Diana Wright Guerin

Difficult Temperament and Behaviour Problems: A Longitudinal Study from 1.5 to 12 Years:

Results of a 10-year longitudinal study on the developmental-behavioural significance of infant temperamental difficultness are presented. A cross-time, cross-context methodology was employed using data from over 100 children participating in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study. Difficult temperament was assessed at 1.5 years by mothers; behaviour problems were assessed by parents during the third year and annually from 4-12 and by teachers from 6-11 years. Temperamental difficultness correlated significantly, pervasively, and to moderate magnitudes with parent reports of behaviour problems from 3.25-12 years. Additionally, analyses using clinical cutpoints showed that 1.5-year-olds deemed temperamentally difficult evidenced a greater frequency of elevated scores, specifically, attention problems, aggressive behaviour, and thought problems (parents) and attention and thought problems (teachers). These data provide evidence for the ecological validity of parent reports of temperament and for a temperamental component in the development of childhood behaviour problems.

Multivariate latent change modeling of developmental decline in academic intrinsic math motivation and achievement: Childhood through adolescence

Research has established that academic intrinsic motivation, enjoyment of school learning without receipt of external rewards, significantly declines across childhood through adolescence. Math intrinsic motivation evidences the most severe decline compared with other subject areas. This study addresses this developmental decline in math intrinsic motivation, and also serves as a resource for applied researchers by providing exemplary illustrations of approaches to longitudinal modeling. Using a multivariate latent change model, the longitudinal relationship between academic intrinsic math motivation and math achievement among participants (n = 114) aged 9—17 years was examined to explain this motivational decline. On average, both math motivation and achievement decreased over time. This study reveals that math achievement is a significant contributor to the developmental decline in intrinsic math motivation from childhood through adolescence. In addition, academic intrinsic math motivation was found to be related to initial and later levels of mathematics achievement. These findings enhance understanding of developmental processes whereby early motivation and achievement are related to subsequent declines in mathematics.

Temperament and School Functioning during Early Adolescence

Individual differences in temperament have been shown to be important correlates of school success in young children; however, their significance during early adolescence has not been studied extensively. In this study, the relation between temperament assessed by parent report and a wide range of measures relating to school functioning was examined. Data were collected on over 100 Fullerton Longitudinal Study participants at their 10-, 11-, 12-, and 13-year assessments. Results showed that parent ratings of temperament accountedfor approximately 25% to 30% of the variance in teacher ratings of classroom behavior, 5% to 10% of the variance in academic achievement when entered after IQ, and 10% of the variance in self-concept and pupil-teacher relationships. Temperament was unrelated to academic intrinsic motivation, however It was concluded that the temperament dimension of persistence was most salient in the school environment during the transition to adolescence.

The Fullerton Longitudinal Study: A Long-Term Investigation of Intellectual and Motivational Giftedness

The Fullerton Longitudinal Study is a contemporary prospective investigation that spans approximately a quarter of a century. Commencing at age 1, children and their families were systematically followed every 6 months from infancy through preschool and annually at ages 5 through 17. They were again assessed at age 24. The course of development for intellectually and motivationally gifted children was studied across a. breadth of developmental domains including academic, cognitive, self-perceptions, temperament, behavioral, social, family/environmental processes, and adult educational achievement. Presented are the methodology and unique aspects of this research that contribute to the study of giftedness. Major findings regarding these two distinct dimensions of giftedness are presented, with some implications for practice and directions for future research.

Family Conflict and Children's Behavior Problems: The Moderating Role of Child Temperament

Child temperament was examined as a moderator of the link between family conflict and child behavior problems. Temperament assessed in early childhood was used to predict the relation between family conflict and externalizing behavior problems measured during the early elementary school years. For children with difficult temperament, a strong association between subsequent family conflict and behavioral adjustment was predicted; for children with easy or intermediate temperaments, low to moderate associations were predicted. These hypotheses were tested across 3 temperament groups (easy, intermediate, and difficult). Data were collected from 108 children and families participating in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study at ages 3 through 10 years. Consistent with the hypotheses, the data provided support for the moderating role of temperament in predicting the association between family conflict and child externalizing behavior problems. These findings suggest that temperamental difficultness operates as a vulnerability factor with respect to the development of childrens behavior problems in families with high conflict.

Temperamental consequences of infant difficultness

Abstract Two central issues pertaining to the construct of infant temperamental “difficultness” were investigated in this longitudinal project. First, the cross-time convergent validity of two parent-report measures of temperament was examined. Second, the temperamental consequences of difficultness during infancy were studied by prospectively following children from infancy to adolescence. Additionally, using MANOVA and structural equation modeling, gender comparisons were conducted to determine whether or not the construct of difficultness was similar for males and females. Analyses were based on parent reports (Ns=96−110) of infant difficultness on the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ) when children were 18 months of age. The nine temperament dimensions of the New York Longitudinal Study model were also assessed by parent report inventories when children were 2, 3, 3.5, 5, 8, 10, and 12 years old. Results showed no pervasive evidence of gender differences in infant difficultness. Convergent validity between the ICQ and subsequent temperament measures was evidenced by significant cross-time canonical correlations reaching to moderate magnitude and significant bivariate correlations between infant difficultness and specific temperament dimensions. Temperamental difficultness during infancy predicted subsequent adverse temperamental qualities such as unadaptability and negative mood at every age from 2 through 12 years.

Dyslexic Subtypes and Severity Levels: Are There Gender Differences?

The prevalence of dyslexia among 100 children participating in a longitudinal study was examined. At age 10 years, The Dyslexia Screener (TDS) test, a direct assessment of coding skills used in reading and spelling, was administered. The incidence of suspected dyslexia of borderline or worse severity among boys and girls was not significantly different, nor did males and females differ significantly in terms of TDS-suspected dyslexic types of severity levels. Results challenge the widely held belief of an increased incidence of reading disability among males and, in conjunction with findings from other recent studies, underscore the need for establishing objective and reliable screening procedures in addition to teacher referral in identifying children in need of special services. Possible factors mediating previous estimates of incidence and the implications of these findings are discussed.

Concurrent validity and screening efficiency of The Dyslexia Screener.

The concurrent criterion-related validity and screening efficiency of a recently developed scale, The Dyslexia Screener (TDS), was investigated by examining its relation to the Reading Cluster of the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Assessment Battery (WJ) in a sample of 100 nonreferred children participating in a longitudinal study

Synthesis and Implications

We conclude this volume by synthesizing the body of findings resulting from the Fullerton Longitudinal Study with respect to numerous issues. Findings germane to the understanding of the developmental course of temperament and the significance of individual differences in youngsters temperament for their development in the domains of personality, behavioral adjustment, intelligence, and school functioning are first addressed. Individual differences in children’s temperament interface with their home and family contexts of development, yielding additional clues as to the mechanisms by which temperament and developmental outcomes may come to be related. In support of the parental report methodology, results from the FLS yielded strong evidence regarding the predictive and construct validity of parent reports of children’s temperament. The interaction of individual differences in temperament with contexts of development, subject variables, and developmental differences in other domains have only begun to be examined. However, findings from the FLS demonstrate that even aspects of temperament assessed as early as 1.5 years have long-term sequelae, both through direct main effects and also through interactions with developmental contexts, and that early differences in temperament are associated not only with developmental risk, but also can serve as assets that may facilitate or enhance not only the children’s context of development but also their developmental trajectory.

Temperament and Behavioral/Emotional Adjustment

The linkage between early temperament and behavior problems during middle childhood found by the NYLS group served as a catalyst for the study of temperament. Data based on the FLS and other longitudinal studies have not only replicated the findings of the NYLS researchers regarding the predictive power of early temperament with respect to behavioral adjustment, but also have extended downward the age at which temperament has been shown to foretell childhood behavior problems. This chapter details results from the FLS data regarding concurrent and predictive relations between temperament and behavior problems using multiple informants (parents, teachers, adolescent self-reports) and state-of-the-art behavior problem measures.