Jeffrey R. Gagne

Deriving Childhood Temperament Measures from Emotion-eliciting Behavioral Episodes: Scale Construction and Initial Validation

The authors describe the development and initial validation of a home-based version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB), which was designed to assess childhood temperament with a comprehensive series of emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes. This article provides researchers with general guidelines for assessing specific behaviors using the Lab-TAB and for forming behavioral composites that correspond to commonly researched temperament dimensions. We used mother ratings and independent postvisit observer ratings to provide validity evidence in a community sample of 4.5-year-old children. 12 Lab-TAB behavioral episodes were employed, yielding 24 within-episode temperament components that collapsed into 9 higher level composites (Anger, Sadness, Fear, Shyness, Positive Expression, Approach, Active Engagement, Persistence, and Inhibitory Control). These dimensions of temperament are similar to those found in questionnaire-based assessments. Correlations among the 9 composites were low to moderate, suggesting relative independence. As expected, agreement between Lab-TAB measures and postvisit observer ratings was stronger than agreement between the Lab-TAB and mother questionnaire. However, for Active Engagement and Shyness, mother ratings did predict child behavior in the Lab-TAB quite well. Findings demonstrate the feasibility of emotion-eliciting temperament assessment methodologies, suggest appropriate methods for data aggregation into trait-level constructs and set some expectations for associations between Lab-TAB dimensions and the degree of cross-method convergence between the Lab-TAB and other commonly used temperament assessments.

Night and Day: Are Siblings as Different in Temperament as Parents Say They Are?

Twin studies suggest that parent ratings of temperament exaggerate differences between twins. The present study examined whether such contrast effects also operate for nontwin siblings. The activity level (AL) and shyness of 95 nontwin sibling pairs (ages 3 to 8 years) were assessed via parent ratings and objective measures (actigraph and observer ratings). Siblings showed no resemblance in either parent-rated AL or shyness; however, sibling resemblance for actigraph AL and observer-rated shyness was substantial. Thus, parents do contrast their nontwin siblings when rating these 2 temperament dimensions. Moreover, the importance of sibling differences in temperament to the sibling relationship and differential maternal treatment varied across the different measures of AL and shyness, suggesting that parent perceptions may play a role in these associations.

A longitudinal analysis of anger and inhibitory control in twins from 12 to 36 months of age

Inhibitory control (IC) is a dimension of child temperament that involves the self-regulation of behavioral responses under some form of instruction or expectation. Although IC is posited to appear in toddlerhood, the voluntary control of emotions such as anger begins earlier. Little research has analyzed relations between emotional development in infancy and later emerging IC. We examined phenotypic associations and genetic and environmental influences on parent- and laboratory-assessed anger and IC in a twin sample from 12 to 36 months of age. Typically, twins with low levels of IC had high levels of anger. Behavioral genetic findings confirmed significant genetic influences on anger and IC as assessed by parents, and on lab-based anger assessments. Shared environmental factors contributed to twin similarity on lab-assessed anger and IC at 36 months. Phenotypic covariance between anger and IC was largely due to overlapping genetic factors for parent ratings, and environmental factors in the laboratory.

The genetic etiology of inhibitory control and behavior problems at 24 months of age.

BACKGROUND To investigate links between inhibitory control (IC) and behavior problems in early childhood, as well as genetic and environmental covariances between these two constructs. METHODS Parent and laboratory ratings of IC and parent ratings of externalizing and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder behaviors were administered at 24 months of age on a sample of 291 same-sex twin pairs (131 monozygotic, 160 dizygotic). RESULTS There were significant phenotypic associations between both IC assessments and the two areas of behavioral maladjustment (correlations ranged from -.13 to -.57). Multivariate analyses revealed that phenotypic covariance between IC and behavior problems could be substantially explained by common genetic influences (genetic correlations ranged from -.30 to -.74). Parent ratings of IC showed higher phenotypic and genetic correlations with behavior problems than lab ratings of IC. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to examine the etiology of the covariance between IC and related behavioral difficulties in toddlerhood. Findings suggest that low levels of IC can be considered a genetic risk factor for the development of early emerging behavior problems.

Genetic and Environmental In‘uences on Personality in Adult Russian Twins

The present study explored genetic and environmental contributions to personality in a sample of twins participating in the Adult Russian Twin Study (ARTS). Subjects included 79 monozygotic (MZ) and 51 dizygotic (DZ) twin-pairs residing in the metropolitan Moscow area, Russia (mean age 42.2 years). Twins completed self-report questionnaires assessing the personality dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, monotony avoidance, and impulsivity. For all four dimensions, model-”tting analyses yielded estimates of heritability consistent with previous behavioural genetic findings (h 2 ranging from .49 to .59). Also consistent with previous research is the finding that shared environmental variance is negligible for each dimension. These results suggest that the factors that influence individual differences in personality in the Russian culture do not substantially differ from those that influence personality in more Western cultures.

The development of inhibitory control in early childhood: A twin study from 2-3 years

Parent- and lab-based observer ratings were employed to examine genetic and environmental influences on continuity and change in inhibitory control (IC) in over 300 twin-pairs assessed longitudinally at 2 and 3 years of age. Genetic influences accounted for approximately 60% of the variance in parent-rated IC at both ages. Although many of the same genetic effects on parent-rated IC were stable across age, there were also novel genetic effects that emerged at age 3 (i.e., genetic factors contributed to both continuity and change in parent ratings of IC). Observed IC displayed a different developmental pattern. Genetic influences were moderate at age 2 (38%) and nonsignificant at age 3 (6%). Change in observed IC across early childhood was due to shared and nonshared environmental factors. Findings indicate that it is important to consider the measurement of IC when interpreting developmental and etiological findings.

Young Children's Behavioral Inhibition Mediates the Association between Maternal Negative Affectivity and Internalizing Problems: Observations, Parent-Report, and Moderation of Associations by Age.

Employing a multi-method approach, we investigated observed and parent-rated child behavioral inhibition (BI) and maternal reports of their own negative affectivity (NA) as predictors of young children’s internalizing problems. Participants were 201 children who were siblings between 2.5 and 5.5 years of age (mean = 3.86, standard deviation = 1.04) and their mothers. Due to the nested research design, multilevel model-fitting analyses were used to examine associations between predictors and internalizing problems, and to test a mediational process between maternal NA and internalizing problems. High levels of both observed and parent-rated child BI and greater maternal NA significantly predicted internalizing problems. Child age also moderated the association between parent-rated child BI and internalizing problems, with the association stronger for younger and mean age children, but not for older children. Additionally, parent-rated child BI was found to mediate the association between maternal NA and internalizing problems, and the mediational effect was stronger for younger children.

The Shared Etiology of Attentional Control and Anxiety: An Adolescent Twin Study

We investigated the etiology of attentional control (AC) and four different anxiety symptom types (generalized, obsessive-compulsive, separation, and social) in an adolescent sample of over 400 twin pairs. Genetic factors contributed to 55% of the variance in AC and between 43 and 58% of the variance in anxiety. Negative phenotypic associations between AC and anxiety indicated that lower attentional ability is related to increased risk for all 4 anxiety categories. Genetic correlations between AC and anxiety phenotypes ranged from -.36 to -.47, with evidence of nonshared environmental covariance between AC and generalized and separation anxiety. Results suggest that AC is a phenotypic and genetic risk factor for anxiety in early adolescence, with somewhat differing levels of risk depending on symptomatology.

The Infant Version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB): Measurement Properties and Implications for Concepts of Temperament

We describe large-sample research using the Infant Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB; Goldsmith and Rothbart, 1996) in 1,076 infants at 6 and 12 months of age. The Lab-TAB was designed to assess temperament dimensions through a series of episodes that mimic everyday situations. Our goal is to provide guidelines for scoring Lab-TAB episodes to derive temperament composites. We also present a set of analyses examining mean differences and stability of temperament in early infancy, gender differences in infant temperament, as well as a validation of Lab-TAB episodes and composites with parent reported Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart, 1981) scales. In general, laboratory observed temperament was only modestly related to parent reported temperament. However, temperament measures were significantly stable across time and several gender differences that align with previous research emerged. In sum, the Lab-TAB usefully assesses individual differences in infant emotionality.

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Prenatal Agreement and Differences Regarding Postnatal Parenting

SYNOPSIS Objective. Parental expectations before birth may predict children’s development and family environment. Researchers investigated the similarity and differences between expecting mothers and fathers regarding their future parental behavior. Design. Pregnant women (N = 820) and their partners (N = 512) completed questionnaires concerning their future parenting. Results. Mothers’ and fathers’ prenatal parental expectations correlated positively; mothers expected to show more warm, positive parenting and less negative, rejecting parenting compared to fathers; and for most parenting variables, mother–father agreement remained significant only for couples not knowing the fetus’s sex. Conclusions. Patterns of agreement and differences between mothers and fathers regarding future parenting resemble postnatal findings in the literature. Future studies should examine how prenatal expectations relate to postnatal parenting to better understand their significance in child development.