On the Empirical Replicability of Temperamental Profiles in Italian Youths

Research in individual differences focuses on identifying the core dimensions that distinguish people from one another, particularly psychological, emotional, and cognitive aspects of functioning. Temperament represents a fundamental facet of these differences: an early-emerging, biologically rooted set of affective, attentional, and regulatory tendencies that underlies later personality development. Because temperament is relatively stable and observable early in life, it offers a valuable framework for understanding the developmental pathways that may lead to either adjustment or maladjustment across childhood and adolescence.

A growing body of lifespan-oriented research shows that temperamental differences are linked to later emotional and behavioral problems. This has generated increasing interest in whether distinct temperament profiles can identify youths at risk for developmental difficulties. However, past empirical findings have been inconsistent—often focusing on younger children or on biologically oriented dimensions such as novelty seeking or harm avoidance—limiting the generalizability of existing models.

The presented work aims to address these gaps by identifying robust temperamental profiles in late childhood and adolescence, emphasizing two core domains: effortful control (EC)—a self-regulatory system including attentional, inhibitory, and activation control—and negative emotionality (NE), particularly anger/frustration and sadness. Using self-reports from 339 Italian adolescents, the study attempts to replicate profiles previously observed in a cross-cultural dataset based on mother reports.

Latent profile analysis successfully replicated four distinct patterns:

1. Adjusted – high EC, low NE
2. Average – moderate EC and NE
3. Emotional – average to high EC combined with high anger
4. Dysregulated – low EC and high NE

These replicated profiles strengthen evidence for a coherent, developmentally meaningful structure of temperament in adolescence. The findings advance the field by clarifying how patterns of emotionality and self-regulation combine to shape adaptive versus maladaptive trajectories.