Infant temperament, parenting and behavior problems: Variation by parental education and income

Abstract

Although research has linked infants' negative temperamental characteristics with later behavior problems, it has not accounted for unobserved heterogeneity in this association, nor has it examined potential variation by socioeconomic status. Using data from the Child and Young Adult Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the present study compares behavioral outcomes at age 5 (mean age = 60.6 months) of siblings who differed with regard to infant temperament (N = 3480). Associations between temperament and parenting behavior, and the role parenting behavior plays in those associations, were also explored. Findings indicate that negative reactivity predicts greater internalizing behavior problems consistently across the socioeconomic distribution, whereas negative reactivity predicts externalizing behavior problems only among children from the lowest education group. Moreover, negative reactivity predicts less optimal parenting behavior, and consistently by education and income. No evidence emerged that parenting explains links between temperament and child behavior or variation in links by education or income.