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Latent profile analysis of the three-dimensional model of character strengths to distinguish at-strengths and at-risk populations

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Abstract

Purpose

Studies that focus on the development of the typology of individual strength profiles are limited. Thus, this study aimed to determine strength profiles with different health outcomes based on the Three-Dimensional Inventory of Character Strengths (TICS).

Methods

The TICS was used to measure three-dimensional strengths: caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control. A total of 3536 community participants (1322 males and 2214 females with ages ranging from 17 to 50, M = 23.96, SD = 5.13) completed the TICS. A subsample (n = 853; female = 68.2%, male = 31.8%) was further required to complete the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and Flourishing Scale. A latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted in the total sample to identify the latent strength profiles. Then, a three-step method was implemented to compare the mental health outcomes between strength profiles in the subsample.

Results

The LPA helped determine two subgroups based on the entire sample: the at-strengths group (high scores on all dimensions) and the at-risk group (low scores on all dimensions). As expected, the at-strengths group had less significant negative emotional symptoms (at-strengths group = 0.57, at-risk group = 0.83, χ2 = 33.54, p < .001) and had better psychological well-being (at-strengths group = 5.81, at-risk group = 4.64, χ2 = 276.64, p < .001).

Conclusions

This study identified two character strength profiles with different health outcomes. Specifically, populations with low-character strengths (caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control) were more likely to demonstrate poor mental health outcomes. Our findings also showed that a particular trait subtype can be considered in identifying high-risk populations and further implementing targeted strength-based interventions.

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Acknowledgements

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: National Social Science Foundation—Youth Project (17CSH073) and Wuhan University Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Development Program for Young Scholars (WHU2016019).

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  1. Department of Sociology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Wenjie Duan & Yuhang Wang

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  1. Wenjie Duan
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Correspondence to Wenjie Duan.

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The authors, Wenjie Duan and Yuhang Wang, declare no conflict of interest.

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The Human Subjects Ethics Sub-Committee of the Department of Sociology and Wuhan University approved this study. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Duan, W., Wang, Y. Latent profile analysis of the three-dimensional model of character strengths to distinguish at-strengths and at-risk populations. Qual Life Res 27, 2983–2990 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-018-1933-1

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