Paediatrics Publications
Title
Structure of observed temperament in middle childhood
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2013
Journal
Journal of Research in Personality
Volume
47
Issue
5
First Page
524
Last Page
532
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1016/j.jrp.2013.04.013
Abstract
Although much is known about the structure of adult temperament and personality, significantly less is known about the structure of child temperament. We examined the structure of child temperament in 205 seven-year-olds using observational measures. Exploratory factor analysis identified factors representing positive emotionality/sociability, disinhibition/anger, fear/behavioral inhibition, and sadness. The predictive validity of these dimensions was evaluated by examining their associations with children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms: positive emotionality/sociability showed positive associations with ADHD symptoms, disinhibition/anger showed positive associations with externalizing symptoms, fear/behavioral inhibition showed negative associations with ADHD and CD symptoms, and sadness showed positive associations with both internalizing and externalizing problems. These associations were consistent with extant literature on temperament and psychopathology, supporting the validity of the structure obtained. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.