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Identifying the temperamental roots of children's patterns of security in the interparental relationship

Patrick T Davies1, Rochelle F Hentges1, Melissa L Sturge-Apple1

  • 1University of Rochester.

Development and Psychopathology
|November 28, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Children's temperaments, including frustration proneness and effortful control, predict how they respond to parental conflict. Specific temperament patterns are linked to secure, mobilizing, dominant, or demobilizing response profiles.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychology
  • Family Studies

Background:

  • Emotional security theory guides understanding of child responses to interparental conflict.
  • Children's temperamental characteristics may influence their adaptive or maladaptive reactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine temperamental precursors of children's response profiles to interparental conflict.
  • To identify distinct constellations of temperament predicting changes in child security profiles.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study with 243 children (mean age 4.6 years) and parents over two years.
  • Assessed temperament (frustration proneness, approach, positive affect, activity, effortful control) using multiple methods.
  • Behavioral observations of children's responses to interparental conflict identified four profiles: secure, mobilizing, dominant, and demobilizing.

Main Results:

  • Temperamental constellations significantly predicted subsequent changes in children's security profiles.
  • Specific temperamental traits were associated with distinct patterns of responding to parental conflict.

Conclusions:

  • Child temperament plays a crucial role in shaping responses to interparental conflict.
  • Understanding these temperamental precursors can inform interventions to support children's emotional security.

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