Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine from a person-centered approach the impact of temperament on academic achievement and sociometric status in a sample of 6–7-year-old Spanish children. To measure children’s temperament in early childhood, parents were given TMCQ (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire), while sociometric status and academic achievement were requested for children’s teachers. Using latent profile analysis (LPA) four temperament profiles were found. Children belonged to the “Negative/Undercontrolled” profile showed a higher probability of academic failure and were more rejected, and children included in the profile “Sociable/High regulated” showed higher academic scores and a lower probability of being rejected by their peers. Several implications in the Spanish educational context are discussed.
Highlights
Academic failure and social maladaptation constitute distressful and ongoing problems in Spain
To date there are few studies exploring the effect of temperament on academic achievement and sociometric status from a personcentered perspective, and we have found no such studies for Spain that incorporate both academic and social outcomes
We used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify 4 profiles of children differing in their temperament characteristics
Summary
Academic failure and social maladaptation constitute distressful and ongoing problems in Spain. Considered by recent Ministers of Education as the main problem in Spanish education, school dropout has increased alarmingly in recent years, and is the second highest in the EU (Ministry of Education and training, 2019). Disorders related to social maladjustment in schools, like bullying, anxiety and depression, have been increased considerably. Bullying scaled up almost 50% from 2015 to 2017, exceeding for the first time 1000 victims annually in Spain (Report Bullying sin fronteras, 2018). In the search for the most important contributors to explain academic and social outcomes, children’s temperament has emerged strongly, based on the idea that children’s individual differences in emotional arousal could be a protective or a risk factor in their developmental trajectories (Leve et al, 2005)
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