Multimethod Longitudinal Assessment of Temperament in Early Childhood (original) (raw)
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Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood
Journal of Research in Personality, 2010
This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined differential consistency of three core dimensions of individuality from toddlerhood through middle childhood. Data came from 273 families who participated with their child at least once during three developmental periods: toddlerhood (2 years), early childhood (3 to 5 years), and middle childhood (6 to 10 years). Both mothers and fathers reported on attributes of their child using subscales from the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire, the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and the Iowa Personality Questionnaire. Reports were used as indicators of the latent "Big Three" dimensions of positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint at each of the three developmental periods. Results pointed to consistency in these broad dimensions of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood.
2011
The authors describe the development and initial validation of a home-based version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB), which was designed to assess childhood temperament with a comprehensive series of emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes. This article provides researchers with general guidelines for assessing specific behaviors using the Lab-TAB and for forming behavioral composites that correspond to commonly researched temperament dimensions. We used mother ratings and independent postvisit observer ratings to provide validity evidence in a community sample of 4.5-year-old children. 12 Lab-TAB behavioral episodes were employed, yielding 24 within-episode temperament components that collapsed into 9 higher level composites (Anger, Sadness, Fear, Shyness, Positive Expression, Approach, Active Engagement, Persistence, and Inhibitory Control). These dimensions of temperament are similar to those found in questionnaire-based assessments. Correlations among the 9 composites were low to moderate, suggesting relative independence. As expected, agreement between Lab-TAB measures and postvisit observer ratings was stronger than agreement between the Lab-TAB and mother questionnaire. However, for Active Engagement and Shyness, mother ratings did predict child behavior in the Lab-TAB quite well. Findings demonstrate the feasibility of emotioneliciting temperament assessment methodologies, suggest appropriate methods for data aggregation into trait-level constructs and set some expectations for associations between Lab-TAB dimensions and the degree of cross-method convergence between the Lab-TAB and other commonly used temperament assessments.
Stability of Maternally Reported Temperament From Infancy to 8 Years
Developmental Psychology, 1993
This study explores the stability of temperament, measured by maternal report, from infancy to 8 years in a longitudinal sample of 450 children. Prior questionnaire-based, factor-analytic studies of stability have usually assumed that temperament dimensions show continuity during development and that, where the same temperament factors emerge at multiple measurement occasions, the factors show measurement equivalence. Structural equation modeling was used to test these assumptions. Approach, Irritability, Cooperation-Manageability, Inflexibility, Rhythmicity, and Persistence factors showed substantial continuity from infancy to 8 years. The levels of stability found were substantially higher than has generally been reported. Approach and Rhythmicity showed the highest stability over the full age range, whereas Inflexibility showed the highest absolute level of stability.
Developmental Psychology, 1991
Convergent and discriminant validity were examined for 8 widely used preschooler, toddler, and infant temperament questionnaires in a cross-sectional design that included both mothers and day-care teachers as respondents. The analyses focused on activity level, negative emotionality, and approach-sociability. Surprisingly strong evidence was uncovered for convergence among scales intended to measure similar concepts, with most convergent validity coefficients in the ,50s, .60s, and .70s. Most of the scales also showed reasonable discriminant properties; however, some scales intended to measure distinct concepts also intercorrelated highly enough (in the .40s and .50s) to raise concerns. These cross-scale correlations could often be understood by reference to the actual item content and the contexts of day care versus home. The main analyses were supplemented with a structural modeling approach.
Derivation and prediction of temperamental types among preschoolers
Developmental Psychology, 1999
The number and nature of temperamental types in 488 children aged 3 years 6 months was examined on the basis of a broad set of temperamental characteristics, including positive and negative emotionality and the attentional and behavioral control domains. Configural frequency analysis methods showed clear support for two temperament types: controlled-nonexpressive and noncontrolled-expressive. These types showed meaningful differences against external criteria related to a wide range of problem behaviors from the emotional, social, and attentional domains. The reports of problem behaviors were obtained contemporaneously from fathers and caregivers. These findings replicated a year later when children were aged 4 years 6 months. Furthermore, the findings showed that infant and toddler-age temperamental characteristics differentiated these preschool-aged types. The authors discuss the implications of the results for a categorical view of temperament-personality.
Temperament ratings in early childhood by parents, teachers, and students
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1987
Temperament ratings were made by mothers, teachers, and students enrolled in a child development course in order to determine the level of agreement across observers having varied experience with preschool and kindergarten children. Contrary to expectations, agreement did not increase with the age of the children. Furthermore, teacher and parent ratings were in no greater agreement than parent and student ratings. Instead, the teachers and students displayed the highest number of significant correlations for the temperament dimensions. Results are examined from a contextual perspective and suggest that child behavior may be differentially expressed dependent on the observational setting. Much of the literature on temperament in early childhood has been derived from the work of Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1968) through the course of the New York longitudinal study. Basing their work on repeated interviews and clinical observations, these investigators identified three clusters of behavioral style that appear to have clinical significance: the difficult child, the easy child, and the slow-to-warm-up child (Thomas & Chess, 1977). Difficult children are irregular in biological functioning, withdraw to new stimuli, adapt slowly to change, and are negative in mood. Easy children, in contrast, are seen as regular, willing to approach new experiences, adaptable to change, and usually positive in mood. The slow-to-warm-up child is low in activity, adaptability, and approach, mild in intensity, and variable in rhythmicity. Not all children fit neatly into one of these three patterns, but the clusters do account for 65% of the Thomas, Chess, and Birch sample (1968). For children not fitting the patterns, however, Keogh (1982) has
Continuity of father-rated temperament from infancy to middle childhood
Infant Behavior and Development, 2008
Continuity of father-rated temperament in Finnish children (n = 115) aged from 6 months (the IBQ) to 5.5 years (the CBQ) was explored within the theoretical framework developed by Rothbart. Father-rated activity level, smiling and laughter and distress to limitations showed significant differential homotypic and heterotypic continuity, while soothability, duration of orienting and fear showed significant differential heterotypic continuity. On the level of latent superconstructs, father-rated positive and negative infant affectivity accounted for 5.1, 22.7 and 10.0% of the variance in childhood extraversion, effortful control and negative affectivity, respectively. Inter-parental comparisons (n = 109 family units) revealed that father-rated continuity was similar to mother-rated continuity. These findings give empirical credence to Rothbart's theory and to father-rated temperamental continuity from infancy onwards.
Investigations of temperament at three to seven years: The Children's Behavior Questionnaire
Child Development, 2001
This article reviews evidence on the reliability and validity of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), and presents CBQ data on the structure of temperament in childhood. The CBQ is a caregiver report measure designed to provide a detailed assessment of temperament in children 3 to 7 years of age. Individual differences are assessed on 15 primary temperament characteristics:
Toddlers’ Temperament Profiles: Stability and Relations to Negative and Positive Parenting
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2010
This study investigated the type and stability of temperament profiles in toddlers, and relations of profile probability to negative and positive parenting trajectories. Mothers (N=96) rated their child's (41 girls and 54 boys) Sociability, Anger Proneness, and Activity Level four times during 1 year. The assessment of parenting included both maternal self-reports and observational measures. Latent profile analysis indicated three child temperament profiles: a well-adjusted 'typical' profile, an 'expressive' profile with heightened externalizing problems, and a 'fearful' profile with heightened internalizing problems. Although toddlers' profile classifications were highly stable across 1 year, individual differences in (changes in) toddlers' temperament profile probability occurred. We identified negative and positive parenting as environmental mechanisms that were related to the development of temperament profiles over time. These results support the notion that, in addition to having a genetic base, temperament is subject to maturation and experience over time.