Temperamental Reactivity Research Articles

Temperament, socioeconomic adversity, and perinatal risk as related to preschoolers' BMI.

Disparities in childhood obesity necessitate identification of risk-protective and risk- augmenting factors for young children experiencing socioeconomic adversity born with perinatal risk. Temperamental reactivity is a biological marker of susceptibility to environmental characteristics. This study tested whether temperamental reactivity moderated the relation between socioeconomic risk and children's body mass index (BMI). This study examined 100 Head Start preschoolers (Mage = 4.07 years, SD = 0.56) with perinatal risk, defined as preterm birth (PT, <37 weeks gestation) or low birth weight (LBW, <2500g). Anthropometric measurements were collected from children and parents. Parents completed questionnaires on family level demographics and household food insecurity to create a cumulative socioeconomic risk variable. Parents also completed the Children's Behavior Questionnaire to assess preschoolers' temperamental reactivity. Results supported a differential susceptibility hypothesis such that preschoolers' temperamental reactivity significantly moderated the relation between socioeconomic risk and child BMI z-score (BMIz). Higher BMIz was observed in highly reactive children exposed to higher socioeconomic risk. Alternatively, lower exposure to socioeconomic risk was related to lower BMIz for highly reactive children. Findings suggest that highly reactive PT/LBW preschoolers are differentially susceptible to early socioeconomic adversity in a for better or for worse manner regarding BMIz. Thus, consideration of temperament as a marker of biological sensitivity to context may be necessary to inform obesity prevention for PT/LBW preschoolers from low-income families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Early maternal and paternal caregiving moderates the links between preschoolers' reactivity and regulation and maturation of the HPA-immune axis.

While early caregiving and child's temperamental dispositions work in concert to shape social-emotional outcomes, their unique and joint contribution to the maturation of the child's stress and immune systems remain unclear. We followed children longitudinally from infancy to preschool to address the buffering effect of early parenting on the link between temperamental dysregulation and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-immune axis in preschool-aged children. Participants included 47 typically developing children and their 94 parents in both mother-father and two-father families followed across the first 4-years of family formation. In infancy, we observed parent-infant synchrony and measured parental oxytocin; in preschool, we observed temperamental reactivity and self-regulation and assessed children's cortisol and secretory Immunoglobulin A (s-IgA), biomarkers of the stress and immune systems. Greater self-regulation and lower negative emotionality were associated with lower baseline s-IgA and cortisol, respectively. However, these links were defined by interactive effects so that preschoolers with low self-regulation displayed higher s-IgA levels only in cases of low parent-infant synchrony and negative emotionality linked with greater baseline cortisol levels only when parental oxytocin levels were low. Results emphasize the long-term stress-buffering role of the neurobiology of parental care, demonstrate comparable developmental paths for mothers and fathers, and delineate the complex developmental cascades to the maturation of children's stress-management systems.

Supplemental Material for The Significance of Early Temperamental Reactivity for Children’s Social Competence With Peers: A Meta-Analytic Review and Comparison With the Role of Early Attachment

Supplemental Material for The Significance of Early Temperamental Reactivity for Children’s Social Competence With Peers: A Meta-Analytic Review and Comparison With the Role of Early Attachment

Okul Öncesi Dönemdeki Çocukların Fiziksel ve İlişkisel Saldırganlıklarının Mizaç Özellikleriyle İlişkisinin İncelenmesi

Çocuğun hayatında sürekli hale gelebilecek saldırganlık yönelimi ve saldırganlık davranışının temeli okul öncesi dönemde başlamaktadır. Bu dönemde çocuk saldırganlık yönelimi göstermekte ve bunu kalıcı hale getirmektedir. Çocukların saldırgan davranışlar göstermelerinde çocukların mizaçsal özellikleri de bir risk faktörüdür. Mizaç biyolojik temelli bir özelliktir. Yürümeye başlayan çocuğun saldırgan davranışında, çocuğun zor mizacı ve zayıf sosyalleşme ortamları önemli rol oynar. Çocukta zor bir mizaç; sert, tutarsız ve olumsuz sosyalleşme davranışlarını ortaya çıkartır ve bu davranışlar agresif veya yıkıcı davranışlara dönüşebilir. Saldırgan davranışlar üzerinde etkili olan mizaç, bireyler arasında farklılık gösteren ve biyolojik etkilerle ortaya çıkan duygusal ve davranışsal özelliklerdir. Bununla birlikte, erken çocukluk müdahaleleri bu riskleri önlemede etkilidir. Bu çalışmada çocukların fiziksel ve ilişkisel saldırgan davranışları ile mizaç özellikleri arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini İstanbul’da resmi iki anaokulunda okul öncesi eğitime devam eden 48-72 ay arasındaki 231 çocuk oluşturmuştur. Araştırmada veriler “Kişisel Bilgi Formu”, “Sosyal Davranış Ölçeği” ve “Çocuklar İçin Kısa Mizaç Ölçeği” kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın sonucuna göre cinsiyet ve yaş fiziksel saldırganlıkta anlamlı farklılık oluştururken, kardeş sayısı, okula devam süresi anlamlı farklılık oluşturmamıştır. İlişkisel saldırganlıkta ise yaş ve kardeş sayısı gruplar arasında anlamlı farklılık oluştururken cinsiyet ve okula devam süresi anlamlı farklılık oluşturmamıştır. Saldırganlığın mizaç özellikleri ilişkisinde ise fiziksel saldırganlık ile sebatkarlık mizaç özelliği arasında negatif yönde hafif düzeyde, tepkisel mizaç özelliğiyle pozitif yönde hafif düzeyde anlamlı ilişki, İlişkisel saldırganlık boyutunda ise ritmiklik ile ilişkisel saldırganlık arasında negatif yönde hafif düzeyde anlamlı ilişki bulunmuştur.

Amygdala Functional Connectivity and Negative Reactive Temperament at Age 4 Months

Infant amygdala connectivity correlates with maternal reports of infant temperament characterized by novelty-evoked distress and avoidance. However, no studies have examined how human infant amygdala connectivity relates to direct observations of novelty-evoked distress. This study examined the link between amygdala connectivity and infant novelty-evoked distress using direct observation of temperament. Novelty-evoked distress was assessed at 4 months of age (N= 90) using a standardized reactivity assessment and parent report. Within 3 weeks of assessment, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was collected in a subset of infants (n= 34). Using a whole-brain voxelwise approach, amygdala connectivity associated with positive and negative affect during the reactivity assessment was examined. Regions where the association of amygdala connectivity with negative affect was higher than with positive affect were then examined. Associations between amygdala connectivity and parent report of temperament were also examined. Greater amygdala-cingulate and amygdala-superior frontal gyrus connectivity was associated with lower positive affect during the reactivity assessment. Further, the association between amygdala-cingulate connectivity was greater for negative affect compared with positive affect. There were no significant associations between latency to approach novelty (as measured by parent report) and amygdala connectivity. Validation analyses conducted using a large independent longitudinal sample (N= 323) demonstrated that negative reactivity was associated with increased child-reported anxiety symptoms in adolescence. These results provide novel insight into the developmental pathophysiology of novelty-evoked distress. This is consistent with research linking an altered cognitive control mechanism to temperamental risk for anxiety.

The Role of Adolescents\u2019 and Their Parents\u2019 Temperament Types in Adolescents\u2019 Academic Emotions: A Goodness-of-Fit Approach

BackgroundAcademic emotions (e.g., enjoyment of learning or anxiety) play a significant role in academic performance and educational choices. An important factor explaining academic emotions can be students’ temperament and the goodness-of-fit between their temperament and their social environment, including parents.ObjectiveThis study investigated the unique and interactive effects of early adolescents’ and their parents’ temperament types on adolescents’ academic emotions in literacy and mathematics.MethodThe participants in the study consisted of 690 adolescent–parent dyads. Parents rated their own and their adolescents’ temperaments, and adolescents reported their positive and negative emotions in literacy and mathematics.ResultsThe results showed that adolescents’ temperament type was significantly related to their negative emotions in both school subjects. Adolescents with an undercontrolled temperament reported more anger compared to adolescents with a resilient or overcontrolled temperament, and more anxiety, shame, and hopelessness compared to resilient adolescents. In addition, undercontrolled adolescents reported more boredom in mathematics than resilient or overcontrolled adolescents. The parents’ temperament type was related to positive emotions. Adolescents of resilient parents reported greater pride in mathematics than adolescents of undercontrolled or overcontrolled parents and higher hope in mathematics than adolescents of overcontrolled parents. Finally, overcontrolled adolescents with a resilient or overcontrolled parent reported higher enjoyment of mathematics and literacy in comparison to overcontrolled adolescents with an undercontrolled parent.ConclusionsThe findings of the study provide new knowledge about the role of temperament in the school context by showing that differences in temperamental reactivity and regulation relate to adolescents’ academic emotions.

Developmental Paths to Anxiety in an Autism-Enriched Infant Cohort: The Role of Temperamental Reactivity and Regulation

The aim of this study was to explore the associations between temperamental reactivity and regulation and the emergence of anxiety traits in a longitudinal sample of infants enriched for later ASD. Parents of 143 infants who were at high- and low-risk for ASD rated their child’s temperament traits when they were 9, 15 and 24 months old; they rated anxiety and ASD traits when they were 36 months old. The findings suggest that behavioural inhibition may be an early predictor of later anxiety in children with and without ASD and that lower levels of effortful control in children who later develop ASD may contribute to the higher expression of anxiety within this population.

Developmental Paths to Anxiety in an Autism-Enriched Infant Cohort: The Role of Temperamental Reactivity and Regulation

Developmental Paths to Anxiety in an Autism-Enriched Infant Cohort: The Role of Temperamental Reactivity and Regulation

The influence of temperament on stress-induced emotional eating in children.

SummaryBackgroundStress‐induced emotional eating is a risk factor for overweight and obesity. Previous research proposes both the human serotonin transporter gene (5‐HTTLPR) and child's reactive temperament are promising candidates to help explain individual differences in stress‐induced emotional eating and weight. Understanding the association between specific genotypes, reactive temperament factors, and stress‐induced emotional eating may inform the development of personalized and effective treatment for children who may be at risk for overweight and obesity.ObjectiveThe current study explored the conditional indirect effect of genetic and environmental susceptibility (i.e., the interaction between 5‐HTTLPR and reactive temperament) on weight (as measured by percent body fat) mediated by stress‐induced emotional eating.MethodOne hundred and forty‐seven children (4 to 6 years old; 50.3% female; 22.4% Hispanic), along with their primary caregiver, completed laboratory tasks and questionnaires that assessed the child's reactive temperament, stress‐induced emotional eating, and percent body fat.ResultsThe interaction between 5‐HTTLPR and impulsivity as well as with negative affectivity significantly predicted percent body fat. The interaction between 5‐HTTLPR and impulsivity as well as with negative affectivity significantly predicted both total calorie consumption and rate of total calorie consumption. However, the mediation aspect of this statistical model was not supported.ConclusionsChild reactive temperament is an important indicator of how children approach eating when stressed. Mental health providers may consider prescribing strategies to reduce emotional eating among children with the SL variant and moderate to high impulsivity as well as children with the LL variant and high negative affectivity.

Does bull temperament impact growth performance and semen quality?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of temperament on body weight and reproductive performance of Nelore bulls. Temperament of 24 young bulls was assessed by chute score (CS) and flight speed (FS). Based on the results of two consecutive evaluations (M1 and M2), bulls were divided into two groups according to their CS: Reactive (n = 12) and Calm (n = 12). Blood samples were collected from both groups for testosterone and cortisol analysis once a month for 4 months. Similarly, over 4 months semen was collected along with scrotal and ocular globe thermography for further analysis, and body weight (BW) was recorded. Reactive bulls showed greater CS (P<0.0001) and FS (P<0.01) and lower BW (P<0.01) than Calm bulls. Cortisol concentrations in serum were reduced in the Calm group (P<0.05), but serum testosterone concentrations did not differ between groups with distinct behaviour. The scrotal thermography on Reactive bulls presented greater temperature at the caudal pole of testicle (P<0.05). However, semen quality (volume, kinetics, morphology and concentration) did not differ between the two groups. The results of this study demonstrated that bulls with reactive temperament were affected on their cortisol concentrations leading to loss of body weight and greater testicles temperature. The temperament of Nelore bulls had no impact on testosterone concentrations or fresh semen quality, even with increased serum cortisol and scrotal temperature.

Infant behavioral reactivity predicts change in amygdala volume 12 years later

The current study examined the link between temperamental reactivity in infancy and amygdala development in middle childhood. A sample (n = 291) of four-month-old infants was assessed for infant temperament, and two groups were identified: those exhibiting negative reactivity (n = 116) and those exhibiting positive reactivity (n = 106). At 10 and 12 years of age structural imaging was completed on a subset of these participants (n = 75). Results indicate that, between 10 and 12 years of age, left amygdala volume increased more slowly in those with negative compared to positive reactive temperament. These results provide novel evidence linking early temperament to distinct patterns of brain development over middle childhood.

Maternal Neural Reactivity During Pregnancy Predicts Infant Temperament.

Maternal biological systems impact infant temperament as early as the prenatal period, though the mechanisms of this association are unknown. Using a prospective, longitudinal design, we found that maternal (N = 89) amplitudes of the late positive potential (LPP) in response to negative stimuli during the second, but not the third, trimester of pregnancy predicted observed and physiological indices of temperamental reactivity in infants at age 4 months. Maternal LPP was positively associated with observed infant fear and negatively associated with frontal EEG asymmetry and cortisol reactivity in infants at age 4 months. Results identify a putative mechanism, early in pregnancy, for the intergenerational transmission of emotional reactivity from mother to infant.

Because you had a bad day: General and daily relations between reactive temperament, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms in youth.

Negative emotionality (NE) and positive emotionality (PE) have repeatedly shown to act as vulnerability factors for youth depression. Less research examined the mechanisms through which these reactive temperament traits may differently confer vulnerability to depression. Based on recent integrated models of depression proposing emotion regulation as a key underlying mechanism, the current study aimed to clarify the general and day-to-day relations among temperament, emotion regulation strategies, and depressive symptoms in Dutch-speaking youth (35% boys; Mage = 13.27 years, SD = 1.98) using a cross-sectional (n = 495) and a 7-day daily diary design (n = 469). Self-reported temperament, trait rumination, trait positive refocusing, and depressive symptoms were measured at baseline. State rumination, state positive refocusing, and depressive symptoms were further assessed daily. Whereas results revealed that NE and PE interacted in predicting baseline and daily depressive symptoms, the cross-sectional analyses provide preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that NE and PE each provide unique pathways for understanding vulnerability to depression. Additional analyses in the daily diary study showed NE to be significantly related to trajectories of state rumination. Results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the associations between temperament, emotion regulation strategies, and depressive symptoms in youth.

Gender differences in trajectories of depressive symptoms across childhood and adolescence: A multi-group growth mixture model

BackgroundThis study sought to identify depression trajectories across childhood and to model a range of child and family predictors of whether a child may be on an increasing trajectory towards depressive disorder in adolescence. MethodsMulti-group growth mixture modelling (MGMM) was used on a sample of 4983 children from the Longitudinal Study of Australia Children (LSAC). Depressive symptoms of these children were assessed over 10-years with six time-points, administered every second year commencing at 4 years via the parent report version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Predictors of class membership were also examined. ResultsFour trajectories were found to be the best fitting model characterising low-stable (75%); decreasing (11%); increasing (9%); high and rising (6%) groups. Females were more likely to be in a trajectory of increasing depressive symptoms between 4 and 14 years of age than males. Reactive temperament and maternal depression at four and six years of age were consistent predictors of increasing and high trajectories while persistent temperament acts as a protective factor for females. LimitationsThe findings should be interpreted in the light of limitations due to common-method variance and the absence of diagnostic indicators of depressive disorder. ConclusionsWe conclude that there are gender differences in patterns of depressive symptoms from childhood to adolescence and meaningful predictors of these early developmental trajectories. Preventative interventions in childhood targeting parents with depression and children with temperamental difficulties may be indicated.

Parents' perceptions of their spouses' parenting and infant temperament as predictors of parenting and coparenting.

The present study examined how mothers' and fathers' perceptions of each others' parenting competence and infant temperament interact to predict each parent's individual behaviors during coparenting (involvement, support, and warmth) and their dyadic child-centered coparenting behavior. Data were obtained from a longitudinal study of 125 families in central Texas over their first 2 years of parenthood. Ratings of infants' temperament were obtained when infants were 6 weeks old. Each parents' perceptions of their spouse's parenting were coded from a couple interaction task when infants were 8 months old, and parents' coparenting behaviors were coded from triadic (mother-father-child) interactions obtained when children were 24 months old. Parents' perceptions of their spouse's parenting at 8 months interacted with their infants' temperament to predict their later warmth and dyadic child-centered coparenting. High maternal perceptions of fathers' parenting predicted high levels of father warmth and high levels of dyadic child-centered coparenting when infant temperamental reactivity was high. In contrast, high paternal perceptions of mothers' parenting marginally predicted high levels of mother warmth and high dyadic child-centered coparenting when infant temperamental reactivity was low. Parents' individual warmth and fathers' involvement and support were also associated with dyadic child-centered coparenting. This study should help researchers further understand how parents' attitudes toward each other's parenting interact with their infants' temperament qualities across the early years of parenthood to influence the quality of their dyadic coparenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The neural development of empathy is sensitive to caregiving and early trauma

Empathy is a core human social ability shaped by biological dispositions and caregiving experiences; yet the mechanisms sustaining maturation of the neural basis of empathy are unknown. Here, we followed eighty-four children, including 42 exposed to chronic war-related adversity, across the first decade of life, and assessed parenting, child temperament, and anxiety disorders as contributors to the neural development of empathy. At preadolescence, participants underwent magenetoencephalography while observing others’ distress. Preadolescents show a widely-distributed response in structures implicating the overlap of affective (automatic) and cognitive (higher-order) empathy, which is predicted by mother-child synchrony across childhood. Only temperamentally reactive young children growing in chronic adversity, particularly those who later develop anxiety disorders, display additional engagement of neural nodes possibly reflecting hyper-mentalizing and ruminations over the distressing stimuli. These findings demonstrate how caregiving patterns fostering interpersonal resonance, reactive temperament, and chronic adversity combine across early development to shape the human empathic brain.

Investigation of a developmental pathway from infant anger reactivity to childhood inhibitory control and ADHD symptoms: interactive effects of early maternal caregiving.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex pathogenesis. Individual differences in temperamental reactivity - in particular, anger reactivity - are predictive of ADHD. The goal of this study was to examine the moderating (maternal caregiving behaviors; MCB) and mediating (inhibitory control) variables of reactivity using a 9-year multimethod prospective longitudinal design. Participants included 291 children (135 male; 156 female) who participated in a larger study of temperament and social-emotional development. Anger reactivity was assessed by observation of facial anger during an arm restraint task, and MCB were observed during a series of semi-structured mother-infant tasks, both at 9months of age. Inhibitory control was assessed by performance on a go/no-go task at 5years of age. ADHD symptoms were assessed by parent and teacher report questionnaires at 7 and 9years, respectively. Anger reactivity and poor inhibitory control were predictive of later ADHD symptoms. Results supported a moderated mediation model, in which the indirect effects of anger reactivity on ADHD symptoms through inhibitory control were conditional on quality of early MCB. Inhibitory control mediated the effect of anger reactivity on ADHD symptoms, but only among children exposed to lower-quality MCB. Infant anger reactivity exerts a direct effect on later ADHD from infancy, suggesting anger reactivity as a very early indicator of ADHD risk. Higher-quality caregiving did not buffer against the direct risk of anger reactivity on ADHD but did buffer against the indirect risk by reducing the negative effect of anger reactivity on inhibitory control. Thus, in the developmental pathway from anger reactivity to ADHD, more sensitive, less intrusive parenting supports the development of protective mechanisms (i.e. inhibitory control) to remediate ADHD risk.

Ingestive behavior and temperament of Nellore cattle classified for residual feed intake

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between ingestive behavior, temperament and residual feed intake (RFI) in Nellore cattle. Sixty-two bulls and 56 heifers after weaning, housed in individual pens, were evaluated in individual performance tests. Animals were classified as low RFI ( 0.135 kg day-1; greater than mean plus 0.5 standard deviation). Ingestive behavior was evaluated for 24 h by direct observation, every 24 days in bulls or every 10 days in heifers. Temperament was assessed by flight speed, reactivity in mobile confinement, composite score, and serum cortisol measurement. The most efficient animals (low RFI, 5.6 kg DM day-1) consumed 7% less feed than animals with medium efficiency (mean RFI, 6.0 kg DM day-1) and 13% less than the least efficient animals (high RFI, 6.34 kg DM day-1). More feed efficient animals spent a longer time feeding and ruminating per kg of DM consumed. Similarly, more efficient animals consumed less DM per hour and ruminated less DM per hour, but made the same number of visits to the feed bunk. High-efficiency animals were 13% and 35% faster to walk 1.77 m after release from the scale than medium- and low-efficiency animals, respectively, suggesting a more reactive temperament without differences in reactivity, composite score, or serum cortisol. Feed efficiency is associated with ingestive behavior and temperament in Nellore cattle. More efficient animals consume and ruminate less feed over the same period of time than animals with medium and low feed efficiency. In addition, more efficient animals exhibit a faster flight speed and are more reactive than less efficient animals.

Does exuberance moderate the relation between effortful control at 54 months and first grade achievement? Interaction of a regulatory and a reactive temperament dimension

Past research has found that an important regulatory dimension of child temperament, effortful control, predicts child achievement. However, other dimensions of temperament may moderate the relation between effortful control and achievement. This study explored whether exuberance, a reactive temperament dimension, may moderate or compensate for low effortful control when predicting children’s reading and math achievement in first grade. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 861) were used to test this hypothesis. The hypothesis was supported that for children with average or low exuberance, children’s effortful control positively predicted their reading achievement scores in first grade; whereas for children with high exuberance, children’s effortful control did not predict their reading achievement scores. Instead, highly exuberant children had high reading achievement scores regardless of their effortful control. Exuberance did not moderate the relation between effortful control and math achievement. Results suggest that children’s high exuberance compensates for poor effortful control when learning to read and that parents and teachers should explore strategies for channeling these children’s exuberance to support their academic growth.

Maternal Personality and Child Temperamental Reactivity: Differential Susceptibility for Child Externalizing Behavioral Problems in China.

It is important to identify the developmental antecedents of externalizing behavioral problems in early childhood. The current study examined the main effects of maternal personality and its interactive effects with child temperamental reactivity in predicting child externalizing behavioral problems, indicated by impulsivity and aggression. This study was composed of 70 children (Mage = 17.6 months, SD = 3.73) and their mothers. The results showed that maternal agreeableness was negatively associated with child impulsivity. Child temperamental reactivity moderated the effect of maternal conscientiousness on child impulsivity in support of the differential susceptibility model. Specifically, for highly reactive children, maternal conscientiousness was negatively associated with child impulsivity whereas this association was non-significant for low reactive children. Child reactivity also moderated the contribution of maternal neuroticism to child impulsivity. That is, maternal neuroticism was negatively associated with impulsivity, only for highly reactive children.