Temperament Dimensions Research Articles

Mental training and influence of temperamental dimensions in preparation of the Czech Republic weightlifting representative in junior category under 23 years: Case study

Background. According to the coaches, the weightlifters of the national team show deficiencies in mental skills, which leads to unbalanced performance at top competitions. Based on the knowledge of the efficacy of mental training (MT) from other sports, it is possible to conclude the potential of the MT in top weightlifting. Objective. The main aim of the authors was to create and verify a program based on mental training techniques implemented in sports training of weightlifter of the junior category of the Czech Republic, and also to reflect the influence of the competitor's tem­peramental dimensions on the implementation of the MT program in her sports training. Methods. Semi-structured interviews with the athlete and the coach before and after the implementation of the mental training program were conducted. A psychodiagnostic tests – Test of attention d2 and TEZADO measuring attention resp. temperamental dimensions were used in addition to subjective statements. Self-assessing scales were also used to obtain more quantitative data. Results. Results showed that some of the mental training techniques had a positive effect on deficient mental skills. These mental skills are crucial in the preparation of the weightlifting representative and can have a significant influence on a sports athlete's per­formance. The most significant difference was achieved in the skill of refocusing and the smallest difference in imagination. According to the subject, the influence of the temperamental dimensions on the mental training program had a significant impact in connection with the refocusing and anger coping. Conclusion. Mental training techniques can help top weightlifters to overcome the mental skills deficiencies used in their sports training, which may have a positive influence on performance in both training and competitions. Self-knowledge of the temperamental dimensions is significant to the success of the program.

Early bonding, Parenting Styles and Temperament: Association between three-generational Aspect of Parenting

Background: Parenting styles differ with individuals. Early experiences play an important role to determinethe nature of parenting. However, studies do not highlight dyadic views of partners as a unit in their parentingstyles. Further, the critical age between 3-6 years is found to be vulnerable to environmental influences.Thus, the transactional influence in a three-generational viewpoint needs to be studied. The aim was tounderstand the three-generational aspect of parenting. The primary objective included understanding therelationship of early parental bonding on current parenting styles and its association with the temperamentof pre-school aged children.Method: 15 couples with children in preschool, aged between 3-6 years, of age range 20-40 years using aconvenience sampling were recruited. The participants were assessed by the Parental Bonding Instrument(PBI), Parental Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) and Child Behaviour Questionnaire- Very ShortForm (CBQ-VSF). The data was further analyzed using descriptive statistics for the socio-demographics andthe association between the variables was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation.Conclusion: Correlational analysis showed an authoritative parenting style positively correlated witheffortful control and a negative correlation with the surgency dimension of temperament. No significantrelationship between parental bonding and parenting styles was found.

Students' Personality Contributes More to Academic Performance than Well-Being and Learning Approach-Implications for Sustainable Development and Education.

The present study aimed to describe the predictive role of personality dimensions, learning approaches, and well-being in the academic performance of students. In total, 602 students participated in this cross-sectional study and completed a set of questionnaires assessing personality, learning approach, and well-being. Two indexes were calculated to assess affective and non-affective well-being. The results partially support the hypotheses formulated. Results revealed that personality temperament and character dimensions, deep learning approach, and affective well-being were significant predictors of academic performance. A deep approach to learning was a full and partial mediator of the relationship between personality and academic performance. The results improve the understanding of the differential contribution of personality, type of learning approach, and type of well-being to academic performance. Comprehending that personality is the strongest predictor of academic performance, after controlling the type of learning approach and the type of well-being, informs school policies and decision-makers that it is essential to encourage personality development in adolescents to improve academic performance. These results also have implications for educational policies and practices at various levels, including an emphasis on the role of well-being as an educational asset. Understanding the links between personality, well-being, and education is essential to conceptualize education as a vital societal resource for facing current and future challenges, such as sustainable development.

Prenatal maternal psychological distress and fetal developmental trajectories: associations with infant temperament.

Associations between prenatal maternal psychological distress and offspring developmental outcomes are well documented, yet relatively little research has examined links between maternal distress and development in utero, prior to postpartum influences. Fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters are established indices of central and autonomic nervous system maturation and function which demonstrate continuity with postnatal outcomes. This prospective, longitudinal study of 149 maternal-fetal pairs evaluated associations between prenatal maternal distress, FHR parameters, and dimensions of infant temperament. Women reported their symptoms of psychological distress at five prenatal visits, and FHR monitoring was conducted at the last three visits. Maternal report of infant temperament was collected at 3 and 6 months of age. Exposure to elevated prenatal maternal psychological distress was associated with higher late-gestation resting mean FHR (FHRM) among female but not male fetuses. Higher late-gestation FHRM was associated with lower infant orienting/regulation and with higher infant negative affectivity, and these associations did not differ by infant sex. A path analysis identified higher FHRM as one pathway by which elevated prenatal maternal distress was associated with lower orienting/regulation among female infants. Findings suggest that, for females, elevated maternal distress alters fetal development, with implications for postnatal function. Results also support the notion that, for both sexes, individual differences in regulation emerge prenatally and are maintained into infancy. Collectively, these findings underscore the utility of direct assessment of development in utero when examining if prenatal experiences are carried forward into postnatal life.

Affective Temperament is Associated with Stress Coping Strategies and Work Stress Perception Among Polish Bank Employees.

BackgroundStress in the banking workplace is associated with psychological and health problems. Intensity of work-related stress experiences is associated with specificity of job stress factors personal features such as affective temperament. The aim of the study was to evaluate associations between affective temperament, coping stress strategies, and perceived job stress in bank employees.MethodsSubjects were 209 bank workers aged 22–55 years (n = 101 managers and 108 non-managers). Affective temperament and stress coping strategies were evaluated using the Temperament Evaluation of Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), respectively. Both questionnaires, TEMPS-A and CISS, show good internal consistency and are proper research methods in the bank employee group. Perceived job-related stress was rated for different sources of job stress common among bank workers.ResultsDepressive temperament was negatively associated with coping style focused on avoidance, and with job stress regarding “responsibility for decisions regarding other people” and “frequent trips.” Irritable temperament was positively correlated with coping style focused on task and job stress regarding “frequent trips.” Cyclothymic temperament was positively correlated with job stress regarding “direct work with money” and “organizational conditions of work.” Multidimensional linear regression showed that irritable and anxious temperaments were associated with coping style focused on task; depressive temperament was associated with coping style focused on avoidance; and cyclothymic temperament was associated with intensity of job stress. The results obtained indicate different levels of job-related stress associated with different sources in bank employees, working with managers and non-managers positions. Affective temperament was associated with stress coping strategies and intensity of perceived job stress. On the basis of affective temperament dimensions it is possible to predict stress coping styles and work-related stress perception in bank employees.ConclusionAffective temperament traits measured by TEMPS-A were associated with stress coping strategies and intensity of work stress perception in Polish bank employees.

Effortful Control and Prefrontal Cortex Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An fNIRS Study.

Effortful control (EC) is an important dimension of temperament, but is impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While EC is associated with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) functioning in typically developing (TD) children, it is unclear whether EC deficits are associated with PFC dysfunction in ASD. This study examines the relationship between EC and PFC activation and connectivity in children with high-functioning ASD. Thirty-nine right-handed children (ASD: n = 20; TD: n = 19) aged 8–12 years were recruited. The EC level was assessed with the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire—Revised (EATQ-R), and PFC functioning, in terms of activation and connectivity during a frontal-sensitive (n-back) task, was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Children with ASD showed a significant deficit in EC and its related constructs (i.e., executive, and socioemotional functions) compared to TD controls. They also showed significantly increased overall PFC activation and reduced right frontal connectivity during the n-back task. Among children with ASD, the EC level correlated significantly with neither PFC activation nor connectivity; it significantly correlated with social functioning only. This study demonstrated EC deficits and altered PFC functioning in children with ASD, but the exact neural basis of EC deficits remains to be determined.

Emotion processing in children who do and do not stutter: An ERP study of electrocortical reactivity and regulation to peer facial expressions

PurposeEvent-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the neural correlates of emotion processing in 5- to 8-year-old children who do and do not stutter. MethodsParticipants were presented with an audio contextual cue followed by images of threatening (angry/fearful) and neutral facial expressions from similarly aged peers. Three conditions differed in audio-image pairing: neutral context-neutral expression (neutral condition), negative context-threatening expression (threat condition), and reappraisal context-threatening expression (reappraisal condition). These conditions reflected social stimuli that are ecologically valid to the everyday life of children. ResultsP100, N170, and late positive potential (LPP) ERP components were elicited over parietal and occipital electrodes. The threat condition elicited an increased LPP mean amplitude compared to the neutral condition across our participants, suggesting increased emotional reactivity to threatening facial expressions. In addition, LPP amplitude decreased during the reappraisal condition— evidence of emotion regulation. No group differences were observed in the mean amplitude of ERP components between children who do and do not stutter. Furthermore, dimensions of childhood temperament and stuttering severity were not strongly correlated with LPP elicitation. ConclusionThese findings are suggestive that, at this young age, children who stutter exhibit typical brain activation underlying emotional reactivity and regulation to social threat from peer facial expressions.

Psychiatric comorbidity and temperament-character traits of the patients with lichen simplex chronicus: The relation with the symptom severity of the disease.

The aim of this study is to evaluate psychiatric comorbidity, temperament and character traits, depression and anxiety levels, and their relation with symptom severity in patients with lichen simplex chronicus (LSC). About 50 patients with LSC were enrolled in the study along with 49 controls. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered to all subjects for psychiatric assessment. Skindex-16 symptom scale was performed for assessing the symptom severity of LSC. LSC group were showing an incidence of 62% in terms of psychiatric comorbidity and 14% of them had two psychiatric diagnoses. The most common psychiatric disorders were major depressive disorder (32%), dysthymia (18%), and generalized anxiety disorder (12%). LSC group had significantly higher mean BDI (18.60 ± 11.77 vs 7.40 ± 4.90) and BAI scores (18.56 ± 13.75 vs 5.18 ± 5.34) than the control group. Patients with LSC displayed higher scores in Harm Avoidance Dimension (19.74 ± 5.18 vs 15.00 ± 5.13) of temperament and regarding character dimensions, they had lower scores in self-directedness (25.52 ± 6.69 vs 29.51 ± 5.54). When analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed while BDI and BAI scores were taken as covariates cooperativeness became significantly higher in the LSC group. Patients with LSC had a high incidence of psychiatric comorbidity, significantly higher depression and anxiety levels, and differed from control group in terms of TCI profile and these conditions were related to symptom severity of the LSC. Comorbid psychiatric conditions and personality traits should be considered as crucial factors for the effective treatment of LSC.

Self-control in early childhood: Individual differences in sensitivity to early parenting.

This study extends existing research on the role of infant temperament as a moderator of the association between the quality of parent-child relationships and children's self-control during the pre-school years. In particular, we focus on the potential moderating role of a dimension of early infant temperament known as behavioral inhibition. Assumptions formulated within the diathesis-stress, the vantage-sensitivity, and the differential susceptibility models of individual differences in environmental sensitivity are tested. Data are from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 18,552 infants born in the United Kingdom during 2000/01. The results show that the quality of both mother-child and father-child relationships are associated with children's development of self-control in early childhood. Additionally, individual differences in infant temperament moderate the association between mother-child conflict and children's development of self-control. Specifically, high behavioral inhibition shows a vantage-sensitivity pattern for mother-child conflict. Aspects of both mothers' and fathers' relationships with their young children independently predict variations in self-control. This study also provides an initial indication that behavioral inhibition, a temperamental trait best-known for being a risk factor for anxiety, may provide small benefits in relation to young children's self-control development.

Mood disorders comorbidity in obese bariatric patients: the role of the emotional dysregulation

BackgroundObese patients seeking bariatric surgery are known to show high rates of mental disorders, mainly mood and eating disorders. The aim of the present study is to evaluate psychiatric comorbidities, affective temperamental dimensions, emotional dysregulation and impulsivity in a sample of obese bariatric patients, exploring the differences between obese patients with and without mood disorders (MD). MethodsA total of 69 obese patients were consecutively enrolled between March and November 2019 during the presurgical evaluation routinely performed before the bariatric intervention. Sociodemographic and clinical features were collected by psychiatrists during a single consultation. Affective temperaments, emotional dysregulation and impulsivity were also investigated through self-report questionnaires. Epidemiological and clinical variables were compared between patients with and without MD. ResultsIn our sample, almost 3 out of 4 patients presented a lifetime psychiatric disorder, mainly MD (n=33, 48%), binge eating disorder (BED) (n=34, 49%) and anxiety disorders (n=30, 43%). Compared to N-MD patients, those with MD showed higher rates of psychiatric comorbidity with BED, bulimia and panic disorder. In addition, obese patients with MD showed more frequently cyclothymic, depressive and anxious temperaments, and higher mean scores on the psychometric questionnaires assessing emotional dysregulation and impulsivity compared to obese subjects without MD. Limitationsthe small sample size, the retrospectively assessment of psychiatric disorders and the self-report questionnaires. ConclusionsA subgroup of obese patients, especially among those with MD, show high emotional dysregulation, affective lability and impulsiveness that could represent suitable substrates for the development of compulsive and addictive eating habits.

The effectiveness of schema therapy on temperament and character dimensions, food craving among obese women with type 2 diabetes

The effectiveness of schema therapy on temperament and character dimensions, food craving among obese women with type 2 diabetes

The relationship between temperamental dimensions and inhibitory control in early childhood: Implications for language acquisition

The present study investigates the latent organization of inhibitory control in children aged between 2;3 and 3;0 years. In addition, it explores the relationships between temperament dimensions - social orientation, motor activity, and attention -, inhibitory control and language. One-hundred-twelve typically developing children were evaluated with tasks for inhibitory control and lexical skills, while ratings of temperament and language were collected from their caregivers. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis reveals that inhibitory control seems to be best described by a unitary dimension. A Structural Equation Model suggests that 78 % of the variance in vocabulary is explained by a model considering the language observed measures, the three temperamental dimensions, and inhibitory control and in which both temperamental attention and the latent dimension of inhibitory control are significantly related to vocabulary. In addition, inhibitory control does not mediate the relationship between temperament and language.

Quantifying the Predictive Role of Temperament Dimensions and Attachment Styles on the Five Factor Model of Personality.

Background: The present study investigated the role of temperament and attachment security in predicting individual differences in the five factor personality traits among adults. As previous studies suggested the potential moderating role of attachment in the association between temperament and personality traits, the present study sought to examine an interactionist model combining attachment and temperament in explaining individual differences in personality traits. Methods: A sample of 1871 participants (1151 women and 719 men) completed self-report measures of adult attachment style (the Relationships Questionnaire—RQ), temperament dimension (the Fisher Temperament Inventory—FTI), and personality domain (the Five Factor Model—FFM). Results: Partial correlational analyses revealed associations between attachment security and each of the five domains of the FFM, and few associations between some temperament dimensions and several domains of the FFM. Moderated regression analyses showed that attachment security moderated the associations between temperament dimensions and the Agreeableness domain of the FFM. Among secure individuals, those with higher scores on the Curious/Energetic, Cautious/Social Norm Compliant and Prosocial/Empathetic scales exhibited higher Agreeableness scores, whereas among insecure individuals, those with higher scores on the Analytic/Tough-minded scale exhibited lower scores on the Agreeableness scale. Conclusion: Overall, the current study provides evidence in support of the substantive role of social-environmental factors (Adult Attachment) as a moderating element bridging temperament-related personality elements and a number of their FFM manifestations.

Latent class trajectories of infant temperament and associations with problem behavior at two years of age.

Individual differences in temperament have been well-described, but individual differences in temperament trajectories require elaboration. Specifically, it is unknown if subgroups of infants display different developmental patterns and if these patterns relate to later behavioral problems. The aims were to identify distinct developmental patterns in broad dimensions of temperament among typically developing infants, to determine whether these developmental patterns differ by sex, to evaluate how developmental patterns within each dimension of temperament relate to developmental patterns within other dimensions of temperament, and to determine whether developmental patterns of infant temperament are associated with internalizing and externalizing behavior at 2 years of age. Data from the longitudinal Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition study (n = 1,819) were used to model latent class trajectories of parent-reported infant temperament at 3, 6, and 12 months. Four to five unique latent trajectories were identified within each temperament dimension. Sex was not associated with trajectory groups. Developmental coordination was observed between trajectories of negative emotionality and regulatory capacity, and between regulatory capacity and positive affect, but not between positive affect and negative emotionality. Negative emotionality and regulatory capacity predicted internalizing and externalizing behavior. Patterns of development in infant temperament, and not just intensity of temperament, contribute toward later problem behavior.

Toddler Temperament, Parent Stress, and Autonomy Support

The present study examined how toddler temperament (negative affectivity, effortful control, and surgency) and parent stress relate to parents’ use of autonomy support (AS) when making requests. Based on past studies pointing to parent stress and toddler difficult temperament as possible risk factors, we proposed a mediation model where toddler temperament was expected to be related indirectly to parents’ use of autonomy-supportive practices via parent stress. Parents (N = 181) reported how often they used autonomy-supportive practices when asking their toddlers (Mage = 27.7 months) to engage in important, yet uninteresting activities. They also answered questions regarding their toddler’s temperament and their own stress levels. A complete mediation hypothesis was supported for negative affectivity but not for the other temperament dimensions. Both toddler negative affectivity and effortful control were indirectly related to parents’ AS, via parent stress. However, effortful control was also directly associated with parent AS over and above parent stress, while surgency was not related to parent stress or parent AS. The present findings underline the need for more research on how to mitigate the impact of difficult temperamental characteristics so as to preserve parents’ support for their toddlers’ need for autonomy.

Evidence for two genetically distinct pathways to co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence characterized by negative affectivity or behavioral inhibition.

Unique pathways to adolescents' co-occurring internalizing/externalizing problems, a severe and common form of psychopathology, remain poorly delineated; this paucity of knowledge impedes the development of personalized interventions. We examined established measures of genetic risk and early childhood temperamental dimensions to clarify potentially distinct pathways to adolescents' co-occurring internalizing/externalizing problems. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of a family-based intervention. The study employed multiple informants and methods, including observer ratings of toddlers' negative affectivity and behavioral inhibition, and primary caregiver ratings of toddlers' inhibitory control; internalizing and aggression polygenic risk scores (PRS) based on prior meta-genome-wide association studies (GWAS); and parents' and teachers' reports of adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems. Higher levels of the aggression PRS indirectly predicted primary caregiver- and teacher-reported co-occurring problems relative to all other groups through greater early childhood negative affectivity. Lower levels of the aggression PRS and higher levels of the internalizing PRS indirectly predicted co-occurring problems relative to the externalizing "only" and low problem groups (primary caregivers only) through greater early childhood behavioral inhibition. Findings suggest two different genetic pathways to co-occurring problems that could lead to distinct prevention and intervention efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal comforting behavior, toddlers' dysregulated fear, and toddlers' emotion regulatory behaviors.

Developmental theories of emotion regulation suggest that influences from both extrinsic (e.g., from caregivers) and intrinsic (i.e., temperament) sources contribute to children's displays of emotion regulatory behaviors. Very few studies have examined specific caregiver behaviors in relation to specific regulatory behaviors. Further, few empirical investigations have tested theoretical notions that temperament may be an important context in which to understand the nature of the relation between caregiver behavior and toddlers' regulatory behaviors. The current study examined the specific maternal behavior of physical comfort in relation to three regulatory strategies exhibited by toddlers (attention-shifting, caregiver-focused behavior, and self-focused behavior) in 117 pairs of mothers and their 24-month-old toddlers. Further, we tested the temperament dimension of dysregulated fear, a more recent derivation of behavioral inhibition, both in relation to regulatory efforts and as a moderator of relations between maternal comforting and toddler regulatory behaviors. Dysregulated fear related directly and positively to attention-shifting, and it moderated the relation between maternal comforting and both caregiver-focused and self-focused behaviors. This study provides new evidence of the importance of both extrinsic and intrinsic correlates of emotion regulation in early childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychiatric Aspects of Obesity: A Narrative Review of Pathophysiology and Psychopathology.

In the last decades, obesity has become a major concern for clinical and public health. Despite the variety of available treatments, the outcomes remain—by and large—still unsatisfactory, owing to high rates of nonresponse and relapse. Interestingly, obesity is being associated with a growing surge of neuropsychiatric problems, certainly related to the pathogenesis of this condition, and likely to be of great consequence as for its treatment and prognosis. In a neurobiologic direction, a sturdy body of evidence has recently shown that the immune–metabolic–endocrine dyscrasias, notoriously attached to excess body weight/adiposity, affect and impair the morpho-functional integrity of the brain, thus possibly contributing to neuroprogressive/degenerative processes and behavioral deviances. Likewise, in a neuropsychiatric perspective, obesity displays complex associations with mood disorders and affective temperamental dimensions (namely cyclothymia), eating disorders characterized by overeating/binge-eating behaviors, ADHD-related executive dysfunctions, emotional dysregulation and motivational–addictive disturbances. With this review, we attempt to provide the clinician a synoptic, yet exhaustive, tool for a more conscious approach to that subset of this condition, which could be reasonably termed “psychiatric” obesity.

Emotional reactivity and regulation in 5- to 8-year-old children: An ERP study of own-age face processing

The school-age years is a period of increasing social interaction with peers and development of emotion regulation in facilitating that interaction. This study was an investigation of the neural correlates of emotional reactivity and reappraisal in typically developing school-age children elicited by threatening facial expressions of same-aged peers. This experimental paradigm is novel in eliciting event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to social stimuli that are ecologically valid to the everyday life of children. ERPs of 5- to 8-year-old children (N = 41, 18 females) were elicited by threatening (i.e., angry and fearful) and neutral child facial expressions, which were preceded by audio contextual cues. Three conditions differed in audio-image pairing: neutral context-neutral expression (neutral condition), negative context-threatening expression (threat condition), and reappraisal context-threatening expression (reappraisal condition). In addition, parental reporting of childhood temperament was collected to determine if elicited ERP morphologies were associated with temperamental dimensions of negative affect, extraversion, and effortful control. Elicitation of the P100 and N170 did not largely differ between conditions; however, amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP), a marker of heightened emotional reactivity and attention, was greater for threatening faces relative to neutral faces. During the reappraisal condition, no differences in ERP activity was observed compared to the threat condition. Neural substrates of emotional reactivity to social threat from peers were evident; however, the lack of ERP modulation facilitating reappraisal and the lack of strong associations between ERP morphology and temperamental dimensions is indicative of heterogeneity in LPP elicitation underlying emotion regulation in children.

Frontal EEG asymmetry moderates the associations between negative temperament and behavioral problems during childhood.

Fearful inhibition and impulsivity-anger significantly predict internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. An important moderator that may affect these associations is frontal EEG asymmetry (FA). We examined how temperament and FA at 6 years interactively predicted behavioral problems at 9 years. A community sample of 186 children (93 boys, 93 girls) participated in the study. Results indicated that the effect of fearful inhibition on parent-reported internalizing problems increased as children exhibited greater right FA. The effect of impulsivity-anger on parent-reported externalizing problems increased as children showed greater left FA. Because FA was allowed to vary rather than children being dichotomized into membership in left FA and right FA groups, we observed that children's FA contributed to the resilience process only when FA reached specific asymmetry levels. These findings highlight the importance of considering the different functions of FA in combination with specific dimensions of temperament in predicting children's socioemotional outcomes. Clinical implications include providing suggestions for intervention services by demonstrating the role of FA in developing behavioral problems and inspiring research on whether it is possible to alter EEG activation and thus potentially improve developmental outcomes.