Sean C. McDevitt

The Early Infancy Temperament Questionnaire.

Although there are several scales routinely used for assessment of temperament during the first year of life, none of them is well suited to the infant younger than 4 months old. The Early Infancy Temperament Questionnaire (EITQ) was designed to meet this need. The EITQ is a 76-item parent questionnaire for assessing the nine New York Longitudinal Study temperament characteristics in 1 - to 4-month-old infants. The majority of the items were adapted from the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire to be developmentally appropriate for the very young infant. The standardization population consisted of 404 infants from one pediatric practice. Means for the nine categories were calculated separately for infants from 1 to 2 months and 3 to 4 months old. Intermal consistency for the nine categories ranged from .42 to .76. Test-retest scores, completed between 2 to 3 weeks after the first rating, ranged from .43 to .87, with generally increasing retest levels in the older age group. None of the categories showed significant differences between male and female infants. This newly developed instrument should enhance the ability of both researchers and clinicians to assess temperament reliably and to understand better its contribution to clinical problems in the very young child.J Dev Behav Pediatr 14:230–235, 1993. Index terms:temperament, measurement of temperament, early infancy.

The middle childhood temperament questionnaire.

The Middle Childhood Temperament Questionnaire is a 99-item parent questionnaire for assessing the New York Longitudinal Study temperament traits in 8− to 12-year-old children. The nine characteristics measured are the same except that biological rhythmicity has been replaced by predictability. The scale was standardized on 506 children in a pediatric practice and a school district. Internal consistency and retest reliability are satisfactory, respectively 0.81 and 0.88 for median category values. Together with the Infant Temperament Questionnaire, the Toddler Temperament Scale, and the Behavioral Style Questionnaire this completes a series of scales for gathering more objective and organized temperament data from 4 months to 12 years.

Stability and Change in Individual Temperament Diagnoses from Infancy to Early Childhood

Abstract This study compares the individual temperament cluster diagnoses of 187 children in infancy (4 to 8 months) with similar ratings in early childhood (3 to 7 years). Stability is demonstrated in the tendency of the more difficult children to remain more difficult, but change is evident in the tendency of individuals at the extremes of difficulty and easiness to become less difficult and easy. The characteristics of activity, mood, and approach in the infant profiles predicted which individuals were likely to change. Implications for management of difficult temperament and its confusion with “minimal brain dysfunction” are discussed.

Temperamental factors associated with rapid weight gain and obesity in middle childhood.

Studies of the perplexing problem of childhood obesity have considered etiological factors in the child and environment, but have largely ignored the childs temperament or style of interaction with the environment. In this report, a significant relationship is demonstrated between temperament and both rapid weight gain and actual obesity in middle childhood. In a longitudinal study of 138 children, weight-for-height percentile gains between 4 to 5 years and 8 to 9 years were significantly correlated with eight of nine difficult temperament characteristics and with a cumulative “index of difficulty.” A separate cross-sectional study of 21 obese (

Issues in the transfer of children in dynamic psychotherapy.

the 95th percentile weight for height) 6− to 12-year-old children found them to be significantly less rhythmical/predictable and lower in persistence/attention span than matched controls. These normal behavioral style characteristics, interacting with metabolic, dietary, and environmental factors, may predispose some children to inappropriate eating habits or make it harder to maintain a dietary plan to remedy the problem. J Dev Behav Pediatr 9:194–198, 1988. Index terms: temperament, obesity, middle childhood.

Revision of the Infant Temperament Questionnaire

After referral to a pediatric neurologist for problems in behavior and learning, 61 children aged from three to seven years were assigned to one of four diagnostic groups: (1) minimal brain dysfunction (MBD); (2) hyperactivity; (3) learning disability; and (4) other criteria. Their temperament profiles were determined by the Behavioral Style Questionnaire. The disproportionately large number of children with more difficult temperament diagnoses in the referred population indicates that teachers and physicians may have misinterpreted a less adaptive behavioral style as evidence of neurological dysfunction. Those diagnosed clinically as having MBD were less adaptable, less persistent, more active and more negative than the control population. This suggests that MBD overlaps with difficult temperament. Children in the other three groups were temperamentally similar to the MBD group, which raises doubt about the advisability of diagnosing MBD on the basis of behavior alone. A comprehensive neurobehavioral profile is necessary to separate clearly the various factors contributing to problems in school performance.

Assessing Temperament in One-to Three-Year-Old Children

Abstract In many clinical facilities transfer of the child requiring continued psychotherapy from one therapist to another is a frequent occurrence. Psychological conflicts involved in the reassignment of such children are considered from the perspectives of the therapist who is transferring the child, of the child, and of the therapist receiving the transfer. Conflicts implicit in transfer need to be recognized to forestall the danger of cases breaking treatment, to limit the loss in therapeutic momentum, as well as to exploit the therapeutic benefit of reactivated feelings about earlier losses.