The Distinctive Difficulties of Disagreeable Youth

This study examines whether disagreeable youth are distinct from aggressive youth, victimized youth, and withdrawn youth. Young adolescents (120 girls and 104 boys, M = 13.59 years old) completed personality and adjustment inventories. Aggression, withdrawal, and victimization scores were derived from peer nominations (N = 807). Cluster analyses identified six groups. Disagreeable youth, aggressive victimized youth, withdrawn victimized youth, and withdrawn youth tended to have worse concurrent peer relations than did agreeable youth and aggressive youth. Disagreeable youth had some of the highest levels of concurrent and prospective adjustment problems, with rates of self-and mother-reported internalizing problems that rivaled withdrawn victimized youth and withdrawn youth, and rates of self-and mother-reported externalizing problems that rivaled aggressive victimized youth and aggressive youth. The findings indicate that low agreeable youth represent a discrete category of adolescents with social and adjustment difficulties.