Delay of gratification, psychopathology, and personality: is low self-control specific to externalizing problems?
Published
Journal Article
We assessed the delay of gratification behavior of 428 twelve- and thirteen-year-old boys, half of whom were known to manifest symptoms of behavioral disturbance. Consistent with the hypothesis that low self-control is a risk factor specific to externalizing (aggressive and delinquent) disorders, boys who showed signs of externalizing disorders tended to seek immediate gratification in a laboratory task more often than both nondisordered boys and boys who showed signs of internalizing (anxious and depressed) disorders. In addition, children who were able to delay immediate gratification were described by their mothers as ego controlled, ego resilient, conscientious, open to experience, and agreeable. These results suggest that poor delay of gratification may be one of a select number of specific risk factors for externalizing disorder, and that good delay of gratification is linked to multiple adaptive tendencies in early adolescence.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Krueger, RF; Caspi, A; Moffitt, TE; White, J; Stouthamer-Loeber, M
Published Date
- March 1996
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 64 / 1
Start / End Page
- 107 - 129
PubMed ID
- 8656312
Pubmed Central ID
- 8656312
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1467-6494
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0022-3506
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00816.x
Language
- eng