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How do the parents describe personality of their child with cognitive disability?
Blanka Colnerič & Maja Zupančič
Full text (pdf) | Views: 26 | Written in Slovene. | Published: January 22, 2011
Abstract: The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality domains was demonstrated as useful taxonomy to classify parents' descriptions of children and adolescents across several countries. In the present study, 156 Slovene children (Mage= 6.95 years) with cognitive disabilities (CD) were described by their mothers and fathers. A coding scheme developed within a previous international research project was used to categorize the expressions generated by the parents. The scheme includes five main categories, with three subcategories each, and ten additional categories outside the FFM. Over 70% of parental responses were coded within the FFM sugesting that this taxonomy is also relevant for categorizing characteristics of individuals with CD. There was a significant agreement between the spouses on describing their child with CD. In comparison to samples of normative children across different studies, Agreeableness received a higher proportion of descriptions by parents, mostly due to reports coded in Helpfulness and low Manageability subcategories. A lower proportion of descriptors was coded in the Openness/Intellect category, mostly due to reports on interests of children with CD. The lowest proportion of descriptors was ascribed to the Conscientiousness and Emotional Instability categories. Most of the responses outside the FFM were coded in the Disabilities category as the parents often mentioned their child's disabilities in the course of interview.
Keywords: personality traits, five factor personality model, children, cognitive disabilities
