Infant temperament: an evaluation of children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

The current study investigated differences in the development of temperament for normally developing infants and infants with Down Syndrome (DS). DS has been described as the most prevalent cause for mental retardation, and its effects on the central nervous system may also influence the development of temperament. Parents of 3 to 12 month-old normally developing infants and infants with DS completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R). Results indicated that parents of infants with DS described their children as exhibiting higher levels of temperament dimensions associated with Orienting/Regulating Capacity, and lower levels of attributes collectively referred to as Negative Affectivity, relative to comparison children. Specifically, infants with DS were reported to exhibit lower levels of Distress to Limitations, higher levels of Low Intensity Pleasure, Duration of Orienting, Falling Reactivity, and Cuddliness/ Affiliation. No significant differences were found between IBQ-R factor intercorrelations for children with DS and normatively developing infants. Down Syndrome (DS), a chromosomal disorder (Selikowitz, 1997) caused by an abnormality on chromosome 21 (Harris, 1995). A vast majority (95%) of children with DS have a whole extra chromosome, which is due to non-disjunction (Selikowitz, 1997); however, a number of children with this disorder have an extra part of chromosome 21, due to translocation, and a small subgroup of children with DS have an extra 21 st chromosome in only some of their cells (mosaicism). DS has been associated with a large number of features; however, the only feature that is apparent in all children with the disorder is the presence of some intellectual impairment (Selikowitz, 1997). In addition, there are common physical characteristics, such as: "upturned, outward slanting eyes, epicanthus, wide nasal bridge, brush field spots, large posterior fontanelle, brachycephaly, low nuchal hair line, single transverse palmar crease, large cleft between first and second toe, and relatively short upper arms" (Harris, 1995, p. 274). Hypotonia and short stature have also been reported. It has been shown that the incidence of DS increases with advanced maternal age, with the risk escalating markedly after the age of 35 (Selikowitz, 1997).A number of Central Nervous System (CNS) abnormalities have been described in children with DS. In one study, 17 out of 42 children with DS were reported to have microcephaly (Pastore et al., 2000). Another team of researchers reported that participants with DS had smaller hippocampal volumes than participants from a control group and that the area of the corpus callosum was also reduced in size when compared to the controls, even after matching for age and intracranial volume (Teipel, Shapiro, Alexander, & Krasuski, 2003). Ganiban, Wagner, and Cicchetti (1990) et al., (1990) stated that given possible decreased noradrenergic and adrenergic activity, the intensity of overall reactivity would be expected to be dampened relative to reactivi...

Sleep problems and temperament in young children with Down syndrome and typically developing controls

“…Although comparable in size to other published research on children with DS ( n = 17, as in Gartstein et al . ; n = 15, as in Gunn et al . ), subsequent research should include a greater number of participants.…”

“…Relative to their TD counterparts, infants with DS also experience less distress when placed in limiting situations, they obtain more pleasure from low‐intensity stimuli (those that are relatively less intense, complex and novel than others), they attend to stimuli for greater durations of time, they are easier to comfort and they are cuddlier (Gartstein et al . ). Other studies indicate that infants with DS are more commonly identified as having difficult temperament profiles relative to controls matched on presumed DA, although this difference tends to diminish over time.…”

“…As reviewed previously (Gartstein et al . ), reactivity refers to the manner in which individuals react to environmental stimuli, whereas regulation refers to behavioural tactics that may be employed to modulate these responses. Work with TD infants indicates that night wakings or problematic sleep is associated with increased negative affect and reduced sensitivity to environmental stimuli (for a review, see Ednick et al .…”

Recent research on aetiology, development and phenomenology of self‐injurious behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities: a systematic review and implications for treatment

“…Children with Down syndrome display lower levels of negative emotionality than typically developing children (Nygaard et al . 2002; Gartstein et al . 2006) and as having Down syndrome appears to protect against development of SIB (Cooper et al .…”

Temperament and its Relationship to Autistic Symptoms in a High-Risk Infant Sib Cohort

“…However, whereas the ADHD group had higher novelty-seeking scores, the ASD group had lower noveltyseeking, reward dependence and attachment scores (on the Temperament and Character Inventory) all associated with extraversion. Similarly, while children with developmental delay such as Down syndrome have lower scores on scales associated with effortful control (Gartstein et al 2006;Marcovitch et al 1986;Pueschel and Myers 1994) and difficulty regulating frustration (Jahromi et al 2008), they show either no difference in extraversion (Gartstein et al 2006;Landry 2000) or higher levels of approach than typical controls and children with ASD (Landry 2000;Marcovitch et al 1986;Pueschel and Myers 1994). In Williams syndrome, a developmental disorder associated with low IQ, high levels of anxiety, and some social impairments (see Tager-Flusberg and Plesa-Skwerer 2006, for a review), higher scores on negative affectivity have been reported relative to a clinical control group, but scores on various scales associated with extraversion are also higher.…”