Thesis Format
Monograph
Degree
Master of Science
Program
Psychology
Supervisor
Hayden, Elizabeth P.
Abstract
Early emerging individual differences in emotionality and regulation are linked to diverse forms of psychopathology. However, in contrast to the voluminous research on the structure of adult individual differences, less is known about the structure of children’s temperament. Additionally, most relevant past work on child temperament has relied on parent-report measures. We examined the structure of children’s observed temperament and its associations with psychopathology symptoms. Participants were 394 five-year-old children who completed a battery of standardized laboratory tasks designed to elicit individual differences in emotionality and behaviour. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a five-factor structure of children’s temperament: sociability, positive affectivity/interest, impulsivity versus constraint, dysphoria, and fear-inhibition. Toward examining the predictive utility of these factors, associations between the five factors and parent-reported psychopathology were assessed; some trait-symptom associations were aligned with theory and similar to those found in past work, providing initial support for the validity of the observed temperament structure.
Summary for Lay Audience
Temperament refers to early emerging individual differences in reactivity (i.e., dispositional differences in emotionality) and regulation (i.e., trait-like processes that serve to regulate emotion and associated behaviours). While, historically, the terms personality and temperament have been understood as related but somewhat separable concepts, research has demonstrated that the terms differ more semantically than conceptually.
However, in contrast to the voluminous structural research examining adult personality, far less research has investigated the structure of child temperament, with most past structural work relying on parent-report measures, which may be subject to important limitations. Thus, in this study, we aimed to examine the structure of child temperament using observational methods.
We used data collected from 394 five-year-old children and their parents. Children participated in video-recorded laboratory tasks designed to elicit individual differences in temperamental emotionality and behaviour. Video recordings were later analyzed using a standardized coding procedure for children’s positive affectivity (PA), anger, sadness, fear, interest, activity, anticipatory PA, initiative, compliance, sociability, impulsivity, and behavioural inhibition. Parents also completed questionnaire measures of their child’s depressive, anxious, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms.
Based on past work, we were interested in whether children’s observed temperament could be characterized by five higher-order temperament traits, including sociability, impulsivity versus constraint, PA/interest, dysphoria, and fear-inhibition. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we found support for this five-factor structure of children’s observed temperament. To further assess the validity of this model, we examined whether these traits were related to children’s parent-reported psychopathology symptoms. Associations between the five temperament domains and children’s parent-reported symptoms were in line with theory and similar to those found in past work, providing initial support for the validity of the observed temperament structure.
Recommended Citation
Iddiols, Bianca, "Characterizing the Nature and Structure of Child Temperament via Observational Laboratory Tasks" (2024). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 10186.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/10186