Читать книгу Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology - Robert Weis - Страница 100

Temperament refers to an infant’s characteristic pattern of actions and emotions in response to environmental stimuli. It is typically observable in the first few weeks after birth (Kagan, 2014). Temperament is relatively stable over time and across situations. Temperament reflects one aspect of personality that is believed to be largely innate. Children enter the world with a particular temperament that helps them make sense of their experiences. These experiences, in turn, interact with their temperament and shape their personalities (Stifter & Dollar, 2016).

Parents of two or more children can appreciate differences in temperament. One child may be relatively quiet, easy to calm when upset, yet timid in new situations. His sibling, however, may cry at the slightest provocation, be a poor sleeper and picky eater, and act like a daredevil on the playground. Temperament helps to explain why biological siblings, who share 50% of their genes in common and are raised by the same parents, can behave so differently.

The New York Longitudinal Study provides us with the best data regarding the relationship between temperament in infancy and personality later in life. In this study, Stella Chess, Alexander Thomas, and Herbert Birch (1965) categorized children into one of three temperament clusters:

1 Easy children tended to show a high degree of positive emotions during parent–child interactions, engaged in regular daily routines, and were at ease with new people and situations. They could be soothed quickly when upset. These children were classified as “easy” because they presented fewer problems to their caregivers.

2 Difficult children tended to display more negative emotions and irritability during parent–child interactions; showed more intense reactions to environmental stimuli; and experienced problems establishing regular eating, sleeping, and toileting schedules. They were more easily upset by changes to their routines or surroundings. These children were labeled “difficult” because their behavior presented challenges to their caregivers.

3 Slow-to-warm-up children tended to show little activity and emotion during parent–child interactions and appeared apprehensive when confronted with new people or situations. These children were considered “slow-to-warm-up” because they needed more time to adapt to changes in their surroundings.

The researchers discovered that the same dimensions of temperament could be observed in children of all ethnicities and socioeconomic groups. Infants tended to show stable temperament by 2 to 3 months of age. Most important was the goodness-of-fit between the infant’s temperament and the demands and expectations of his or her environment. For example, a “difficult” baby raised by a single parent who is experiencing a high degree of stress might show more problems than a “difficult” baby raised by a single parent who has a safe home, a flexible job, and the support of family and friends.

Developmental psychopathologists explore the degree to which temperament might place children at risk for disorders later in life. For example, Jerome Kagan studied one dimension of temperament, emotional reactivity, which can be observed in 4-month-old infants. When presented with a novel stimulus, such as a dangling mobile, emotionally reactive infants appear distressed. In contrast, infants with low reactivity remained calm when presented with the same stimulus. When tested again at 14 and 21 months, reactive infants often displayed inhibition and fear in novel situations (e.g., when a clown entered the room), whereas infants low in reactivity tended to be more outgoing. Furthermore, children who were reactive in infancy and fearful as toddlers were at increased risk for developing anxiety disorders in later childhood (Fox et al., 2015).

It is important to remember that temperament does not determine personality or a child’s risk for psychopathology. However, temperament can affect children’s personality and subsequent interactions with others. For example, Nathan Fox conducted an impressive longitudinal study investigating the relationship between difficult temperament in infancy and the emergence of psychological disorders in adolescence and early adulthood. The study showed that young children with inhibited temperament were at increased risk for anxiety problems as young adults. However, children’s peer networks during adolescence largely explained the relationship between early temperament and later anxiety. Inhibited children who avoided social contact and developed smaller peer networks tended to develop anxiety disorders; in contrast, inhibited children who were able to establish supportive peer networks did not show increased anxiety. These findings suggest that temperament can place children on certain developmental pathways, but temperament alone does not determine children’s outcomes (Frenkel et al., 2015).