Relation Between Temperament and School Adjustment in Spanish Children: A Person-Centered Approach

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine from a person-centered approach the impact of temperament on academic achievement and sociometric status in a sample of 6-7-yearold Spanish children. To measure children's temperament in early childhood, parents were given TMCQ (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire), while sociometric status and academic achievement were requested for children's teachers. Using latent profile analysis (LPA) four temperament profiles were found. Children belonged to the "Negative/Undercontrolled" profile showed a higher probability of academic failure and were more rejected, and children included in the profile "Sociable/High regulated" showed higher academic scores and a lower probability of being rejected by their peers. Several implications in the Spanish educational context are discussed.

Temperament and School Readiness – A Literature Review

“…Temperament can influence a child’s functioning during school performance and therefore to some extent either enhance or limit the child’s performance. In mathematics, reading, or other school activities which require the child to calm down, concentrate on the task, and resist stimuli from the surroundings, temperament can be a very important factor ( Collings et al, 2017 ; Ato et al, 2020 ). Therefore, it can have a negative influence on the performance of a child who is functioning cognitively quite well, but is unable to concentrate, calm down, and detach him- or herself from disturbing stimuli from outside.…”

A Study of Primary School Students in Johor: The Role of Temperament and Teacher-Student Relationships in Student Engagement

“…Thomas and Chess (1977) suggested that temperament is used to determine how a children will react to a situation, and how they express and control their emotions. Despite numerous studies (Ato et al, 2020;Bryce et al, 2018;Bush 2018) on temperament across various contexts, recent research (Thandevaraj, 2021) has directed its attention towards the impact of temperament on student engagement, particularly among students in primary school and the same interest is observed in Malaysia. The Rothbart model (2004) defines temperament as a set of individual differences in emotion, attention, and self-regulation processes.…”

Temperament in middle childhood questionnaire: New data on factor structure and applicability in a child clinical sample.

“…Our focus on the TMCQ, in particular, due to its importance for studies of development and psychopathology in middle childhood, the peak years of onset for common psychopathology and a critical period for child development (Shiner, 2021), and the shortage of validation studies of it. The TMCQ has been used for multiple studies of cognitive, personality, and neural development (Affrunti et al, 2014; Affrunti & Woodruff-Borden, 2015; Ato et al, 2020; Inuggi et al, 2014), as well as developmental psychopathology (Karalunas et al, 2019; Kotelnikova et al, 2015, 2017; Nigg et al, 2020; Rutter & Arnett, 2021). The TMCQ is designed to evaluate temperament in the regulation–reactivity model from ages 7 to 10, although there is evidence that such questionnaires can be used and are used outside their originally intended age ranges (Soto & John, 2014) and can be completed by adult raters or by self-report (Simonds & Rothbart, 2004, 2009).…”