Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026
07:30
Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study
Published on: August 18, 2020
Early environment and neurobehavioral development predict adult temperament clusters
Eliza Congdon1, Susan Service, Jaana Wessman
1University of California Los Angeles Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America. econgdon@ucla.edu
Plos One
|July 21, 2012
Summary
Early life environmental factors significantly influence adult temperament. Key predictors include maternal education, family environment, and adolescent academic performance, suggesting distinct developmental trajectories for temperament.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral science
- Developmental psychology
- Psychiatric genetics
Background:
- Understanding environmental influences on human behavior is crucial for psychiatric disorder research.
- Assessing environmental impacts on behavior presents significant challenges.
- Human behavioral phenotypes are complex and influenced by multiple factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of life course environmental measures on adult temperament.
- To identify specific early life and adolescent factors predicting temperament profiles.
- To explore the relationship between life course measures and distinct temperament trajectories.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, longitudinal study of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n=3,761).
- Analysis of temperament clusters and dimensions using pre-natal, infant, and adolescent life course data.
- Data-driven assessment of environmental predictors for adult temperament.
Main Results:
- Early environmental measures, neurobehavioral development, and adolescent behaviors significantly predict adult temperament.
- Maternal education, family location characteristics, adolescent academic performance, and smoking behavior were associated with adult temperament.
- A consistent set of life course measures demonstrated predictive power for temperament profiles.
Conclusions:
- Temperament clusters represent distinct developmental trajectories influenced by early life factors.
- Specific life course measures are reliable predictors of adult temperament.
- These findings have implications for understanding adult health outcomes and psychiatric disorder etiology.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
01:28Relationship with Parents: Attachment
Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
01:29Personality Theory by Eysenck and Eysenck
Hans and Sybil Eysenck developed a widely recognized theory of personality, which emphasizes the role of temperament and genetically based differences in shaping individual traits. Their theory posits that biological factors primarily determine personality and can be understood through two main dimensions: extroversion/introversion and neuroticism/stability.
In the extroversion/introversion dimension, highly extroverted people are sociable, outgoing, and easily connect with others. In contrast,...
In the extroversion/introversion dimension, highly extroverted people are sociable, outgoing, and easily connect with others. In contrast,...
01:28Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences
Social behavior is a complex phenomenon that arises from the interaction between biological predispositions and environmental influences. This intricate interplay shapes how individuals think, feel, and act in various social contexts. Understanding these mechanisms requires insights from psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and evolutionary theory.Environmental Influences on Social BehaviorEnvironmental factors, including temperature, odors, and visual stimuli, play a crucial role in shaping...
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
01:20Attachment
Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...