Children’s Temperament: A Bridge between Mothers’ Parenting and Aggression

Abstract

Childhood aggression is important to acknowledge due to its social impact and importance in predicting future problems. The temperament of a child and parental socialization have been essential in explaining behavioral problems, particularly in the case of childhood aggression. The aim of this study is to examine—from the parents’ perspective—the role of childhood temperament in the dynamic by which mothers’ reactions socialize their children’s aggression. We also explore how children’s gender and age differences affect these relationships. The sample was composed of 904 participants between 1 and 6 years old. The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire were used to evaluate children’s negative affect and effortful control. The Parent–Child Relationship Inventory Maternal was used to assess maternal communication and discipline, and child aggression was assessed using the Children’s Behavior Checklist. The results supported the mediating role of temperament in the processes by which perceived mothers’ reactions socialize their children’s aggression and suggested that maternal behaviors may not have the same consequences for girls and boys. Specifically, the aggressiveness of girls is dependent on a negative affect throughout toddlerhood and early childhood, while for boys, the duration of the negative affect’s contribution is shorter, and aggressiveness is more sensitive to the maternal behaviors of discipline and communication.

The Moderating Role of Surgency, Behavioral Inhibition, Negative Emotionality and Effortful Control in the Relationship between Parenting Style and Children’s Reactive and Proactive Aggression

“…The moderating role of individual characteristics in the relationship between context and behavior may be different for each sex. Few studies have focused on this issue to date [ 62 , 63 ], with most using either mixed [ 49 , 87 ] or single-sex samples [ 88 , 89 ].…”

“…Sex differences have also been reported in the moderating role played by temperament in the relationship between parenting style and children’s behavior. For example, Carrasco, Delgado and Holgado-Tello [ 63 ] found that this relationship was not the same for boys as for girls, and Barnett and Scaramella [ 64 ] observed that boys with low fear levels displayed fewer behavioral problems when exposed to a supportive parenting style. For their part, Leve et al [ 39 ] found that harsh discipline predicted higher levels of externalizing behavior only among girls with high impulsiveness and low fear.…”

Correlation of temperament characteristics and early functional exercise compliance in school-age children with limb fractures: Implication for clinical nursing care

“…Although the ability to accept and adapt to new things and the environment is not strong, but it can be accepted slowly, so the compliance is higher than that of the troublesome children. Studies [ 39 , 40 ] have shown that children with troublesome temperament characteristics are more likely to show crying, frequent injuries, and anxiety. The stronger the response intensity, the worse the early functional exercise compliance, and the weaker the response level, the better the early exercise compliance.…”