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Children's temperament at 3 months and 6 years old: stability, reliability, and measurement issues
Insights
Child temperament showed limited long-term stability from infancy to childhood, with only positive affect and distress recovery remaining consistent. This study also assessed the reliability of key temperament measures.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Temperament, a foundational aspect of personality, is studied for its stability over time.
- Understanding temperament stability informs developmental trajectories and interventions.
- Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) and Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) are widely used measures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the longitudinal stability of temperament characteristics from infancy to childhood.
- To assess the reliability of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) and Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ).
- To identify specific temperament traits that demonstrate stability over a 6-year period.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study involving 37 mother-infant dyads.
- Mothers completed the IBQ at 3 months and the CBQ at 6 years.
- Paired t tests and correlation analyses were used to compare temperament subscales and assess stability.
Main Results:
- Most behavioral temperament subscales showed significant increases from infancy to childhood.
- Soothability (infant) and Smiling (infant/child) demonstrated stability over the 6-year period.
- Internal consistency for some IBQ subscales was lower than previously reported.
Conclusions:
- Temperament generally lacks long-term stability from early infancy to childhood.
- Positive affective response and recovery from distress appear to be stable temperament characteristics.
- Findings highlight potential measurement considerations and maturational effects in early childhood temperament assessment.
Abstract:
This study examined the stability of temperament characteristics in children over a 6-year period as well as the reliability of Rothbart's infant and child temperament measures. Thirty-seven mothers rated their firstborns' temperaments using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) at 3 months and the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) at 6 years of age. Paired t tests between matched IBQ/CBQ subscales revealed that children were rated significantly higher in all behavioral subscales at 6 years, with the exception of Soothability, which remained stable. Correlations among matched IBQ/CBQ subscales showed significant positive relationships between Soothability and Smiling over the 6-year period. Estimates of internal consistency on three of the six IBQ subscales were lower than Rothbart's reported values, whereas the CBQ values were similar. Findings suggest there was not long-term stability in temperament estimates from early infancy to childhood, except in positive affective response to the environment and rate of recovery from distress and excitement. Measurement issues related to using the IBQ/CBQ, assessing temperament at an early age, maturational effects, and implications for practice are discussed.