The Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ) was developed as a short, factor-analytic screening device for difficultness. Responses of 322 mothers of four- to six-month-old infants suggested that they regard fussy, hard-to-soothe, labile infants as difficult. Mother characteristics may affect perceptions of infant difficultness with…

Two studies were conducted to identify and develop a measure of dimensions of temperament which are continuous in the behavioral repertoire from early childhood to young adulthood. Identified factors were labeled as follows: activity level, attention span/distractibility, adaptability/approach-withdrawal, rhythmicity, and reactivity. (Author/RH)

Temperament ratings of infants, toddlers, and preschool children were made by their parents and their all-day nursery school teachers to determine whether low parent-observer reliabilities previously reported may relate to differential experiences with children. Despite the teachers' extensive contact with these children, convergence coefficients…

This longitudinal study investigated the validity of the Five Factor Model of personality with Swedish children ages 2 to 15 years. Findings of item analyses showed consistently reliable irritability, conscientiousness, and positive activity factors, while internal reliability of other factors increased over time. Found that irritability and…

Outline faces were presented for rating along six dichotomous attributes with features varying systematically. Differences were found to be largely attentional, with certain features invariably being differentially employed and associated with certain attributes across all samples. (WY)

Fourth and fifth graders viewed a slide show that depicted a boy displaying negative behaviors and that had a negative consistent or a positive inconsistent ending. Children who believed that personality is fixed, but not children who believed personality is malleable, did not differ in their ratings of the boy in the consistent- and…

A developmental model for paranoid behavior has been proposed which postulates that the attempt to adapt to sustained aversive maternal control by manipulative social approach behaviors (open adaptive style) leaves the person vulnerable to emerging paranoid tendencies. (Author)

Findings suggest that, if curiosity is to be developed meaningfully in the schools, affective development must be fostered at the same time that cognitive skills are taught. (Authors)

Parents completed the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ), and their depression and anxiety were measured, during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The ICQ scores formed two components in the mothers' analysis, and one in the fathers'analysis. Predictors of postpartum ICQ scores were the postpartum ICQ components and the anxiety and…

Assessed relationships between early temperament and behavior problems in a longitudinal study of 850 children from age 3 to 15. Temperament dimensions at ages 3 and 5 were correlated in theoretically coherent ways with behavior problems that were independently evaluated by parents and teachers at ages 9 and 11 and by parents as ages 13 and 15.…

Surveyed 4,000 third and sixth graders and their parents and teachers, from 4 Chinese provinces. Found that, although only children scored higher on tests of verbal ability, were taller, and weighed more than firstborn and later born children, other measures of academic and personality development were similar between the groups. (MDM)

This study examined whether item overlap, or measurement confounding, accounts for the correlation between temperament and behavior problem symptoms in children. Experts rated items on Children's Behavior Questionnaire and Preschool Behavior Questionnaire for their fit to both constructs, and then these items were factor analyzed with longitudinal…

Mothers provided personality assessments of 350 ethnically diverse 12- and 13-year-old boys using the California Child Q-set procedure to allow the development of scales to measure 5 personality dimensions: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The resulting nomological network related these…

Obtains standardized parent and teacher behavior ratings of neglected and rejected 8- to 11-year-old boys and girls. No age or sex differences were found. Rejected children were found to exhibit more behavior problems on both scales than neglected, popular, or average children. (Author/AS)