The Relationship between Temperament and Resilience in Preschool Children from Low-Income Families: The Moderating Effect of Maternal Warmth

Abstract

The object of this study is to examine the relationship between temperament (emotionality, activity, sociability, and shyness) and the resilience (social competence and language ability) of preschool children from lowincome families and the moderating effect of maternal warmth. The subjects were 86 low-income preschool children (42 girls and 44 boys; mean age, 70.57 months), their mothers and teachers, recruited from five daycare centers in Namyangju city and Ansan city located in Gyeonggi-do area. Each child’s language ability was individually assessed with with the standardized measure, Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale (PRES) and their teachers reported on children’s social competence and parents reported on their child’s temperament by questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed by correlation analysis and hierarchical regression. The main results of this study were as follows. First, children’s emotionality in temperament and maternal warmth had main effects on social competence. Second, only monthly income level and sex had main effects on language ability. Third, maternal warmth moderated the effects of children’s shyness in temperament on social competence and language ability as resilience. Findings could provide basic information for programs to promote resilience in preschool children from low-income families.