Associations between Temperament and Social Responsiveness in Young Children

Recent research has demonstrated that social responsiveness (comprised of social awareness, social information processing, reciprocal social communication, social motivation, and repetitive/restricted interests) is continuously distributed within the general population. In the present study, we consider temperament as a co‐occurring source of individual differences in social responsiveness in young children. The sample consisted of 62 infants assessed at 2, 3, and 4 years old. Measures of temperament were obtained at each age (Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire and Children's Behavior Questionnaire), and social responsiveness was measured at 4 years old (Social Responsiveness Scale). Multivariate patterns of association between components of temperament and social responsiveness were observed at each age, with overall findings in line with the broader literature examining temperament and socio‐development associations. Importantly, these results provide support for the usefulness of temperament as a relevant source of variability in social responsiveness, as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale, in typically developing young children. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.