HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT

ADJUSTMENT?

CANDIDATE NUMBER: 148917

The following essay looks at the issue of child temperament and the Chess and Thomas

(1984) theory of child temperament that categorizes children according to their behavioural

styles (as cited in Shiner et al., 2012). The essay will then look at the subsequent issues that

arise as a result of childhood temperament styles. For example, issues with personality

development, emotional adjustment, the development of aggressive behavioural problems, as

well as the effect temperament has on a child’s attachment type and therefore their ability to

form stable relationships in the future. Temperament is often defined as the way in which a

child behaves (Thomas & Chess, 1977). One of the most commonly used theories of

temperament is the Chess and Thomas (1984) approach (as cited in Shiner et al., 2012). This

approach looks specifically at the variations in children’s behaviour from early infancy and

labels the patterns in behaviour as different types temperament. Chess and Thomas (1984)

stated that all children fall into three temperament types (easy, difficult, and slow to warm up)

based on the behaviour observed by researchers.

Following the development of this theory, psychologists began to look at the effect of

childhood temperament on the different aspects of development. Research has shown that the

level of temperament in infancy influences different aspects of the development of personality

(Caspi et al., 2003). Personality is an extremely well researched topic in psychology, and one

of the most established theories is that of Goldberg (1990), who suggested that there are 5

different components of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, neuroticism, and

conscientiousness. The way in which these components of personality develop often influences
HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 2

a person’s risk of developing various issues. For example, research has shown that neuroticism

and openness often predict whether a person is likely to develop depression (Chioqueta &

Stiles, 2005), and extraversion often predicts global anxiety (Gershuny & Sher, 1998). Also, it

should be noted, that there is a high prevalence of personality disorders these days (Torgersen,

Kringlen, & Cramer, 2001), and therefore, psychologists have looked to find the factors that

predict the development of positive and negative personality traits to help prevent the

development of depression, anxiety, BPD, and other similar disorders.

It was from this, that researchers began looking at the different aspects of child

development that may or may not influence the type of person you become in the future.

Because temperament is a childhood trait, and because childhood is a key developmental period

particularly for personality (Caspi, Roberts, & Shiner, 2005), psychologists assumed an

association between childhood temperament and personality development, which resulted in a

wealth of research looking to find types of childhood temperament that cause the development

of negative personality traits. Caspi and Silva (1995) studied this by looking at how a child’s

behavioural style is linked to their personality traits as adults. Following observations of

children at age 3, examiners identified 5 different behavioural styles, including uncontrolled,

inhibited, confident, reserved, and well-adjusted. Following a personality questionnaire

administered at age 18, the study found that uncontrolled and confident children were more

impulsive as adults, whereas inhibited children were much less impulsive as adults. However,

this study did not account for individual differences in child development. A child may be

uncontrolled and confident to begin with, but research has shown that individual life events

can affect the way a person’s personality develops (Block, Block, & Gierde, 1986) and

therefore not every uncontrolled and confident child will grow up to be impulsive.

Nevertheless, the findings of Caspi and Silva (1995) are significant and therefore it was
HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 3

concluded that children who were more difficult in temperament were subsequently more

impulsive as adults.

From these findings, psychologists began to see the link between childhood

temperament and future behaviour. Therefore, researchers have become increasingly interested

in whether temperament is linked to specific behavioural problems in adults. As a result of the

research of Caspi and Silva (1995), it was assumed that children who were more difficult in

temperament may be more aggressive and/or violent as a result an inability to inhibit their

behaviours and therefore act impulsively. In response to this, research began looking at specific

behavioural problems in order to form the basis for preventative techniques. Henry, Caspi,

Moffitt and Silva (1996) looked specifically at the link between childhood temperament at age

3 and future violent and non-violent convictions at age 18. They found that that childhood

temperament (i.e. lack of control) was a strong determinant of whether a person was convicted

of violent or non-violent crime in the future. This suggests that children who are more difficult

in temperament are more likely to commit a violent crime. Similarly, Veenstra, Lindenberg,

Oldehinkel, De Winter and Ormel (2006) found that temperament, in terms of the capacity to

voluntarily regulate behaviour and attention, was significantly associated with antisocial

behaviour, a behaviour that is closely linked to the likelihood of a person committing violent

and/or non-violent crime in the future (Loeber, 1982). These findings provide a strong basis

for the development of preventative techniques, to reduce the rate of crime. For example,

intervention at age 3, to decrease the difficulty of a child’s temperament, may subsequently

reduce antisocial behaviour and therefore reduce the rate of violent and non-violent crime.

Similarly, interventions that target children’s temperament may also reduce the rate of

substance abuse in adults. This is because it has been found that childhood temperament
HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 4

influences a person’s risk of drug and alcohol use, as well as substance abuse in general. Gerra

et al. (2004) did a study on whether a person’s score on the Zuckerman Sensation seeking scale,

the Eysenck personality questionnaire, the Buss-Durkee hostility inventory, and the parental

bonding instrument, predicted that person’s risk of life time alcohol and drug usage. The study

found that many different aspects of a person’s personality were associated with drug use and

alcohol abuse, and that these personality differences may be a result of temperament (Caspi &

Silva, 1995). However, the findings also suggested that temperament and personality are often

associated with the perception of poor parental care and low ratings of parental care often

resulted in early substance use. Therefore, it was concluded that there is a link between

temperament, perception of parental care, and a person’s risk of substance abuse. However, in

this case intervention at the age of childhood temperament (i.e. age 3) would not be appropriate.

This is because the research shows that it is not just temperament that increases the risk of

substance abuse. Therefore, interventions would have to incorporate techniques that target a

person’s need to sensation seek, aggression and low parental care as well as temperament,

which is much more invasive as it targets aspects of personality rather than just the child’s

behaviour.

Another predictor of substance abuse and crime is conduct disorder (Copur, Turkcan,

& Erdogmus, 2005), and research has shown that a person’s risk of conduct disorder may be

predicted by childhood temperament. Caspi, Henry, McGee, Moffitt and Silva (1995) sampled

800 children to see if temperament at age 3 effected behaviour at age 15. They found that Lack

of control at age 3 and 5 increased future externalizing problems such as conduct disorder. This

suggests that childhood temperament is a strong predictor of conduct problems in the future.

However, much like the study Caspi and Silva (1995) this study does not account for individual

differences, particularly in psychological resilience. Therefore, even someone who is at risk of

HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 5

developing conduct disorder may never develop it. However, other research has found similar

findings to Caspi et al., (1995). For example, Lahey et al. (2008) found that parentally rated

“difficult” temperament (i.e. fussiness, activity level, and predictability) during an infant’s first

year was predicted by early parenting style, and that this “difficult” temperament was a

predictor of conduct problems, suggesting that there is definitely a link between temperament

and conduct disorder. Therefore, supporting the link between temperament and substance

abuse/criminal activity.

Caspi et al. (2003) did another study that examined the same behavioural styles of

children at age 3 as Caspi and Silva (1995), and then looked at the subsequent personality traits

that resulted at age 18 and age 26. They found similar results in that children who appeared

uncontrolled at age 3 were more impulsive at age 18, but also at age 26 showing that these

personality traits are consistent over time. It was also found that uncontrolled children were

more emotionally sensitive at age 26 than children who were more inhibited. Because

emotional sensitivity is often associated with disorders of emotion such as borderline

personality disorder (BPD; Lynch et al., 2006), and because behavioural features of BPD are

similar to those of depression (Luca, Luca, & Calandra, 2012), it may be assumed that because

children who were more difficult in temperament are more emotionally sensitive (Caspi et al.,

2003) they may be more susceptible to future emotional problems such as depression (Clark,

Watson, & Mineka, 1994). Other theories suggest that temperament accounts for the variation

in the rate of depression between males and females (Cloninger, Syrakic, & Pryzbeck, 2006),

and acts as a moderator on stress responses subsequently effecting the ability to cope with

depression (Compas, Conner-Smith, & Jaser, 2004). Either way, it can be concluded that

temperament is a strong predictor of differences in personality traits, and because of this,

HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 6

predicts differences in the rate behavioural problems and a person’s susceptibility to emotional

or personality disorders such as depression, anxiety, and BPD.

Alternatively, other researchers have looked at the link between childhood

temperament and subsequent attachment to a primary caregiver. Ainsworth and Bell (1970)

categorized infants in terms of the style of their attachment to a maternal figure. The strange

situation experiment identified three main attachment types, a secure attachment, and insecure

avoidant attachment, and an insecure ambivalent/resistant. There are many different things

that can affect a child’s attachment type. Research has suggested that significant predictors of

attachment types are both maternal sensitivity (Smith & Pederson, 1988) and child

temperament (Vaughn et al., 1992). Boom (1994) found that the children whose mothers had

received interventions in order to enhance their sensitivity and responsiveness in general had a

more secure attachment and increase exploration, suggesting that this is a significant predictor

of attachment type. Alternatively, Seifer et al. (1996) found that temperament moderately

predicted security of attachment, and that maternal sensitivity no longer accounted for

attachment when temperament was being accounted for; suggesting a strong link between

childhood temperament and attachment independent of maternal sensitivity. Research suggests

that a child’s attachment type effects certain aspects of their development and therefore

influences the sort of person they are in the future. For example, Hazan and Shaver (1987)

found that the way people experience romantic relationships as adults is similar to the

attachment type they have as a child. So much so that people who had secure romantic

relationships, were found to of had a secure attachment as a child, and people who rarely fall

in love, often had an insecure avoidant childhood attachment. From this we can conclude that

childhood temperament may have an indirect influence on how a person approaches future

relationships, because of the style of attachment a person once had to their primary caregiver.
HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 7

In conclusion, childhood temperament is categorized as either easy, difficult, or slow

to warm up. Research has suggested that a child’s temperament type effects the development

of their personality traits and subsequently increases their risk of the development of poor

emotional adjustment resulting in disorders such as depression, anxiety, and BPD. There is also

evidence to suggest that temperament influences how aggressive a person is in the future, and

whether a person is at increased risk of substance abuse and/or crime, either directly or

indirectly due to an increased risk of conduct problems. It has also been found that temperament

effects a child’s attachment to their primary caregiver and this subsequently effects the way

they approach future relationships. These findings all provide a solid basis for the development

of interventions based on preventative techniques. Further research can attempt to look at

preventative techniques and see how much they reduce difficult temperament and then how

much they reduce the subsequent issues that result from temperament styles.
HOW DOES CHILD TEMPERAMENT RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENT? 8

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