Child temperament and parental perceptions of individual child adjustment: An intrafamilial analysis.

Abstract

The association between child temperament and mothers ' and fathers' perceptions of child adjustment was investigated in a study of 70 married couples, each of whom had two children of the same gender-34 brother pairs and 34 sets of sisters. The parents ' perceptions of their children's levels of activity, persistence, and emotional intensity were found to be related to their perceptions of child adjustment. Implications of the findings are discussed and directions for further research indicated.little over a decade ago, clinical re-

The Relations of Emotionality and Regulation to Preschoolers' Social Skills and Sociometric Status

“…In comparison to work on examining the relation of coping and regulation to children's social competence, there is considerable research on the relation of reactivity and negative emotionality to social and problem behaviors. In general, temperamental reactivity and negative affective tone have been associated with negative behaviors (e.g., aggression, angry outbursts) and behavioral problems in childhood (Barron & Earls, 1984;Bates, 1990;Billman & McDevitt, 1980;Brody, Stoneman, & Burke, 1988;Teglasi & MacMahon, 1990). However, in only a few studies have researchers examined emotional intensity rather than the broader construct of reactivity (e.g., Brody et al, 1988).…”

Testing a Core Emotion‐Regulation Prediction: Does Early Attentional Persistence Moderate the Effect of Infant Negative Emotionality on Later Development?

“…Negative emotion, in particular, has figured prominently in this work (Bates, 1989;Goldsmith & Campos, 1982). Although excessive expression and experience of negative emotion are regarded as risks for children's development (Bates, 1990;Brody, Stoneman, & Burke, 1988;Caspi, Henry, McGee, Moffitt, & Silva, 1995), and it is acknowledged that some children are more dispositionally negative than others (Rothbart & Bates, 1998), current thinking presumes that the ability to modulate such negativity will serve a protective function with respect to future development (Derryberry & Rothbart, 1988;Eisenberg & Fabes, 1992). That is, it is principally when children disposed to experience high levels of negative affect prove unable to modulate their negative emotion that risks associated with high levels of negative emotionality are likely to be realized.…”

The Relations of Emotionality and Regulation to Children's Anger-related Reactions

“…Block and Block (1980) found that low regulation was associated with aggression, overreactivity to frnstration, low levels of cooperative and prosocial behavior, regression under stress, jealousy and crying easily, and lack of planfiilness and compliance (also see Pulkkinen, 1982Pulkkinen, , 1986). In addition, there is evidence that emotional arousability and temperamental intensity are associated with angry outbursts, emotional upset, aggression, and acting out behaviors (Billman & McDevitt, 1980;Brody, Stoneman, & Burke, 1988;Olweus, 1980;Teglasi & MacMahon, 1990; Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968), and intensity of anger is related to aggression and venting of emotion Laursen & Hartup, 1989). Thus, there is reason to believe that both emotional intensity and regulation are characteristics that are relevant to individual differences in anger and anger reactions.…”

“…Generally, temperamental intensity and negative affective tone have been associated with negative behaviors (e.g., aggression, an^y outlnu-sts) and behavioral problems in chUaiood (B^ron & Earls, 1984;Bates. 1990;KHnian & MoDevitt, 19^;Brody et al, 1988;Kyrios & Prior, 1990;Teglasi & MacMdbon, 19^). In recent research primarily widi adults, Larsen and his colleagues (Larsen & Diener, 1987) have found that the intensity of positive and negative emotions when they are experienced (rather than merely the frequency of experiencing such emotions) correlates positively with negative affectivity as well as with autonomic arousal and reports of distress in emotion-indncing contexts Larsen & Diener, 1987;see, however, Blascovich et al, 1992).…”