Interobserver and test-retest reliability of Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire

Forty-five Swedish couples ( N =90) independently completed a translation of Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) when their infants were 3 and 8 months of age. There was greater agreeement between mothers and fathers at 8 than at 3 months, perhaps because fathers became more involved as their children grew older. At neither age was agreement as great as that reported by Rothbart (1981) in the USA. Parents did not agree on the dimensions Duration of Orienting and Soothability. In the eyes of both parents, there was significant, although modest, stability over time on most dimensions of infant temperament. There was least perceived stability in Distress to Approaching Stimuli (Fear). These results suggest that the IBQ (even in a Swedish translation) may be a reliable and valid way of measuring parental perceptions of infant temperament.