Continuity and Change in Inhibited and Uninhibited Children

Pfeifer, Marcie; Goldsmith, H. Hill; Davidson, Richard J.; Rickman, Maureen D.

doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00484

Cited by 132 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…While researchers have reported statistically significant associations among laboratory measures of temperament both within the same assessment period and over time, generally speaking the magnitude of these associations, when present, are modest, particularly when extreme groups are not the focus of investigation (Kagan et al, 1987;Pfeifer, Goldsmith, Davidson, & Rickman, 2002;Reznick et al, 1986;Rothbart, 1988). Indeed, in the present study we found no correlation between fearful responses to Stranger Approach and to the Risk Room.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

“…Kagan among others has argued the value of studying extreme groups, particularly when trying to understand the role of biological processes in temperament (Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 1998). In most cases, extreme groups are followed and subsequent measures of fearful behavior and physiological reactivity are examined to determine if the groups still differ in fearful temperament (e.g., Kagan et al, 1987;Pfeifer et al, 2002). In the present study, we grouped children according to the consistency of their fearful behavior across contexts and informants, and then re-examined the associations we had already examined for the group as a whole.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fearful temperament and stress reactivity among preschool‐aged children

Talge

Donzella

Gunnar

2008

Infant and Child Development

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In this study, we examined the relation between physiological stress-reactivity and temperamental fearfulness in 162 preschool-aged children. Both the autonomic and neuroendocrine arms of the mammalian stress system were examined. Larger stress responses were defined as greater sympathetic activation, parasympathetic withdrawal and cortisol increases to stressor tasks. Fearful temperament was examined using parent report and behavior in response to fear-evocative laboratory tasks. There was little evidence that larger sympathetic activation or parasympathetic withdrawal was associated with fearful temperament. Greater cortisol reactivity, however, was associated with fearful temperament. Additional analyses examined those children who were consistently fearful across all measures, and the results remained largely the same. However, there was some suggestion that consistently fearful compared to non-fearful children might be more likely to exhibit sympathetic activation to the fear-evocative stimuli. These findings provide support for the argument that fearful temperament is associated with greater stress reactivity in young children. Nonetheless the size of the associations was small and future studies will need to determine whether reactivity of stress-sensitive physiological systems contributes to the development of individual differences in fearful temperament or merely reflects these differences. Keywordstemperament; behavioral inhibition; cortisol; vagal tone; pre-ejection period; childrenThe role of temperamental fearfulness in individual differences in stress reactivity and regulation is of growing interest in developmental neuroscience (e.g., Buss et al., 2003;Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988) and biological psychiatry (Bakshi & Kalin, 2000;Smoller et al., 2005). This interest reflects an enhanced understanding of the neurobiology of both conditioned (LeDoux & Phelps, 2000) and unconditioned fear (Davis, Walker, & Lee, 1997) and belief that the distributed neural systems underlying acute expressions of fear also support more stable, temperamental variations in fearfulness (Rothbart, 1989). The distributed neural circuits that orchestrate fear behavior have outflows to both arms of the mammalian stress system (Charmandari, Tsigos, & Chrousos, 2005). Specifically, they activate both the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to support fight/flight reactions to threat and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system, a counter-regulatory system that has multiple roles in adaptation.One role of the HPA system is to shape future behavioral and physiological responses to threat through regulating gene expression in fear-orchestrating brain regions such as the amygdala (Sapolsky, Romero, & Munck, 2000 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript temperamentally disposed to respond with fear to strange, novel or threatening events produce larger and more prolonged responses of the HPA system, then these responses themselves may operate to lower thresholds for fearful, inhi...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fearful temperament and stress reactivity among preschool‐aged children

Talge

Donzella

Gunnar

2008

Infant and Child Development

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“…The twelve episodes were designed to elicit different behaviors and emotions. The episodes in the Lab-TAB were drawn from previous studies that examine a number of research questions related to child development and emotionality (e.g., Kochanska & Knaack, 2003;Pfeifer et al, 2002). The children returned to a neutral state in between each episode by taking a short play break.…”

Section: Assessment Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, low PA and high BI share the common feature of low behavioral approach/ engagement (Durbin, Klein, Hayden, Buckley, & Moerk, 2005;Pfeifer, Goldsmith, Davidson, & Rickman, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, many studies have conceptualized BI and PA as the opposite ends of a single dimension, defined by high BI at one end and high PA/exuberance at the other (Polak-Toste & Gunnar, 2006). However, laboratory observations of temperament in young children indicate that BI and PA are empirically distinct and almost orthogonal dimensions Pfeifer et al, 2002). Failure to distinguish these traits both conceptually and methodologically may result in difficulties integrating findings from studies as well as understanding the possible differential trajectories of these temperament constructs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differentiation between low positive affectivity and behavioral inhibition in preschool-age children: A comparison of behavioral approach in novel and non-novel contexts

Laptook

Klein

Durbin

et al. 2008

Personality and Individual Differences

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The temperament constructs of low positive affectivity (PA) and high behavioral inhibition (BI) overlap and are often not differentiated in the research literature. In particular, both constructs are characterized by low approach and engagement. However, current theoretical conceptualizations of these constructs suggest that low PA should be associated with low approach across most contexts, whereas BI should be associated with low approach only in novel situations. The present study used laboratory measures of child temperament and behavior to test these hypotheses in a sample of 100 preschool-age children. Results indicated that in novel situations, both lower positive affect and higher BI predicted low behavioral approach. However, in non-novel situations, only lower levels of positive affect predicted lower levels of approach; BI was not related to approach behavior in more familiar contexts. In conclusion, this study indicates that the overlap between the temperament traits of low PA and high BI is limited to novel contexts and that these constructs are distinguished by behavior in non-novel situations.

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