How Childhood Temperament Predicts Behavior Problems

Behavior Types

• Each child is an individual who responds to the world in her own way. Researchers who work in child behavior typically classify children according to three main behavior types, according to the Vanderbilt University Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. The behavior traits include her level of activity, how well she adapts to daily routines, her response to new situations, her mood, the intensity of her reactions, whether she is sensitive to her environment, how quickly she adapts to changes and whether she is easily distracted from an activity. About 65 percent of children fit into the three main categories and can be easily identified as belonging to one or the other.

Three Main TemperamentTypes

• The three main temperament categories are easy or flexible, active or feisty and slow to warm or cautious, according to the CSEFEL. Children who belong to the first group are happy, have regular schedules, adapt easily and are calm. Active children are typically fussy, have irregular habits, may be fearful of new situations and are easily upset. Their reactions may be intense. Cautious children usually react negatively to new situations and may withdraw; they are less active and tend to be fussy. Temperament traits range in intensity and children may react differently at different stages of development.

Heredity, Temperament and Environment

• The interactions between heredity and environment are complex, but one study of 1,863 children reported in the September 2008 ̶0;Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology̶1; found that certain behaviors in infants indicated a high likelihood of behavior problems as the child grew older. Mothers were asked to rate their children̵7;s fussiness, activity level, predictability and positive behaviors such as enthusiasm and cheerfulness. Children whose mothers rated them low in fussiness and high in predictability had a low risk of future behavior problems. Boys who were fussy and girls who were fearful were more likely to display behavior problems between the ages of 4 and 14. Children whose mothers were less responsive to them and who rated low in fearfulness were also more likely to have behavior problems as they grew older.

Temperament and Alcohol

• A study reported in the journal ̶0;Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research̶1; in July 2013 assessed temperament characteristics in more than 12,000 children at six different points between 6 and 69 months of age. The children were reassessed at age 15 1/2 for alcohol use. Researchers found that children who displayed consistent behavior and emotional problems as toddlers and preschoolers were at higher risk of early alcohol use and abuse. Children whose temperament was highly sociable, however, were also at risk.

Discipline and Temperament

• How a mother disciplines her child can interact with the child̵7;s temperament to create or increase behavior problems, according to clinical psychologist Laura Alphonso. In a review of a research study on her website, Alphonso reports that children described by their mothers and researchers as temperamentally difficult were more likely to act out with hitting, scratching and other aggressive behaviors when the mother used negative discipline techniques such as prohibiting them from doing something, physically obstructing them or simply giving in to their tantrums. When children had a more easy-going temperament, however, negative discipline tactics did not result in problem behavior. The take-home message for parents, according to Alphonso, is that the more temperamental child is more reactive to certain disciplinary tactics and responds with problem behavior.