Interaction of temperamental resistance to control and restrictive parenting in the development of externalizing behavior.

Abstract

Child temperament and parental control were studied as interacting predictors of behavior outcomes in 2 longitudinal samples. In Sample 1, data were ratings of resistant temperament and observed restrictive control in infancy-toddlerhood and ratings of externalizing behavior at ages 7 to 10 years; in Sample 2, data were retrospective ratings of temperament in infancy-toddlerhood, observed restrictive control at age 5 years, and ratings of externalizing behavior as ages 7 to 11 years. Resistance more strongly related to externalizing in low-restriction groups than in high-restriction groups. This was true in both samples and for both teacher-and mother-rated outcomes. Several Temperament × Environment interaction effects have been reported previously, but this is one of very few replicated effects.Most theoretical explanations of the development of behavior problems include child temperament factors and their interactions with qualities of the socializing environment. Thomas and Chess (1977) summarized these interactive processes in terms of goodness of fit between a child's temperament and the expectations and resources of the child's home and schools. In theory, temperament does not lead to behavior problems by itself; it does so only in conjunction with particular environments. Beyond this seminal idea, there has been little progress in detailing models of developmental interplay between temperament and environment, despite large numbers of studies on temperament. Additional descriptions of such effects are needed. The present article reports an empirical demonstration of one particular temperament-environment interaction. The article focuses on children's temperamental unmanageability, parents' restrictive control efforts, and children's externalizing behavior problem outcomes.Temperament as a general construct refers to a broad array of behavior traits considered to be biologically rooted and, to one degree or another, early appearing. Temperament traits can be characterized as various forms of reactivity and self-regulation (Rothbart & Bates, 1998). Specific temperament dimensions are associated with distinct combinations of Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to John E. Bates, Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405. batesj@indiana.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptDev Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 December 11. Published in final edited form as:Dev Psychol. 1998 September ; 34(5): 982-995. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript psychobiological substrates. Research has found several temperament traits to have direct, main-effects-type relations with behavior problems in a nonperfect but replicated pattern of partially differential linkage: Temperamental predictors of behavior problems include (a) irritability-difficultness, preceding both internalizing (e.g., anxious) and externalizing (e.g., aggressive) kinds of behavior problems; (b) behavioral inhibition-fearfulness, typically pr...

Viewing Preschool Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Through a Developmental Lens: What We Know and What We Need to Know

“…In contrast, problematic noncompliance has been defined as active resistance to control and refusal that is often associated with negative affect. 61,64,65 This includes "doing the opposite" of what was asked, an automatic, reflexive "no," and noncompliance in the context of angry outbursts. 50 The clinical implications of these developmental patterns for both tantrums and noncompliance are that taking quality of misbehavior into account is likely to be critical to developing empirically based parameters for distinguishing disruptive behavior symp-toms in a developmentally sensitive manner in early childhood.…”

Temperament, family environment, and behavior problems in children with new-onset seizures

“…Temperament-Within three months of their child's first recognized seizure, parents (94% of whom were mothers) participated in structured phone interviews during which they completed the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire -Retrospective Form (RICQ) to rate retrospectively the child's early temperament [37]. The RICQ is a shorter, retrospective version of the ICQ [38], which is a widely used parent-perception instrument.…”

“…Cronbach's alphas were calculated for each of these subscales in our sample, and were all excellent, ranging from 0.83 to 0.87. In terms of validity, the RICQ has shown adequate estimates of temperamental characteristics during infancy [37]. In the study by Bates et al [37], mothers completed the ICQ when their children were between 6 and 24 months of age; then, ten years later, the same mothers retrospectively assessed their children's infant temperament via the ICQ -Retrospective Form (RICQ).…”

“…In terms of validity, the RICQ has shown adequate estimates of temperamental characteristics during infancy [37]. In the study by Bates et al [37], mothers completed the ICQ when their children were between 6 and 24 months of age; then, ten years later, the same mothers retrospectively assessed their children's infant temperament via the ICQ -Retrospective Form (RICQ). They found that the two reports, separated by 10 years, were significantly correlated in all three domains.…”

Growth in temperament and parenting as predictors of adjustment during children's transition to adolescence.

“…The findings suggest that temperament and parenting predict changes in each other and predict adjustment during the transition to adolescence. Keywords demographic risk; temperament; parenting; adjustment problems; early adolescence Both parenting (Frick, 1994;Loeber & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1986; Maccoby & Martin, 1993) and temperament (Rothbart & Bates, 1998;Sanson, Hemphill, & Smart, 2004) are important predictors of children's adjustment, and their effects are additive, with each contributing unique variance above the other (e.g., Bates, Pettit, Dodge, & Ridge, 1998;Halpern, Garcia Coll, Meyer, & Bendersky, 2001;Rubin, Hastings, Chen, Stewart, & McNichol, 1998;Smith & Prior, 1995). Moreover, transactional models in which parenting and child characteristics are mutually influential have been suggested to explain the development of adjustment problems (e.g., Halpern et al, 2001;Maccoby, 1992;Reiss & Price, 1996;Rothbart & Bates, 1998;Sanson et al, 2004).…”