The relationship of adolescent personality and family environment to psychiatric diagnosis.

This study examines the relationship of adolescent personality and family environment to psychiatric diagnosis in 170 adolescents admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit. Patients were administered the Child Assessment Schedule (CAS), the family Environment Scale (FES), and the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI). Adolescent personality and/or family environment were related to 1) major depression, conduct disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in both boys and girls, 2) oppositional defiant disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and overanxious disorder in girls, and 3) dysthymic disorder and alcohol use in boys. The study empirically shows the relationship of both personality and family environment in psychiatric diagnoses.