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Infant temperament, early-childhood parenting, and early-adolescent development: Testing alternative models of

Xiaoya Zhang1, Kristina Sayler1, Sarah Hartman1

  • 1Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, USA.

Development and Psychopathology
|January 15, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Infant difficult temperament acts as a plasticity factor, meaning supportive parenting benefits children with difficult temperaments most, influencing adolescent behavior. This highlights how early traits and parenting shape socioemotional development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Genetics
  • Child Psychiatry

Background:

  • Difficult infant temperament is theorized as a vulnerability or a plasticity factor.
  • Early childhood parenting significantly influences socioemotional development.
  • Understanding gene-environment interplay is crucial for child development research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if infant difficult temperament moderates the effects of early parenting on adolescent socioemotional outcomes.
  • To differentiate between vulnerability and differential susceptibility models of person-environment interaction.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) with N=14,541.
  • Employed a re-parameterized model-testing approach to analyze temperament and parenting interactions.
  • Assessed early-childhood parenting (8-42 months) and early-adolescent socioemotional development (age 8-11 years).

Main Results:

  • A significant interaction between infant temperament and parenting was found for externalizing behaviors (hyperactivity, conduct problems).
  • This interaction supported a weak differential susceptibility model, not a general vulnerability model.
  • Supportive parenting was more impactful in reducing behavior problems for infants with difficult temperaments.

Conclusions:

  • Infant difficult temperament functions as a plasticity factor, enhancing the impact of parenting on socioemotional development.
  • Early parenting interventions may be particularly beneficial for children identified with difficult temperaments.
  • The findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences in temperament when examining parenting effects.

Keywords:
ALSPACdiathesis-stressdifferential-susceptibilityre-parameterized model comparisontemperament-X-parenting interaction

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