23rd November 2023

Individual Temperamental Differences and Their Impact on Parent-child Relationships

‘The infant’s temperament regulates, and it is regulated by the actions of others from the earliest hours.’ – Rothbart

Origins, typologies and stability of temperament 

The debate on nature versus nurture has been ongoing for ages, and it is now widely accepted that both biology and environment play a role in shaping a child’s development. For the purpose of this book, we define temperament as the basic predisposition that underlies children’s behaviour.

Temperament is believed to be largely influenced by genetics, with studies indicating that up to 60% of individuals’ differences in temperament can be attributed to genetic factors. Environmental factors, including parenting practices and experiences, also play a role in shaping temperament.

One of the main studies in this field is the New York longitudinal study by Thomas and Chess. This is a thirty years (initially six years) longitudinal study of 138 children, observing childhood temperaments during their infancy and followed up at 5, 18 and 22 years. Infants vary in their autonomic reactivity and temperament. Following this study, temperament has been characterised using a variety of typologies. Differences among infants that can be observed have typically been described by using nine behavioural dimensions:

• Distractibility.
• Adaptability.
• Attention span. 
• Intensity.
• Threshold of responsiveness.
• Quality of mood.
• Rhythmicity.
• Approach/withdrawal.

According to Chess and Thomas, children’s temperament can be classified into easy, slow-to-warm-up and difficult.

• Children with ‘easy’ temperament – (40% of all children) are characterised by a positive mood and react positively to stimuli; they are also often described as more adaptable.
• Children with a ‘slow-to-warm up’ temperament – (15% of children) display initial withdrawal to new situations combined with slow adaptability and mild intensity.
• ‘Difficult’ children (10% of all children) are characterised by intense mood, arousal and reaction. These characteristics can be very stressful for parents to handle. Children with a difficult temperament often have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.

These typologies describe a child’s reactivity and approach to new situations and environments and can be useful in understanding a child’s temperament and the potential impact of parenting practices.

Chess and Thomas were among the first researchers to credit children as contributors to their own development – not as passive recipients of caregiving. They described how bi-directional transactions between children and their parents influenced each other’s behaviour.

The interaction between the child’s temperament and the environment was conceptualised within:

•  A ‘goodness of fit’ framework – If there is a match between an individual’s temperament and the environment, optimal development can be achieved.
• ‘Poorness of fit’ – Conversely, it leads to maladaptive functioning.

Several studies have evaluated the stability of temperament profiles in toddlers. The results of these studies suggest that temperaments are believed to be relatively stable over time, with individual differences in temperament becoming more pronounced as children grow and develop. However, environmental factors, including parenting practices, can have an impact on the expression of temperament and can help to shape a child’s personality and character over time.

The evolution of character and personality

The evolution of character and personality during parenting is a complex subject. Temperament provides a foundation for personality development. Also, environmental experiments, including parenting practices, can shape and mould personality as children grow and develop. Biological inheritance is one of the key factors, and it constricts how our characters manifest themselves. Unlike genetics, environmental factors operate within the trait range, and it is these factors that create the synergistic combination of traits.

According to the Big Five personality trait theory, personality can be divided into five broad categories:

• Openness to experience (O)
• Conscientiousness (C)
• Extraversion (aka surgency) (E)
• Agreeableness (A)
• Neuroticism (aka emotional stability) (N)

Therefore, the mnemonic OCEAN.

Further models include the EAS. This is a developmental, multidimensional, and causal personality model described by Buss and Plomin. The acronym EAS refers to three basic dimensions: emotionality, activity, and sociability. They manifest before socialisation, persist later in life, and show substantial heritability. The dimensions of the EAS are considered stable. The initial model of Buss and Plomin featured four temperamental dimensions: emotionality, activity, sociability and impulsivity.

Childhood vulnerability and resilience concerning mental health 

Childhood is a critical period in developing an individual’s mental health and well-being. Parenting practices and temperament can both play a role in shaping a child’s vulnerability and resilience to stress and adversity.

It is now generally agreed that individual differences in child temperament are somewhat predictive of later development and psychiatric risk.

A range of factors, including genetics, experiences of trauma, and parenting practices, can influence vulnerability to mental health problems. Children with a temperament characterised by high levels of reactivity and negative emotionality may be at increased risk for mental health problems, especially in the absence of supportive and nurturing parenting practices.

Research has shown that parenting practices such as parental warmth, emotional availability and positive reinforcement can help to build resilience in children, while practices such as neglect, harsh discipline and inconsistency can increase vulnerability.

Children with resilient temperaments and supportive and nurturing parenting practices may be better equipped to handle stress and adversity and to recover from setbacks. However, even children with vulnerable temperaments can develop resilience with the support of positive parenting practices.

References

• Rothbart, M. K. (1989). Temperament and development. In G. A. Kohnstamm, J. E. Bates, & M. K. Rothbart (Eds.), Temperament in childhood (pp. 195). Chichester, England: Wiley.
• Denis Bratko, Ana Butković, Tena Vukasović Hlupić (2017). Heritability of personality. Psychological Topics, 26 (2017), 1, 1-24
• Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and development. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
• Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H. G. (1968). Temperament and behaviour disorders in children. New York: New York University Press.
• Thomas, A., Chess, S., Birch, H. G., Hertzig, M. E., & Korn, S. (1963). Behavioural individuality in early childhood. New York: New York University Press.
• Evelyn Holt Otten. (2002) Developing Character through Literature: A Teacher’s Resource Book. ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication, Indiana University.
• Buss, A. H., & Plomin, R. (1984). Temperament: Early developing personality traits. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Buss, D. M. (1981). Predicting parent-child interactions from children’s activity level. Developmental Psychology, 17, No I, 59-65.
• Rutter, M. (1987). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 316-331.