The purpose of this study was to evaluate the temperament and character of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders
in samples from Korean community. The study subjects were children and adolescents diagnosed with social phobia (
n = 66), separation anxiety disorder (
n = 47), specific phobia (
n = 415), and obsessive–compulsive disorder (
n = 42) with the diagnostic interview schedule for children, version IV (DISC-IV) in representative community samples. Among
these, we excluded other psychiatric disorder comorbid samples, with the exception of externalizing disorders. We assessed
the subjects of each anxiety group using the junior temperament and character inventory (JTCI). Social phobias were significantly
associated with high harm avoidance and low self-directedness on the JTCI. The association of specific phobias with high harm
avoidance, and obsessive–compulsive disorder with low self-directedness was also significant. Separation anxiety disorder
was not associated with any temperament and character on the JTCI. Children and adolescents with anxiety disorders have different
temperaments and character profiles in accordance with diagnostic groups, which implies the specific pathophysiological mechanism
of each anxiety disorder.
Keywords JTCI - temperament - character - childhood anxiety disorder