Negative affectivity in children

Sixty-four children in grades 3, 5, and 7 from the Cabrillo Unified School District were assessed on three different personality measures: the Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI), the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and a classroom sociometric scale. The three scales showed both pair-wise and multiple correlations among themselves. This intercorrelation among the three scales suggests the applicability of the Negative Affectivity construct (Tellegen, 1982; Watson & Clark, 1984) to children. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.