
dividuals’ lives (Elder, 1998). Overall, this is a time of developmental milestones (Schulenberg, Sameroff, & Cicchetti, 2004)
and, as suggested by Krueger (1999), it is “an optimal window” for studying the links between personality and negative life
outcomes, such as in psychopathology, as well as processes that may contribute to significant variation in the developmental
course of problematic life pathways.

* Corresponding author. Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.
E-mail addresses: valeria.castellani@uniroma1.it, valeria.castellani@gmail.com (V. Castellani).

0140-1971/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
2 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12

The study of how personality traits influence parent–youth relationships during the life transition to adulthood, and how
these may affect young adult psychological adjustment, has become particularly important in both European and North
American countries (Douglass, 2007; Pew Research Center, 2013), where the number of young adults living with their parents
is rising. For example, in the United States, in 2012, 21.6 million (36%) of the young adults aged between 18 and 31 years old
lived with their parents, up from 18.5 million of their same-aged counterparts in 2007 (Pew Research Center, 2013).
It is evident that processes of realignment in regard to expectations and roles in parent–youth relationships need to be
further negotiated and that failure to adapt to these developmental changes may compromise the quality of family relations,
with the emergence of conflicts and disagreements, and negative youth outcomes (Aquilino, 2006).
In this study, we considered personality traits as vulnerability factors conducive to psychopathology (antisocial and
depressive problems, Tackett, 2006), but also as predisposing factors to problematic interpersonal relations, which in turn
lead to an increase in the development of antisocial and depressive problems (Prinzie et al., 2004). In particular, we have
investigated how adolescents’ Big Five factors (BFF) and different patterns of mother hostile aggressive conflict (MHAC) from
adolescence (age 15–16) to young adulthood (age 19–20) were associated with the development of Antisocial Problems (AP)
and Depressive Problems (DP) during the life transition to the early adult years (age 21–22).

Associations between personality traits and antisocial and depressive problems

Among the personal characteristics conducive to (mal)adjustment outcomes, personality traits have received particular
attention in the last decades. Overall, traits are not considered as fixed behavioural responses, but as reflecting ways of
adapting to the environment that are partially consistent for each individual (Pervin, 1989). The Five Factors model (e.g. John &
Srivastava, 1999; McCrae & John, 1992) is one of the most comprehensive personality taxonomies which encompasses five
general dimensions of personality: extraversion refers to the level of activity, positive affect, energy, and sociability; agree-
ableness concerns the level of empathy, warmth, and trustiness in interpersonal relations; conscientiousness concerns
persistence and organization of goal-directed behaviours; neuroticism (or low emotional stability) concerns chronic levels of
poor emotional adjustment and control; and openness (or intellect) concerns openness to new experiences, values, and
behaviours. The model has been widely recognized as a taxonomy describing the main individual personality differences also
in children and adolescents (Caspi & Shiner, 2006; De Fruyt et al., 2006; Shiner, 1998).
The relations between personality traits and psychopathological problems have been studied in many different ways.
Accordingly, four different models have been identified (e.g. Tackett, 2006) to explain such relations: the vulnerability/pre-
disposition model, the complication or scar model, the pathoplastic/exacerbation model, and the spectrum model. In the
vulnerability/predisposition model the presence of a certain subset of maladaptive personality traits increases the probability
of developing and maintaining a disorder. For example, low Conscientiousness is significantly related to antisocial behaviours
throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (e.g. Lynam et al., 2000; Raskin White, Bates, & Buyske, 2001).
In the complication/scar model, the experience of psychopathology may affect personality traits over time, such as an
existing depressive disorder is assumed to “complicate” or “scar” personality characteristics, for example, neuroticism/
negative emotionality (Schmidt, Lerew, & Joiner, 2000).
In the pathoplastic/exacerbation model personality traits may influence or exacerbate the course of psychopathological
problems and their severity after the onset. For example, high level of inhibition, a facet of Neuroticism, results in less severe
manifestation of behavioural problems in children diagnosed for conduct disorders (e.g. Bienvenu et al., 2004).
Finally, the spectrum model posits personality traits and psychopathological symptoms on a continuum and hypothesizes
the existence of common processes underlying both traits and disorder. For instance, in a longitudinal twin study common
genetic influences have been found to account for the association of Emotionality, Shyness, and Internalizing problems in
early childhood.
As suggested by Tackett (2006), there is no broad consensus about the model that better explains the relation between
personality and psychopathology in adults and children. However, it is likely that different models may account for specific
aspects of the personality and psychopathology links and consequently answer different questions. Our study is theoretically
guided by the vulnerability/predisposition model and investigates how adolescents with different levels of personality traits
(i.e., vulnerability) may influence reactions from others and shape their family relations overtime, conceivably in order to
highlight the processes by which these traits contribute to young adult antisocial and depressive problems. In other words,
we conceived personality traits not only as generic risk factors for later psychopathology, but also as factors contributing to
adolescents’ repeated negative interpersonal experiences, as well as to their individual sensitivity and reactivity to conflictual
interpersonal experience.
As regards the relations between BFF and adjustment, agreeableness and conscientiousness have been consistently
documented as broad personality traits associated with antisocial behaviours (e.g. Miller, Lynam, & Jones, 2008). Individuals
who are less inclined to trust others and be gentle and empathic towards others, and who are less self-disciplined and
tenacious are more frequently involved in antisocial behaviours. In addition, the recent metanalytic study of Jones, Miller, and
Lynam (2011) reported a significant effect size for the relations of low agreeableness, low conscientiousness, and high
neuroticism to antisocial behaviour. It is probable that, beyond the tendency to experience a broad range of negative emo-
tions, the lack of impulse control may account for this association (Jones et al., 2011). The relations between openness and
extraversion and antisocial behaviours have been documented less consistently. Indeed, such traits have been weakly and
negatively associated with aggressive behaviour (e.g., Klimstra, Akse, Hale, Raaijmakers, & Meeus, 2010), but not significantly

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12 3

with antisocial behaviour (Jones et al., 2011). In reality, studies addressing Big Five at low order trait level (facets) have found
significant associations among antisocial behaviour and some facets of extraversion (i.e., high excitement seeking) and
openness (i.e., high openness to new actions, experiences and ideas; low receptivity to one’s own feelings and emotions;
Jones et al., 2011).
With regard to depressive problems and disorders, overall, high neuroticism is the personality trait that has been most
strongly associated with these problems, along with low conscientiousness (Klein, Kotov, & Bufferd, 2011; Klimstra et al.,
2010; Kotov, Gamez, Schmidt, & Watson, 2010). The association with other traits is weaker; in particular, low extraversion
has shown modest and not always consistent association with a higher level of depressive problems (Klein et al., 2011;
Klimstra et al., 2010). Furthermore, low openness has also been found to be only modestly associated with more depres-
sive problems (Kotov et al., 2010). Overall, when different clinical depressive disorders were taken into account, all these
associations between traits and depressive problems were stronger for long-lasting alterations of affective mood (i.e., dys-
thymic disorder), more similar to a trait-like individual differences, than to, to depressive episodes (i.e., major depression;
Klein et al., 2011).

Parent–youths relations and antisocial and depressive problems over the course of development

Many studies in the developmental literature have provided empirical support for changing patterns of family relations
over the course of their development and how they predict children’s and adolescents’ future psychosocial adjustment (e.g.,
Sheeber, Hops, & Davis, 2001). With regard to the normative trend of parent–youth conflict, several studies have documented
a linear increase in conflict from early adolescence until middle adolescence, followed by a decline during the late adoles-
cence (De Goede, Branje, Delsing, & Meeus, 2009; Herrenkohl, Kosterman, Hawkins, & Mason, 2009). However, as suggested
by the review of Laursen, Coy, and Collins (1998), while the frequency of parent–adolescent conflict diminishes over time,
conflicts become more emotionally intense in terms of disagreements during middle and late adolescence.
Most of the studies on the normative development of parent–youth conflict document substantial inter-individual variability
(e.g., Gutman & Eccles, 2007), with some groups exhibiting a pattern that diverges from the average trend. For these reasons,
identifying trajectory groups that follow distinct developmental patterns may better inform not only the understanding of
changes in parent–child relationships, but also the specific associations of conflict with relevant child and family antecedents
and outcomes. To our knowledge, very few studies have examined longitudinal patterns of parent–child relationships and, with
the exception of one study (Trentacosta et al., 2011) focused on family conflict (and warmth) from childhood to adolescence, the
relevant studies have examined parenting behaviours (mild or harsh physical discipline) during childhood or adolescence. For
example, Trentacosta et al. (2011) reported four distinct trajectories of mother–son conflict from the age of 5–15: a high stable
group (9.4% of sample), a high decreasing group (29.4%), a moderate slightly decreasing group (about 47%), and a low slightly
decreasing group (14%). Most of the trajectory groups showed a significant decline during the transition to adolescence, with the
exception of the high stable group that evidenced a pattern of chronic conflictual relations between parents and their children.
In addition, the highest level of conflict, as evidenced by the high stable and the high decreasing trajectory groups, was asso-
ciated with a higher level of antisocial behaviour at 15 years, indicating that the experience of high levels of conflict with parents,
limited in time (only childhood) but permeated by hostility, might have a negative long-lasting effect on adolescent life.
Furthermore, Lansford et al. (2009) identified three similar trajectory groups for both mild and harsh discipline during
adolescence (age of youths: 10–15 years): a high stable group, a moderate quadratic group (faster decrease starting from age 12),
and a low stable group, with the most problematic trajectory groups (high stable and moderate quadratic) associated with a
higher level of antisocial behaviour and lower quality mother–adolescent relationships. Overall, these previous studies have
highlighted the relevance of trajectory analyses in identifying more compromised developmental patterns in mother–child/
youth interactions, which may influence later psychosocial adjustment.
Many other longitudinal studies relating to family conflict and adolescent and young adult adjustment have found that
severe and prolonged hostile and conflictual relations at home are associated with worse psychosocial functioning during late
adolescence and young adulthood (Herrenkohl & Herrenkohl, 2007; Hoeve et al., 2007; Hofer et al. 2013; Moylan et al., 2010;
Reinherz, Paradis, Giaconia, Stashwick, & Fitzmaurice, 2003). Indeed, a vast body of research has shown that any form of
violent relationship that starts during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of being involved in delinquent be-
haviours during late adolescence (Smith, Thornberry, & Ireland, 2005), and young adult age (e.g., Hoeve et al., 2007), as well as
with depressive problems in the transition to adulthood (Thornberry, Ireland, & Smith, 2001).
Similarly, some studies have documented the long-term effects of conflictual family interactions on the development of
poor mental health such as depression. For example, Reinherz et al. (2003) examined the emerging adulthood years (from 18
to 26 years) with the aim of identifying childhood and adolescent predictors (up to the age of 15) of major depression. They
found that family violence, family composition, internalizing problems and low family cohesion at age 15 significantly
predicted major depression in later years.

The mediating role of mother–youth relations between Big Five traits and outcomes

Although the links between personality traits and negative outcomes are well-established, as well as between problematic
family interactions and negative developmental outcomes, fewer studies have investigated the processes through which
personality characteristics might put adolescents at risk for different forms of adjustment problems during young adulthood.

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
4 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12

In conceiving the current study, we reasoned that adolescents’ personality traits may influence antisocial and depressive
problems through negative family relationships (see Caspi & Shiner, 2006).
We focused on mother hostile aggressive conflict as mediator of the associations between adolescent traits and young
adult antisocial and depressive problems. Despite the scarce empirical investigation, there are theoretical reasons to hy-
pothesize that different developmental pathways of mother–child hostile conflict may account for the association between
personality traits and depressive and antisocial problems. Following Caspi and Shiner (2006), we may assume that traits may
shape the individual’s reactions to the behaviour of significant others (e.g., individuals low in agreeableness may be less
inclined to cooperate and constructively manage interpersonal conflicts; Jensen-Campbell & Graziano, 2001). Traits may also
trigger the response of significant others that, in turn, affect the quality of relationship (e.g. people high in neuroticism and
low in agreeableness may be more likely to express criticism, be defensive, and elicit less benevolent and more irritable
reactions from others) (Caspi & Shiner, 2006).
Consistent with the idea that quality of family interactions may mediate the relations of personality traits to malad-
justment, empirical evidence has shown that high agreeableness and high conscientiousness are related to positive and
supportive family relations (Asendorpf & van Aken, 2003; Asendorpf & Wilper, 1998) and less controlling parenting (O’Connor
& Dvorak, 2001). Recently, de Haan, Dekovic, and Prinzie (2012), in a sample of youths ranging from the age of 12–15, found
that children’s low agreeableness and high extraversion predicted both negative overreacting parental discipline (i.e., the
tendency to respond in an angry and irritable way to child problem behaviour) and parental warmth and involvement two
years later, while children’s low emotional stability predicted only lower levels of parental warmth.
Furthermore, the mediating effect of the parent–child relationship in the associations between personality traits and
negative outcomes has been supported by some studies. For example, Prinzie et al. (2004), in a cross-sectional study of
younger age groups (from 5 to 11 years old), found that children’s benevolence (agreeableness) and emotional stability were
negatively associated with externalizing behaviours, both directly and mediated by overreactive parenting. Similarly, but in
an older age group (adolescents), Manders, Scholte, Janssens, and De Bruyn (2006) reported that the quality of mother/fa-
ther–adolescent relationships (considering together the dimensions of hostility, warmth, and communication) significantly
mediated the associations of agreeableness, emotional stability, and conscientiousness with externalizing problem behaviour.
In contrast, no mediating effect was evident for internalizing problems.
To our knowledge only one longitudinal study (Prinzie, van der Sluis, de Haan, & Dekovi c, 2010) assessed, in a sample of
children (9–13 years old at Time 1), the mediating role of maternal and paternal overreactive parenting in the relation be-
tween child personality traits and externalizing behaviour three years later (from 12 to 16 years old at Time 2). Benevolence
(agreeableness) and extraversion were related negatively to externalizing problem behaviour three years later and over-
reactive parenting (mother and father) partially mediated the relation between benevolence and externalizing problems. In
contrast, only maternal overreactive parenting partially mediated the negative relation between emotional stability and
externalizing behaviour.
We focused specifically on mother hostile aggressive conflict during the transition to adulthood, because in this period the
maintenance of good family relationships represents a critical enterprise for those youths who have to establish their au-
tonomy and more power balanced relations with their parents while they are still living at home (Fuligni, 2012; Scabini,
2000). Therefore, high or increasing level of hostile mother–child conflict in the transition to adulthood may reflect ado-
lescents’ serious lack of success in maintaining good family relations that play a critical role in the development of depressive
symptoms and antisocial behaviour.

The present study

In the present study, we sought to expand prior research on the mediating role of the quality of mother–adolescent re-
lations in the association between adolescent personality traits and young adult outcomes using a longitudinal design. In
addition, we examined different developmental trends of mother and adolescent aggressive and hostile conflict (MHAC) from
age 15–16 to age 19–20; to our knowledge, there are no studies addressing these interpersonal pathways as mediators be-
tween personality traits and the aforementioned outcomes in the transition to adulthood.
On the basis of previous similar studies (Herrenkohl, Hill, Hawkins, Chung, & Nagin, 2006; Lansford et al., 2009) and a
study conducted in Italy (Castellani et al. submitted for publication) in which a normative declining trend of mother–child
hostile conflicts from middle adolescence until young adulthood was found, we expected inter-individual differences in
MHAC trajectories. Specifically, we hypothesized that the majority of individuals would not experience substantial levels of
MHAC during this developmental period; however, we additionally expected that certain groups of adolescents with
chronically high or increasing levels of MHAC could be identified (e.g. Lansford et al., 2009; Trentacosta et al., 2011).
A consistent body of research showed that early personality characteristics shape how children experience and react to
developmental transitions, such as childhood and adolescence. However, less studied is the developmental transition to
adulthood, and in particular how personality traits favour or compromise the quality of mother–youth relations. Although we
cannot exclude the possibility that interpersonal context also influences traits overtime, in this study we focused on mother–
hostile conflict developmental trajectories as interpersonal mechanism connecting adolescent traits to later adjustment
problems.
Consistent with other studies, we hypothesized that specific youth personality traits, such as low agreeableness, emotional
stability, and conscientiousness might contribute to the hostile reactions of their mothers (Denissen, Van Aken, & Dubas, 2009;

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12 5

Klimstra et al., 2010; O’Connor & Dvorak, 2001; Prinzie et al., 2004). Although we reasoned that energy and openness may reveal
their importance in extra-familial contexts (White, Hendrick, & Hendrick, 2004), we introduced them in the model in order to
control for the concurrent relations across all traits and to examine their unique role in developmental pathways and outcomes.
Finally we expected youths with low levels of agreeableness, emotional stability and conscientiousness to be more in-
clined to develop hostile relationships with their mothers over time and, consequently, to show an increase in their antisocial
and depressive problems in emerging adulthood.

Method

Participants

Participants were recruited in Genzano, a residential area near Rome (Italy) and were from families involved in an ongoing
longitudinal project in that community that started in the early 1990s (Caprara, Pastorelli, Regalia, Scabini, & Bandura, 2005).
The composition of the original family and the occupational socioeconomic distribution of our sample matched the na-
tional profile (ISTAT, 2002). The community represented a socioeconomic microcosm of the larger society: 16% were in
professional or managerial ranks, 42% were merchants or employees in various types of businesses, 12% were skilled workers,
22% were unskilled workers, 3% were retired, 2% were temporarily unemployed but with a salary, and 3% were unemployed.
In addition, most participants were from intact families (90.5%) and still living at home with their parents at the last two
assessment points (Time 3: 98.6%; Time 4: 94.9%).
For the present study, due to the availability of measures, we used two of the four cohorts of the Genzano Longitudinal
Study. Cohort effects were not significant for sociodemographic and major study variables. Therefore, the data from the two
cohorts were combined, resulting in 385 adolescents (191 girls; mean age at Time 1 ¼ 15.49 years, SD ¼ .50).
Overall, the study design included 4 data points. The adolescents’ self-report of the Big Five factors was assessed at Time 1
(T1; 1998; youth age: 15–16 years). The adolescents’ self-reported MHAC was measured at T1, Time 2 (T2; 2000; youth age:
17–18 years), and Time 3 (T3; 2002; youth age: 19–20 years).The study outcomes (depressive and antisocial problems) were
assessed at T1 and T4 (T4; 2004; youth age: 21–22 years).

Measures

The measures used in this study are each described in turn. Sex was coded 1 for males and 2 for females.
Mother hostile aggressive conflict (MHAC) was rated (1 ¼ not at all; 2 ¼ not too well; 3 ¼ fairly well; 4 ¼ very well) by youths
using a 6-item version of the Parent–Adolescent Disagreement Scale (Honess et al., 1997). Items include both maternal verbal
(e.g. “she gets really wound up and starts shouting”) and physical aggression (e.g. “she gets really angry and strikes out”).
Adolescents were asked “How well does each of the following statements describe your mother when you and she disagree
about something which is important to both of you?” (as at ages 15–16, 17–18, and 19–20 years ¼ .81, .79, and .82, respectively).
The Big Five factors (BFF) were assessed using the self-report Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara, Barbaranelli,
Borgogni, & Perugini, 1993), which includes 132 items that form five domain scales, with 24 items on each scale. Adoles-
cents indicated the extent to which each item described them (from 1 ¼ very false for me to 5 ¼ very true for me). The BFQ has
been validated cross-culturally (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Bermudez, Maslach, & Ruch, 2000). The scales correlate highly with the
Neuroticism–Extroversion–Openness Inventory (NEO-PI) and similar BFQ scales (Caprara et al., 1993). Alphas were at ages 15–
16: Energy .71; Emotional Stability .84; Agreeableness .74; Openness .73; and, Conscientiousness .79.
Depressive problems (DP) were assessed with adolescents’ ratings of their symptoms of depression on, respectively, the
Affective Problems and the Depressive Problems DSM-oriented scales of the Youth Self-Report at T1 (YSR; Achenbach &
Edelbrock, 1991) and the Adult Self-Report at T4 (ASR; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003). Due to the use different self-report
measures over time, YSR and ASR, only common items of the DSM-oriented scale of DP were included (i.e., 11 out of 14;
the three excluded items were: “Enjoys little”, “Trouble making Decisions”, “Can’t succeed”). Ratings were made on a 3-point
scale (0 ¼ not true; 1 ¼ somewhat or sometimes true; 2 ¼ very true or often true) and we used the summed score of items for all
the scales. Examples of items are: “Cries” and “Talks about suicide” (a at ages 15–16 and at ages 21–22 ¼ .77 and .82).
Antisocial problems (AP) were assessed with adolescents’ ratings of their behavioural problems on, respectively, the
Conduct Problems and the Antisocial Problems DSM-oriented scales of the YSR at T1 (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1991) and the
ASR at T4 (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003). Due to the use of YSR and ASR, not all items of the DSM-oriented scale of AP are
included (i.e., 13 out of 20); the seven excluded items were: “ Blames others”, “ Bad relations with family”, “Irresponsible
behaviour”, “Trouble with the law”, “Fails to pay debts”, “Drives too fast”, “Trouble keeping job”. Ratings were made on a
3-point scale (0 ¼ not true; 1 ¼ somewhat or sometimes true; 2 ¼ very true or often true) and we used the summed score of
items for all the scales. Examples of items are “Breaks rules” and “Steals” (a at ages 15–16 and at ages 21–22 ¼ .78 and .79).

Statistical methods

The number of latent classes of trajectories for MHAC was established by modelling in Mplus Version 5 (Muthén & Muthén,
2007). Missing data were handled by using maximum likelihood parameter estimates with robust standard errors (MLR) and
a chi-square test statistic that are robust to non-normality and non-independence of observations.

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
6 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12

The approach used to examine MHAC trajectories in the present study was latent class growth analysis (LCGA). LCGA
allows for latent classes of growth trajectories to be specified. Between-class variation in the trajectory is allowed (i.e., the
average intercept and slope may differ across classes), but within-class variation (i.e., the intercept variance and slope
variance within each class) is not estimated. We considered several criteria in determining which model best represented the
data including the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), Entropy, Posterior probabilities, Lo Mendell Rubin Likelihood Ratio
Test (LMR LRT), and practical usefulness (Muthen & Muthen, 2000). Models with the lowest BIC and the highest Entropy value
(Hix-Small, Duncan, Duncan, & Okut, 2004) usually best represents the data. The posterior probabilities reflect class
assignment for each subject, conventionally, values close to one indicate good classification quality (Nagin & Tremblay, 1999).
Statistically significant p-value for the LMR LRT test indicates that dropping one class from the model would significantly
worsen model fit, and that the current model fits the data better. Finally, we also considered the practical usefulness (e.g.
number of subjects in each class, usability in analyses) in deciding the model that best represented the data (Muthen &
Muthen, 2000; Nagin, 2005).
Linear models were set up so that the latent intercept factor was indicated by MHAC at T1, T2 and T3 with each factor
loading set at 1.00. The latent linear slope factor was indicated by MHAC at T1, T2, and T3 with factor loadings set at 0.00, 1.00,
and 2.00. In the quadratic model, the setup was the same, but a latent quadratic slope factor was indicated by MHAC at T1, T2,
and T3 with factor loadings set at 0.00, 1.00, and 4.00. For all models, as is typical, manifest MHAC means were fixed at 0.00 for
model identification, and latent intercept, linear slope and quadratic slope means were estimated. LCGA models were esti-
mated considering sex as covariate.
Finally, a path analysis was used to explore the longitudinal mediation hypothesized between BFF and early adulthood DP
and AP, by MHAC trajectories (using the continuously distributed probability of individuals’ membership in each trajectory
group), controlling for sex and for the stability of the outcomes. The mediated effect was indicated by the effect of each BFF
trait on the mediator (a) multiplied by the effect of the mediator on the outcome (b). The distribution of the product co-
efficients (ab) method was used for calculating the 90% asymmetric confidence intervals (CI) for the mediated effects using
the PRODCLIN program (Tofighi & MacKinnon, 2011).

Results

Descriptive analyses

Correlations among the variables prior to determining MHAC latent class trajectories are presented in Table 1.

Trajectory models

Based upon the comparisons of the sample size-adjusted BIC values and other indices, the 3-class linear model was
considered the best LCGA model for MHAC (see Table 2 and Fig. 1). The 4-class linear model fits even better, but the additional
group (which was high and stable) had an estimated size of only 15 people at T1 and 10 people at T2 and T3. Following the
recommendations of Muthen and Muthen (2000) about sample size, and the study of Uher et al. (2010), and because the four
trajectory solution presented one class with a very low proportion of subjects (3.9% of the sample), we considered that the
three trajectory solution provided the most interpretable description of MHAC.”
In the 3-class linear model, we identified the following trajectories: Class 1 – high decreasing (HD), Class 2 – medium
increasing (MI), and Class 3 – low stable (LS). For this model, the classification quality was adequate, as noted by the entropy

Table 1
Pearson correlations, mean scores, and standard deviations.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Mean Standard
deviation
1. Sex – 1.49 .50
51% males
49% females
2. Energy age 15–16 .14** – 3.26 .37
3. Agreeableness age 15–16 .17** .24** – 3.32 .39
4. Conscientiousness age 15–16 .13** .35** .32** – 3.32 .43
5. Emotional Stability age 15–16 .27** .16** .29** .30** – 3.06 .47
6. Openness age 15–16 .11* .40** .40** .44** .17** – 3.32 .38
7. MHAC age 15–16 .02 .09þ .23** .25** .31** .21** – 1.60 .58
8. MHAC age 17–18 .11* .13** .14** .17** .30** .15** .51** – 1.65 .58
9. MHAC age 19–20 .01 .115* .24** .23** .29** .14** .43** .54** – 1.59 .56
10. Depressive Problems age 15–16 .20** .28** .15** .22** .39** .20** .39** .35** .29** – 2.48 2.43
11. Antisocial Problems age 15–16 .22** .09þ .30** .41** .29** .27** .38** .225** .30** .46** – 3.25 2.71
12. Depressive Problems age 21–22 .21** .22** .28** .19** .33** .18** .25** .42** .39** .34** .20** – 2.60 2.24
13. Antisocial Problems age 21–22 .22** .06 .27** .25** .25** .14* .25** .32** .37** .22** .46** .41** – 2.42 2.34

Note: *p < .05; **p < .01, þp ¼ <.10; Sex is coded as follows: 1 ¼ boys, 2 ¼ girls.
MHAC: Mother hostile aggressive conflict.

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12 7

Table 2
Fit indices and means of the intercept, linear, and quadratic slopes for the 1-class model (c1) to 4-class (4c) models.

Model Log likelihood BIC Estimated class Posterior Entropy Intercept Mean Slope Mean Slope Quadratic
count probabilities Mean
1c lin 860.621 1751.060 389 1 N/A 1.618*** 0.006
1c quad 859.835 1755.452 389 1 N/A 1.604*** 0.093* 0.050
2c lin 747.807 1543.323 99.81 0.895 0.774 2.218*** 0.031
289.19 0.947 1.415*** 0.022
2c quad 745.397 1550.429 284.54 0.948 0.762 1.404*** 0.002 0.011
104.46 0.885 2.153*** 0.351* 0.162þ
3c lin 728.531 1522.662 269.95 0.927 0.767 1.394*** 0.028
30.66 0.862 2.868*** 0.330**
88.39 0.792 1.876*** 0.177*
3c quad 722.589 1528.669 253.22 0.922 0.782 1.380*** 0.110þ 0.045
21.05 0.882 2.866*** 0.320 0.266
114.73 0.846 1.869*** 0.578** 0.258*
4c lin 701.045 1485.580 37.76 0.789 0.810 2.495*** 0.520***
15.56 0.859 2.966*** 0.110
84.22 0.826 1.820*** 0.234***
251.45 0.932 1.333*** 0.001

Note. c ¼ class, lin ¼ linear model, quad ¼ quadratic model; þp < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

value (.767) and the classification probabilities (.927, .862 and .792 for Class 1, 2, and 3, respectively). As illustrated in Fig. 1,
Class 1 (N ¼ 29, 7.6% of the sample, 46.4% males) included youths whose MHAC was initially high with a linear decrease over
time. Class 2 (N ¼ 90, 23.3% of the sample, 42.7% males) included youths whose MHAC was initially moderate and significantly
increased in the transition to adulthood. Class 3 (N ¼ 266, 69.1% of the sample, 53% males) included youths whose MHAC was
initially low and remained stable in the transition to adulthood.
Additional analysis evidenced that the three classes extracted were not different in relation to background variables
(father and mother education, family income, respectively: [F(2,381) ¼ .70 p ¼ .50]; [F(2,383) ¼ 1.72 p ¼ .18]; [F(2,385) ¼ 1.29
p ¼ .28]). The percentage of youths–parents cohabitation across the tree trajectories are similar (HD ¼ 100%; LS ¼ 96%;
MI ¼ 90%).

Path analysis

We performed a path analysis in which we included BFF traits at the age of 15–16 as potential predictors of DP and AP in
early adulthood (age 21–22), both directly and indirectly through the trajectory probabilities of belonging to the high
declining group and to the medium increasing group.
In entering the posterior probabilities, we excluded the probability of group membership for one of the groups because the
posterior probabilities of group membership in each group added up to 1 for a given individual (e.g., the independent var-
iables would be perfectly correlated). We decided to exclude the probability of being in the normative group (low stable).
Furthermore, we controlled for the effect of sex and for the stability of DP and AP from age 15–16 to age 21–22.
Fig. 2 presents a diagrammatic representation of the model and the path coefficients for only the significant paths. Path
analyses showed that, controlling for sex and for the stability of outcomes, low levels of emotional stability and agreeableness
at age 15–16 were associated with HD trajectory membership, which in turn predicted DP in early adulthood. In addition, low
levels of agreeableness at age 15–16 were directly associated with DP in early adulthood. Low levels of conscientiousness and
emotional stability at age 15–16 were associated with MI trajectory membership, which in turn predicted DP in early
adulthood. Moreover, low levels of emotional stability at age 15–16 were directly associated with AP in early adulthood.

Fig. 1. Three class MHAC trajectories. Note: Log likelihood: 728.531; BIC: 1522.662; Entropy: 0.767; LMR LRT test: 0.4700.

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
8 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12

Fig. 2. Path analysis of MHAC trajectories predicting Depressive Problems and Antisocial Problems.

Finally, the HD trajectory membership significantly mediated the relations between both agreeableness and emotional
stability at age 15–16 and DP in early adulthood (respectively C.I. 0.314, 0.006; 0.244, 0.006). These results suggest that
less agreeable and less emotionally stable youths tend to follow the HD trajectory, which in turn predisposes them to higher
levels of DP in early adulthood. In addition, the MI trajectory membership significantly mediates the relations between
conscientiousness and emotional stability at age 15–16 and DP in early adulthood (respectively C.I. 0.271, 0.016; 0.0319,
0.035). Thus, youths with low levels of conscientiousness and low emotional stability tended to follow the MI trajectory,
which in turn predicted an increase in later DP.
No significant direct effects have been found for energy and openness on both HD and MI trajectory membership and
antisocial and depressive problems. In addition, the mediational effects of HD and MI trajectory membership between traits
and antisocial problems have not been corroborated.

Discussion

In the current study, we examined the antecedent role of adolescent personality traits and the consequent young adult
outcomes (i.e., antisocial and depressive problems) of developmental trajectories for conflict within the mother–youth dyad.
In line with our expectations, group-based trajectory modelling supported distinct trajectories of MHAC and the findings
indicated that personality traits were directly associated with antisocial and depression problems, whereas, differently from
our hypotheses, membership of compromised trajectory groups significantly mediated (fully and partially) only the relations
between traits and depressive problems.

Developmental trajectories

In this study, similar to other trajectories models reported in previous studies mostly in adolescence (Lansford et al., 2009;
Trentacosta et al., 2011), we have identified a model of stability and change for MHAC from late adolescence to early
adulthood. The use of LCGA analysis captured developmental changes in the mother–youth hostile relationships over a
multiple-year span of time; three MHAC trajectories with reasonable estimated sample sizes were found: low stable, medium
increasing, and high decreasing groups.
We identified a large group of parents and youths experiencing low levels of conflict over time (69.1%), a finding consistent
with previous studies (Lansford et al., 2009; Trentacosta et al., 2011). This pattern of change may be considered to be the
normative pattern of development for the hostile parent–youth relationships. However, more severe forms of parent–
adolescent conflict, characterized by harsh confrontation with adults exist (Collins & Laursen, 2004). Accordingly, researchers

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12 9

have previously documented the existence of a relatively small percentage of parents and adolescents with dysfunctional
relations (conflictual and coercive) and with the tendency to decrease from early to middle adolescence (Trentacosta et al.,
2011). In the current study, we identified a relatively small percentage (7.6%) of mothers and youths who started in mid-
dle adolescence with elevated levels of hostile conflict that decreased through late adolescence and into early adulthood,
although at the end point of the trajectory (at 19–20 years), a moderate level of conflict remained. This is consistent with the
trajectories of the high/declining groups identified in the study by Trentacosta et al. (2011) and it further supports the
assumption of a plausible decrease in mother–youth hostile relationships during the transition to adulthood because of the
youths’ greater involvement in personal relations and activities outside the family.
Finally, a pattern of change characterized by increasing levels of MHAC was identified (23.3%). This pattern of development
merits attention because of its linear increase during this transitional period and also for the percentage of youths involved.

Personality and outcomes: direct and mediated links

The main research objective of the present study was the identification of youths’ personality predictors of mother–youth
conflict trajectories and the associations of both with youths’ maladjustment. Overall, when all the personality predictors (Big
Five traits), the membership of compromised trajectories (high decreasing, medium increasing), and the outcomes (antisocial
and depressive problems) were examined simultaneously through path analysis, the findings supported either a direct role of
personality traits (i.e., low emotional stability and agreeableness) in the development of antisocial and depressive problems in
young adult age, or more complex patterns of relations among adolescents’ traits (low conscientiousness, low agreeableness
and low emotional stability) and subsequent trajectories of mother–youth conflict and depressive outcomes.

Direct links
Among the Big Five traits, only low emotional stability (i.e., the tendency to not to regulate emotionality and impulsivity) was
related to the increase of antisocial behaviours over time. As documented in longitudinal studies, antisocial behaviours decrease
during the transition to adulthood (e.g. Odgers et al., 2008) and their maintenance is usually related to lower inhibition or high
impulsivity (Moffitt, Caspi, Harrington, & Milne, 2002). Thus, it is reasonable that low emotional stability might contribute to an
increase of behavioural disinhibition that puts growing adolescents at risk of developing antisocial problems in early adulthood.
Contrary to our expectations, no direct effects of the other traits on antisocial problems were found.
With regard to depressive problems, our findings showed that low agreeableness significantly predicted higher depressive
problems in early adulthood. It is probable that youths with low agreeableness tend to be uncooperative, irritable, and
manipulative (Caspi & Shiner, 2006), and that they are at risk of being rejected by others and over time becoming more socially
isolated – all of which may lead to more depressive feelings over time (Hames, Hagan, & Joiner, 2013). Also, in this case, the
absence of relations between other traits and depressive problems should be considered in the light of the stringent nature of our
analysis (i.e., testing unique direct relations as well as mediated relations, as well as controlling for stability of maladjustment).

Mediated links. Overall, consistent with previous studies (e.g. Prinzie et al. 2010) looking at relations among traits, family
functioning, and adjustment, support was found for the mediational role that different developmental pathways of mother
hostile conflict have in linking adolescents’ traits and later depressive symptoms. In particular, we found that adolescents’ low
agreeableness, low conscientiousness, and low emotional stability predicted the development of worse mother–youth hostile
conflict trajectories, which mediated the relation to higher levels of depressive problems (but not antisocial problems) at the
age of 21–22. The findings are in accordance with other studies (Denissen et al., 2009; O’Connor & Dvorak, 2001) showing that
lower levels of these three traits, considered as part of the self-regulation and/or related to self-control processes (Caspi &
Shiner, 2006), may elicit more aggressive maternal reactions. These results are also in line with other studies showing that
some personality traits (i.e., neuroticism) make adolescents more vulnerable to depression because they are exposed to more
interpersonal difficulties leading to increase in later depressive symptoms (Wetter & Hankin, 2009).
In regard to the mediating role of membership in the high declining trajectory, those adolescents who were less
emotionally stable (i.e., less able to regulate emotions and impulses), as well as less agreeable, were involved in more highly
conflictual relationships with their mothers (with a relative decrease over time), and perhaps as a consequence, reported
higher levels of subsequent depressive problems. It is probable that the more insecure and sensitive adolescents with low
emotional stability may be more emotionally vulnerable to a high level of hostile conflict with mothers (see Markey, Markey,
& Tinsley, 2004), and also may evoke more conflictual behaviour from mothers, which in turn increases their level of
discomfort, sadness, and unhappiness at 21–22 years. Likewise, adolescents with low agreeableness are probably less prone
to negotiate family obligations, more self-centered, and less cooperative with their mothers, and contribute to actively
maintaining high to moderate levels of hostile interaction with parents over time that, in turn, become the basis for their
increased feelings of low worth and depression.
With regard to the medium increasing path, the findings support prediction by adolescents’ low emotional stability and
conscientiousness of later depressive problems through their unique effects on mother–adolescent conflict. Being prone to
negative emotions, having more difficulties in regulating impulsivity, and having low conscientiousness may expose ado-
lescents to the risk of developing depressive problems in early adulthood through their increasing experience of hostile
conflict with mothers. Difficulties in maintaining focused attention and being planful, as reflected by low conscientiousness,
as well as difficulties in regulating emotion, appear to compromise interpersonal relationships (e.g., Heatherton & Vohs, 1998;

Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002
10 V. Castellani et al. / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2013) 1–12

Jensen-Campbell & Malcolm, 2007) and the quality of interactions with parents (e.g. Danforth, Barkley, & Stokes, 1991). It is
possible that the timing of the increase in hostile conflict between mother and youth (late adolescence to age 20) exacerbates
the negative effects of conflict on youths’ adjustment. For this group, hostile conflict rebounded close to and after 18 years, the
period when adolescents/young adults have to make more important life choices such as attending university or finding a job.
As such, they are in the position to claim more independence from parents, but their permanence at home offers them more
continuous occasions for conflict and disagreement with their mothers.
As regards antisocial problems, the hypothesized mediational role of mother hostile interactions was not confirmed. We
have to recognize that the role of difficult family relations in the development of antisocial behaviour has been corroborated
especially in younger age (Prinzie et al., 2004), whereas with regard to the transition to adulthood, only a small number of
studies have reported a direct influence of conflictual and violent family relationships on antisocial behaviours (e.g. Moylan
et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2005), and they have not taken into account the stability of the antisocial outcomes. The absence of
relations between mother–child conflict and antisocial behaviour has been found also in a study by Hofer et al. (2013), in
which mother–child conflict predicted only an adolescent internalizing but not externalizing problems. It is possible that
other mediating mechanisms, such as relationships with peers, account for the longitudinal association between adolescents’
personality traits and antisocial behaviour in early adulthood. Further studies have to clarify the extent to which the role of
conflict between mother and child during the transition to adulthood is limited to depressive problems or may have an
influence also on antisocial behaviours.

Conclusions, limitations and future directions

This longitudinal study extends previous research and provides support for the vulnerability/predisposition hypothesis
(Tackett, 2006) by linking personality traits to the development of later antisocial and depressive problems. Most of the
findings are consistent with the conclusion that aggressive conflict may be considered as a stressor that compromises youths’
adjustment, especially when they are exposed to day-to-day difficulties and hostile interactions, even during the transition to
adulthood.
Furthermore, this study showed a different picture about the processes by which adolescents’ personality is linked to
depressive and antisocial behaviour. The relations between personality, mother–youths conflict, and depressive problems
evidence the complex mechanisms by which personality and the environment interact and shape adjustment problems later
on. As reported in other studies (e.g. Yap et al., 2011), youths with low self-regulatory capacities and high negative
emotionality evidenced more emotion dysregulation during interactions with parents, which in turn increased their risk of
more severe depressive problems later on. Further analysis is needed to understand whether antisocial problems in early
adults are related exclusively to emotional dysregulation or whether other interpersonal mechanisms may intervene in the
relations between personality traits and antisocial behaviours.
Taken together, the results of this study underline the relevance of mother–youths hostile and aggressive interactions in
influencing the development of depressive problems in early adulthood.
Hostility and aggressiveness in the relation with mothers may be considered as mechanisms that generate feelings of
discomfort and negative moods and may exacerbate adolescents’ vulnerabilities (personality traits). As a consequence, the
promotion of good relationships with mothers in the transition to adult age may be considered one of the components of
psychological intervention for the prevention of depressive problems. In particular, it appears relevant the enhancement of
relational and self-regulatory abilities that promote the establishment of good long lasting relationships, in a period of
development characterized by contrasting needs such as autonomy and support from parents.
Although this study contributes to expanding previous research in various ways, some limitations are also worth noting.
The longitudinal findings supported complex relations between adolescent personality traits, hostile and aggressive mother–
youth relationships, and adjustment in early adulthood. However, we did not address reciprocal relations between adoles-
cents’ personality and the quality of family relationships over time, or the potential influence of psychopathological problems
on personality characteristics; this could be addressed in further studies. Moreover, the data, albeit longitudinal, are corre-
lational and cannot prove causal pathways. In addition, we have relied on only youths’ self-reported data. Further research
should consider both the mothers’ and adolescents’ points of view to better understand the development of mother–youth
hostile relationships and their impact on youth adjustment.

Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported by grants from the Spencer Foundation and W. T. Grant Foundation to Albert
Bandura, from the Italian Ministry of Education University and Research (COFIN: 1998, 2000), from the University of Rome ‘‘La
Sapienza’’ to Gian Vittorio Caprara; and from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development to Carlos Valiente and Nancy Eisenberg (co-PIs).

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Please cite this article in press as: Castellani, V., et al., Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to
adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems, Journal of Adolescence (2013),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.002