TEMPERAMENTAL ADAPTABILITY,PERSISTENCE, AND REGULARITY: PARENTAL RATINGS OF NORWEGIAN INFANTS AGED 6 TO 12 MONTHS,WITH SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR PREVENTIVE PRACTICE

There is a need for standardized measures of infant temperament to strengthen current practices in prevention and early intervention. The present study provides Norwegian data on the Cameron‐Rice Infant Temperament Questionnaire (CRITQ; J.R. Cameron & D.C. Rice, 1986a), which comprises 46 items and is used within a U.S. health maintenance organization. The CRITQ was filled out by mothers and fathers at 6 and again at 12 months as part of a longitudinal study of mental health during the first years of life (the “Little in Norway” study, N = 1,041 families enrolled; V. Moe & L. Smith, 2010). Results showed that internal consistencies were comparable with U.S. data. The temperament dimensions of persistence, adaptability, and regularity had acceptable or close‐to‐acceptable reliabilities in the U.S. study as well as in this study, and also were unifactorial in confirmatory factor analysis. These dimensions are the focus in this article. Findings concerning parents’ differential ratings of their infants on the three dimensions are reported, as is the stability of parents’ ratings of temperament from 6 to 12 months. In addition, results on the relation between temperament and parenting stress are presented. The study suggests that temperamental adaptability, persistence, and regularity may be relevant when assessing infant behavior, and may be applied in systematic prevention trials for families with infants. The inclusion of concepts related to individual differences in response tendencies and regulatory efforts may broaden the understanding of parent—infant transactions, and thus enrich prevention and sensitizing interventions with the aim of assisting infants’ development.     

《论语》与《孔子诗论》的学术联系与区别

《孔子诗论》的诗学思想与《论语》既有联系又有区别。《孔子诗论》吸纳了《论语》诗乐教化和兴观群怨等学术观点。但在学《诗》目的上,它不像《论语》那样重视出使应对;在说《诗》方法上,它不像《论语》那样断章取义,而是直探诗旨本身;在对人性的看法上,它不像孔子不谈性,而是以子思学派的性情理论说《诗》。惟其学孔而不泥于孔,《孔子诗论》才能取得诗歌理论的巨大成就。     

Visual attention and temperament: Developmental data from the first 6 months of life

Infants were assessed longitudinally at 2, 4, and 6 months of age on a visual orienting task. Once engaged on a center stimulus, the latency to initiate a saccade to a peripheral stimulus was measured. The critical manipulation was whether, upon presentation of the peripheral stimulus, the center stimulus remained on (disengage trials) or was turned off (shift trials). Temperament was assessed using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ). Latencies to shift attention decreased with age (i.e., 6 < 4 < 2 months.). A disengage–shift difference favoring shift trials was found at 2 months; this difference was only marginally significant at 4 and 6 months. At 6 months, ease of disengagement was associated with infants being more likely to smile and less likely to exhibit frustration. Our findings replicate and extend previous cross-sectional research by showing that the disengage operation undergoes a major developmental change within the first 4 months. Discussion focuses on the relationship between attentional disengagement and the regulation of emotional states.     

Maternal psychological functioning mediates the association between infant behavior and subsequent child psychological functioning

Symptoms of psychopathology that onset during childhood are often more severe, chronic, and difficult to treat than symptoms that first appear later in life. Maternal psychological symptoms are associated with the development of psychological symptoms in children. However, less research focuses on whether children’s behaviors may presage maternal psychological difficulties that, in turn, contribute to the child’s own psychological functioning. Identifying psychological difficulties in families and intervening in early life may lower risk for intergenerational transmission of subsequent psychological symptoms. Even at non-clinical or normative levels, exploring transactional models of parent-child behavior and psychological functioning may provide insight into the development of later psychological difficulties or symptoms within families. Thus, the current study examined whether difficult infant behavior (e.g., fussiness, unpredictability) is associated with future maternal psychological difficulties and subsequently, the child’s own psychological functioning in early childhood. The current sample includes 847 dyads from a multi-wave birth cohort in England (‘Born in Bradford’), who identified as predominantly non-White (62.2%) and socioeconomically diverse. Mothers reported on their child’s behaviors at 6 months, their own psychological functioning during pregnancy and at 18 months postpartum, and their child’s psychological functioning at age 3. Results of a mediation model revealed that the association between infant behavior at 6 months and child psychological functioning at 3 years is partially explained by maternal psychological functioning at 18 months, even after accounting for psychological difficulties during pregnancy, maternal age at birth, child sex, family income, and ethnicity. Post-hoc exploratory analyses revealed that the association between infant behavior, maternal psychological functioning, and subsequent child psychological functioning was significant for Pakistani British families but not White British families. These findings provide preliminary evidence that infant behaviors (e.g., temperament) may presage future maternal psychological difficulties and subsequent child psychological functioning, above and beyond previous maternal psychological functioning. Importantly, these results highlight infant behavior as a potential catalyst for later psychological difficulties within families.     

Fluid intelligence, memory span, and temperament difficulties predict academic performance of young adolescents

There are several candidate measures when asking which psychological construct significantly predicts academic performance. Hundreds of studies have addressed this issue by measuring intelligence, basic cognitive processes, or personality. However, the simultaneous consideration of a broad and varied array of measures is much less common. Here we consider several cognitive and personality measures concurrently to define latent factors representing six constructs of presumed interest: fluid intelligence, short-term memory, working memory, processing speed, controlled attention, and temperament difficulties. One hundred and thirty-five secondary school students were tested. Their academic performance was measured by average grades in the nine scholastic areas of their curriculum. The main finding shows that a latent factor defined by fluid intelligence and memory span along with a latent factor defined by impulsiveness, sensation seeking, and lack of fear account for an impressive figure of 60% of the variance in academic performance.     

Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being and Memory for Life Events: Influences on Life Satisfaction with Respect to Temperamental Dispositions

The aim of the present study was to explore how the number of recalled life events (positive and negative) predicts psychological well-being (PWB) and how PWB predicts life satisfaction (LS). In addition, participants were categorized into one of four different affective temperaments (self-actualizing, high affective, low affective, and self-destructive). One hundred and thirty-five high school students participated in completing the SWLS (LS), PWB (short-version), PANAS (to create affective temperaments), and the life events recollection task. Results indicated that adolescents with high positive affect also had high PWB; adolescents with low affective profiles also had high PWB. Positive and negative life events predicted PWB for self-destructive temperaments, whereas positive life events predicted PWB for low affective temperaments. PWB predicted LS for all temperaments except the self-actualizing group. In conclusion, the temperament combinations may allow the individual to achieve PWB and LS. Even more importantly, selfacceptance may foster LS regardless of temperament and may have more impact on LS than life events.     

The influence of parenting on infant emotionality: A multi-level psychobiological perspective

Infant temperament is theorized to have a strong genetic basis. Yet, studies of the stability of temperament and molecular genetics research on temperament have revealed inconsistent findings. One reason may be because research has not taken into account the influence of early social experiences. We review research on aspects of infant emotionality presumed to be temperamental in origin, emotion reactivity and emotion regulation, and integrate research addressing parenting influences on physiology and genetics of infant emotionality with traditional research on behavioral expression of emotionality. Empirical research supports the theory that sensitive and appropriately responsive parenting in infancy is related to more optimal patterns of behavioral and physiological reactivity and regulation. Molecular genetics research with both animal and human populations has produced consistent results when environmental experiences are taken into account. Findings suggest that the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene and the long allele of the DRD4 dopamine receptor gene may be related to distinct patterns of infant emotionality and to later problems with depression, impulse control problems, and externalizing/antisocial behaviors, primarily when paired with insensitive parenting, abuse or neglect, or other adverse family environments. Future directions and limitations in the field are discussed.     

Robust patterns and individual variations: Stability and predictors of infant behavior in the still-face paradigm

In the present study we examined key issues regarding infant behavior in the still-face paradigm (SFP) in terms of individual variations, stability, and predictors. The sample consisted of 115 mothers and infants, with assessments at ages 3 and 6 months, including observations of maternal and infant behavior in the SFP, and parent reports of infant temperament. Both robust patterns and individual variations in infant SFP behaviors were found, with only a minority of infants showing the expected patterns for negative affect and gaze. Infant behavior patterns showed no stability from age 3 to 6 months, and infant gaze was related to more pronounced behavior changes across the SFP. Maternal sensitivity in the SFP baseline was related to some aspects of infant SFP behavior. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, in infants with a more difficult temperament maternal sensitivity predicted a more pronounced expected pattern of changes in infant positive affect across the SFP, whereas this was not the case for infants with a more easy temperament.     

Revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and Laboratory Assessment of BIS and BAS in Children

There is considerable interest in Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory. However, few measures of the behavioral approach (BAS) and inhibition systems (BIS) exist for children. Moreover, the theory was substantially revised a decade ago and measurement instruments are still largely based on the old theory. Our aim was to revise questionnaire and laboratory assessments of BIS and BAS for children. Performance on the Point Scoring Reaction Time Task for Children-Revised (PSRTT-CR) conformed to theoretical expectations. Caregiver reports of BIS and BAS were associated with corresponding PSRTT-CR indices, suggesting cross-method convergent and discriminant validity. There was convergence with physiological correlates of BAS, but not physiological correlates of BIS. Overall, our revised measures represent promising instruments of children’s BIS and BAS.     

Effortful control and externalizing problems in young adults

The present study evaluates the relationship between effortful control (EC) and externalizing psychopathology in young adults. EC, the capacity to delay immediate impulses in favor of long-term goals, has been robustly linked to externalizing behaviors in children and adolescents. However, such data is limited in adults, and mechanisms underlying this relationship have yet to be evaluated. We hypothesized that the effect of low EC on greater externalizing problems would be mediated by elevated psychological distress. In total 236 undergraduate students completed the EC subscale of the Adult Temperament Questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory (ESI). The ESI was found to have four factors representing Callous Aggression, Impulsive Urgency, prosocial control, and Substance Abuse. The degree to which low trait EC manifested in increased Callous Aggression, Impulsive Urgency and decreased prosocial behavior was mediated by elevated psychological distress. However, EC was not related to Substance Abuse. These data indicate that EC plays an important role in shaping psychological and social adjustment in adulthood.