Temperament Development Research Articles

Studying Cross-cultural Differences in the Development of Infant Temperament: People’s Republic of China, the United States of America, and Spain

Investigated early development of temperament across three cultures: People's Republic of China (PRC), United States of America (US), and Spain, utilizing a longitudinal design (assessments at 3, 6, and 9 months of age). Selection of these countries presented an opportunity to conduct Eastern-Western/Individualistic-Collectivistic comparisons. The greatest number of significant differences (i.e., involving more temperament dimensions) was anticipated for the US (Western/Individualistic) and PRC (Eastern/Collectivistic) comparisons. The US sample included 66, the PRC group 69, and the Spanish sample, 60 mothers, all of whom completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) 3 times, when their infants were 3, 6, and 9 months of age. Results related to mean group differences were generally consistent with our hypotheses, demonstrating a greater number of significant differences for US versus PRC, with fewer differences observed for US and Spain. Analyses addressing developmental changes in temperament indicated patterns consistent with a priori expectations and cross-cultural differences.

Infant temperament: an evaluation of children with Down Syndrome

The current study investigated differences in the development of temperament for normally developing infants and infants with Down Syndrome (DS). DS has been described as the most prevalent cause for mental retardation, and its effects on the central nervous system may also influence the development of temperament. Parents of 3–12‐month‐old normally developing infants and infants with DS completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised (IBQ‐R). Results indicated that parents of infants with DS described their children as exhibiting higher levels of temperament dimensions associated with orienting/regulating capacity, and lower levels of attributes collectively referred to as negative affectivity, relative to comparison children. Specifically, infants with DS were reported to exhibit lower levels of distress to limitations, higher levels of low intensity pleasure, duration of orienting, falling reactivity, and cuddliness/affiliation. No significant differences were found between IBQ‐R factor intercorrelations for children with DS and normatively developing infants.

A cross‐cultural comparison of teachers’ expressed beliefs about music education and their observed practices in classroom music teaching

Through interviews and observing day‐to‐day classroom practice, this study explores the beliefs of 10 music teachers in elementary schools in Vancouver and Hong Kong. The results demonstrate that the music teachers of the two localities hold similar cognitive beliefs about the essential elements of music education. However, they hold different beliefs about the value or impact of music education on the psychological or character development of students. Music teachers of Vancouver are found to be more student‐centred than their counterparts in Hong Kong, and this is reflected in both the curriculum and activities selected for classroom teaching. Though both groups of teachers place similar emphasis on western music, in Canada more classroom activities are based around the student’s personal enjoyment and expression. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, music education is viewed as a means of nurturing the student’s temperamental development. While students in Vancouver are allowed to express their personal musical preferences in classroom activities, in Hong Kong students are required to perform according to prescribed standard indicators of success. This is probably linked—albeit invisibly—to Chinese Confucian culture.

Temperamental development in the rat: The first year

Behavioral continuity and change was studied in 32 (16 male) Wistar rats observed in the hole board and canopy tests, considered to measure exploration and anxiety, respectively. Subjects were tested at 6, 11, 16, 21, 37, and 52 weeks of age. In comparison to 16-week-old rats (the standard age of rats in many experiments), juveniles seemed more anxious and exploratory, whereas mature rats were more anxious and less exploratory. There was substantial behavioral consistency between week 6 and 52, the correlations being especially high between weeks 11 and 52. Principal components analyses revealed one temperamental dimension reflecting harm avoidance in juvenile and mature rats, whereas adult rats were characterized by a further dimension, reflecting novelty seeking.

Structure and cross-contextual stability of neonatal temperament

Using a sample of 249 newborn Peruvian infants we investigated the stability and factorial structure of neonatal temperament, assessed in two different settings during the first week of life. While neonates were still in the hospital their behavior during a structured anthropometry examination was videotaped and subsequently coded on four temperament dimensions: activity level, negative emotionality, alertness and soothability. The same dimensions were coded using a videotape obtained during a subsequent visit to the neonates home. Results indicated that while there was modest stability of temperament across the two settings levels of neonatal temperament also varied across settings, with increased distress and reduced soothability in the more stressful laboratory examination and increased levels of alertness during the unstructured home observation. Across both settings neonatal temperament was defined by a primary component linking alertness and soothability with a reverse loading for irritability. We interpret this component as an early precursor of self-regulation. However, our results indicate that the structure of neonatal temperament also is sensitive to setting, with the second identified component linking activity level to irritability in the laboratory assessment and with alertness in the home observation. Results are discussed with reference both to current theories of the development of temperament and to the importance of assessment of contextual characteristics when assessing temperament, even in the neonatal period.

Worried and Blue: Mild Parental Anxiety and Depression in Relation to the Development of Young Children's Temperament and Behavior Problems

Objective. This study explores relations between mild parental symptoms of anxiety and depression and the temperament and behavior patterns in preschool age children. Design. Parental report and laboratory observations were collected in a community sample (N = 65) of Head Start and other preschool attendees, ages 3-5 years. Results. Mild parental dysphoria is associated with measures of both child temperament and problem behaviors and these child personality measures vary with parental symptomatology. Mild parental depression was diffusely associated with increased levels of both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and with attention and emotion regulatory difficulties in children's temperament. Mild parental anxiety was more circumscribed in its association with child problem behavior but was specifically related to children's temperamental difficulties in attention and emotion regulation. Patterns differentiating association with depression and anxiety symptoms were evident from both parental and observer sources of information. Conclusions. Even mild levels of parental distress may relate to both parental perceptions of child temperament and behavior as well as what is observed by others.

Parental perceptions and infant temperament development

The assumption that subjective parental perceptions of infant affective temperament characteristics as measured by parent reports influence the development of these characteristics has occasionally been considered in the literature. The present study investigates whether parental perceptions concerning infant positive emotionality, negative emotionality and fear are predictive of the subsequent development of these characteristics. One hundred and one infants and their primary caregivers were observed at infant ages of 4, 8, and 12 months. At each age the temperament characteristics were assessed using standardized laboratory routines and parent reports. A structural equation model with observed variables was specified and evaluated. It was shown that in most cases parental perceptions preceded the observed temperament characteristic. Specifically, the caregiver’s perception of the 4-month-old as high in positive emotionality was followed by higher positive emotionality in the infant at 8 months and the perception of high negative emotionality at 8 months was followed by high negative emotionality at 12 months. In the case of fear, predictability from the caregiver’s preceding expectations was demonstrated between 4 and 8 as well as between 8 and 12 months. The findings suggest that parents shape the developing infant temperament characteristics according to their perceptions.

Antecedents of mother–infant interaction and infant irritability in the first 3 months of life

This research investigated the relationship of infant and mother characteristics to the development of infant temperament and mother–infant interaction during the first 3 months of life. Fifty-six mothers and their low-risk newborn infants participated in the research. Maternal questionnaires were administered prenatally and neonatal behavioral assessments were administered in the early postnatal period; mother–infant interaction was observed at 1 and 3 months. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression techniques. The results indicate that neonatal irritability shows some consistency when time to calm is the criterion; that observed fussing and crying is associated not with neonatal irritability, but with unresponsive maternal attitudes and behavior; that initial irritability is associated with greater responsiveness to female than to male infants; and that by 3 months, antecedent mother and infant characteristics contribute significantly to the prediction of observed mother behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of a transactional model of development.

Maternal prenatal, postpartum, and concurrent stressors and temperament in 3-year-olds: a person and variable analysis.

The study was based on the assumption that stressors in the lives of pregnant and parenting women are processes that affect prenatal, postpartum, and concurrent maternal hormones and emotions and that these processes affect child temperament. The hypotheses were tested in a group of 67 young mothers and their 3-year-old children. Mothers were clustered into groups based on longitudinal patterns of hormones and emotions at prenatal, postpartum. and 3-year follow-up assessments. The analyses focused on relating maternal patterns of hormones and emotions to the child's temperament at age 3 years. Temperament was assessed by questionnaire and observation of behavior during a challenging situation. Illustrative findings included the following. Verbal aggression and nonverbal aggression were significantly higher in children of mothers in the low prenatal hormone cluster than children of mothers in the high prenatal hormone cluster. Children of mothers in the postpartum low testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), and androstenedione (delta4-A) and medium cortisol (Cort) cluster (mainly low hormone cluster) exhibited significantly more physical aggression than children of mothers in the medium T and A4-A, high E2 and low Cort cluster. Maternal patterns of hormones, emotions, and parenting attitudes and practices were related to multiple aspects of temperament when the children were age 3 years. The findings support the important role of maternal biological and psychological processes in the development of child temperament.

Internal Working Models, Trust, and Sharing among Foragers

Internal Working Models, Trust, and Sharing among Foragers

Temperament Development Modeled as a Nonlinear Complex Adaptive System

Using approach-withdrawal (AW) as a specific instance of temperament, a theoretical model of temperament as a complex dynamic system is proposed. Developmental contextualism (Lerner, 1998) serves as a guiding theory in determining the structural components of the system and Kauffman's (1993) Boolean models of self-organization are adapted to estimate the parameter functions. In this model P(AW) = f(φ, θ) where P(AW) is the probability density function of an approach or a withdrawal response, (φ is a standardized parameter estimate of the biological sensitivity to stimulation, and θ is a standardized parameter estimate of the contextual response to an approach or withdrawal response. It is theorized that the functions of (φ and θ follow a Hill function of the forms: dφ /dt = (θ2/c2 + θ2) − K1φ dφ /dt = (φ 2/c2 + φ2) − K2φ, where K1, K2, and c are system constants. This results in a double sigmoid function in which at extreme values of φ and θ the system stabilizes on a steady state of either approach or withdrawal response patterns. At intermediate parameter values the probability density functions of approach and withdrawal responses are wider. Thus, AW can be modeled as representing two basins of attraction. In addition, considerations are given to the systems sensitivity to initial conditions.

Effects of chorion type on neonatal temperament differences in monozygotic twin pairs.

Monozygotic (MZ) twins with a known chorion type were assessed in the neonatal period to determine if placentation was related to twin similarity in early temperament development. The sample included 48 pairs with monochorionic placentas and 29 pairs with dichorionic placentas. The assessment focused on irritability, resistance to soothing, activity while awake, activity during sleep, reactivity, and reinforcement value. There were no differences between the monochorionic and the dichorionic twins in any of the temperament ratings. Chorion type was not related to cotwin similarity on any of the temperament ratings. It was concluded that differences in prenatal environment reflected in placentation type did not affect early temperament for MZ twins.

Temperament, Self-Regulation, and Education

In recent years, advances in the study of temperament have identified a short list of temperament dimensions. These include positive emotionality/approach, fear, irritability/frustration, attentional persistence and activity level. In this article, we review research on the first four of these dimensions, briefly linking them to underlying biological systems. We then apply our knowledge of temperament to teachers' approaches to children's mastery motivation, fear of novelty, and ego based anxiety. We argue that educators' training should include a basic understanding of the development of temperament as well as methods for assessing individual differences in children's emotional reactivity and attentional self-regulation.

Development of Temperament: Childhood Temperament and the Mother's Childrearing Attitudes as Predictors of Adolescent Temperament in a 9-Year Follow-Up Study

Development of temperament dimensions of activity, sociability, and negative emotionality were studied in a random sample of 386 6-year old children over a 9-year period. Childhood temperament dimensions and the mother's childrearing attitudes were measured at age 6 and at age 9 by mother's report, and self-reports of adolescent temperament were obtained at age 15. The structural modeling analyses indicate that the development of temperament may be a function of both sex-differentiated maternal childrearing attitudes as well as constitutional behavioral factors. First, the sex-differentiated role of maternal disciplinary style was found: The mother's low level of strict disciplinary style in childhood predicted a low level of negative emotionality in girls, and a high level of strict disciplinary style predicted low sociability and high negative emotionality in boys. Second, heterotypic behavioral continuity was indicated in girls for adolescent sociability that was predicted by childhood sociability, and...

Predicting infant temperament from neonatal reactivity for AGA/SGA twin pairs.

The predictive relation between neonatal reactivity and 12-, 18-, and 24-month temperament was assessed for 22 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA)/small-for-gestational-age (SGA) twin pairs. Neonatal reactivity included ratings of visual and auditory orienting responses to a bull's-eye, rattle, bell, voice, and face plus voice combined, as well as alertness. Infant temperament ratings were made of emotional tone, activity, attentiveness, and social orientation to staff during age-appropriate activities in the laboratory. There were no group differences in the neonatal or infant ratings. For AGA twins, a pattern of predictive correlations was obtained between neonatal reactivity and temperament at each age. A similar predictive pattern was not observed for the SGA twins. Group differences in rates of maturation related to stresses associated with intrauterine growth retardation influenced the significance of the neonatal variables for later temperament development.

The development of temperament in infancy: Continuity and change

The development of temperament in infancy: Continuity and change

Predicting infant temperament from neonatal reactivity for AGA/SGA twin pairs

AbstractThe predictive relation between neonatal reactivity and 12-, 18-, and 24-month temperament was assessed for 22 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA)/small-for-gestational-age (SGA) twin pairs. Neonatal reactivity included ratings of visual and auditory orienting responses to a bull's-eye, rattle, bell, voice, and face plus voice combined, as well as alertness. Infant temperament ratings were made of emotional tone, activity, attentiveness, and social orientation to staff during ageappropriate activities in the laboratory. There were no group differences in the neonatal or infant ratings. For AGA twins, a pattern of predictive correlations was obtained between neonatal reactivity and temperament at each age. A similar predictive pattern was not observed for the SGA twins. Group differences in rates of maturation related to stresses associated with intrauterine growth retardation influenced the significance of the neonatal variables for later temperament development.

A Reconceptualization of the Effects of Undernutrition on Children's Biological, Psychosocial, and Behavioral Development and commentaries

A Reconceptualization of the Effects of Undernutrition on Children's Biological, Psychosocial, and Behavioral Development and commentaries

Temperament development to 30 months of age in discordant twin pairs.

Twins within pairs often have different weights at birth. A difference of 15% or greater is defined as discordance for weight and is considered to place one or both infants at risk. Temperature differences had been found in the neonatal period for fullterm discordant cotwins, but not for preterm discordant cotwins, suggesting that continued gestation for discordant twins was a risk variable for early behavior. 30 pairs of fullterm and 17 pairs of preterm discordant pairs were followed at 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 30 months of age. Group differences were observed for the longitudinal maintenance of cotwin discordance in physical measures, with preterm cotwins becoming more like each other. In laboratory assessments, temperament differences no longer were observed between the larger and smaller cotwins. Questionnaires indicated that mothers generally did not differentiate between their larger and smaller cotwin children in temperament ratings, except for ratings of mood for the fullterm pairs. Thus, emotionality was the only temperament dimension that differentiated between the fullterm discordant twins both in the neonatal period and at later ages. In the main, it was concluded that the fullterm discordant twins overcame the adverse in-utero influences on early behavioral development.

Attachment, temperament, and ego development in young adulthood

Attachment and temperament have each been thought to contribute to personality development; however, few empirical studies have examined the relations between the two. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate, in young adulthood, the relations among attachment, temperament, and two aspects of ego development, namely,overall ego development and ego development with respect tointimacy. One hundred and seven college students served as participants. Sixty one percent classified themselves as securely attached and 39% as insecurely attached. A factor analysis of the Emotionality-Activity-Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Adults yielded a primary factor (labeled negative emotionality) that accounted for 41% of the variance. A regression analysis then revealed that both attachment status and temperament predicted overall ego development; however, only attachment status predicted ego development with respect to intimacy. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.