THE VALENCES OF INFANT TEMPERAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS

AND THEIR RELATION TO PARENTING STRESS

Trisha Ackland

B.A. (Honours) Simon Fraser University, 1988

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

In the Department

of

Psychology

(c) Trisha Ackland, 1994

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

March 1994

All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy

or other means, without permission of the author

Name:

Degree: -

Approval

Trisha Ackland

Master of Arts

Title of Thesis: The valences of infant temperamental characteristics

and their relation to parenting stress.

Examining Committee:

Chair: Dr. William Turnbull

Date Approved:

Dr. Elinor W. Ames Senior Supervisor

b r . Janef Strayed Supervisor

Dr. Lucy Lb Mare External Examiner

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in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree

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written permission.

Title of Thesis/Project/Ex-tended Essay

The Valences of Infant Temperamental Characteristics and Their

Relation to Parenting Stress

Author: . - - (signature)

(name)

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate mother-rated infant

temperamental characteristics and their relation to parenting stress. Fifty-two

mothers of children less than 13 months old were asked to complete a series of

questionnaires: a parent-rated infant temperament measure; a measure of

mothers' perceptions of infants' behaviours; and a parenting stress inventory.

Mothers also recorded infant crying and night waking behaviour on an infant

behaviour diary for 5 days. Results indicate that maternal experience with

children did not affect their ratings of infant temperament. Mothers considered

behaviours that theorists consider as indicators of "difficult" temperament to be

neutral rather than negative. The infant behaviour diary was a significant

predictor of parenting stress in the mother, whereas a composite score from the

mother-rated temperament measure did not predict parenting stress. Significant

gender differences were not found on any of the temperament measures;

however, male infants had somewhat longer crying episodes than female infants.

Male infants were rated as less reinforcing to their mothers, and mothers of male

infants rated themselves as less attached to their infants than did mothers of "?

female infants. Results are discussed in terms of how early infant characteristics . A which require more caretaking may act as a risk factor for negative interactions

I

/'

within the family system and possibly contribute to the development of

behavioural problems in later childhood.

iii

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Elinor Ames for the opportunity to do this

degree and her support throughout it. I would also like to thank Dr. Janet Strayer

for the opportunity to learn from her, and gain insight into developmental

psychopathology by acting as her teaching assistant for many years.

I am indebted to my husband Michael Gaetz, for his support and encouragement

which were unending, and for his confidence in my ability which never seemed to

waver (although mine frequently did). I am thankful for being given the gift of two

tremendously independent, caring and loving children, Taryn and Robert

Ackland. Without their unselfish natures and understanding this thesis would not

have been possible.

I would also like to thank Lianne Fisher and Kim Chisholm for keeping me sane

during the last few months, and for their friendship and help.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all the mothers and their children who

participated in this study. The motivation and desire to assist in the research by

these women was an inspiration.

"Abred"

Table of Contents

................................................................................................................. Approval ii ... ................................................................................................................. Abstract 111

............................................................................................... Acknowledgements iv

List of tables ........................................................................................................ vii

General Introduction .............................................................................................. I

I . Theories of Temperament ................................................................................. 4

Towards conceptual aggreement ............................................................. 11

II . Temperament and Childhood Behaviour Disorders ....................................... 14

II I . Methodological Issues in Measurement ........................................................ 19

Psychometric unsoundness of infant measures ................................ 9

Parental personality bias .......................................................................... 9

Parental reporting bias ............................................................................. 20

The concept of difficultness ...................................................................... 21

................................................................................. Interacting variables 24

IV . Objective measure of infant difficulty ............................................................ 31

Behavioural measurement of negative emotionality:

Crying and its correlates ...................................................................................... 34

Infant crying as a social mediator ............................................................. 40

Summary and hypotheses for the present study ....................................... 42

........................................................................................................... V . Met hod 46

................................................................................................... Subjects -46

Procedure and measures .......................................................................... 47

Infant Behaviour Questionnaire ...... ..:.. ........................................... 48

Valence of Infant Behaviour Questionnaire .................................... 49

Parenting Stress Index ................................................................... 50

Infant Behaviour Diary .................................................................... 51 v

.......................................................................................................... Results 53

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Supplementary Analysis ...................................................... 60

.................................................................................................... VI I . Discussion 62

Appendix A: Infant Behaviour Diary .................................................................... 70

Appendix B: Intercorrelations of IBQ and Diary ................................................... 72

References .......................................................................................................... 73

List of Tables

Table 1 . Intercorrelations of Infant Diary Measures ............................................ 54

Table 2 . Regression analyses for the PDS ......................................................... 55

Table 3a . Correlation Matrix for Total Sample .................................................... 59

Table 3b . Correlation Matrix for the Male Subjects ............................................. 59

Table 3c . Correlation Matrix for the Female Subjects ......................................... 59

vii

General Introduction

Research in the field of developmental psychopathology

emphasizes the importance of considering the interaction and transactions

between individual characteristics of the child and what is loosely called

the environment. Investigation into global concepts of environmental

factors such as the family has moved towards more detailed and specific

studies of the varieties, styles, and dynamics of such factors. Broad

concepts related to within-individual development, such as genetic

contributions, are now being more precisely delineated. As well as

constitutional impact, such variables as sex, temperament, and cognitive

skills are considered relevant transacting individual variables affecting

developmental outcome (Rutter, 1981 ).

A substantial area of investigation has focused on temperament as

a possible mediator in developmental outcome. According to Rutter

(1 982), "temperament constitutes a variable of considerable predictive

power in developmental psychopathology, a power with both practical and

theoretical implications." (p. 14). Rutter (1 989) has postulated several

mechanisms that may be involved in the hypothesized association.

Specific dimensions of temperament may act as a direct vulnerability to

specific psychopathological disorders; may increase susceptibility to

psychosocial adversities; as well as influence the choice of activities and

experiences within the environment. Other mechanisms suggested by

Rutter include transactional factors such as goodness of fit between the

child's temperamental qualities and his or her environment, and, related

but distinct, that infants and children bring into social interaction their

temperamental qualities which influence the response they will receive.

"The possibility that to some extent people shape their own environments,

that nature helps to shape nurture, needs to be considered ..." (Rutter,

1989; p. 473).

The main research focus concerning temperament and

psychopathology has been on the issue of whether parentally perceived

infant temperament predicts later psychopathology and/or behaviour

problems. The focus on infancy derives from the common belief that the

link between temperament and manifested behaviour is relatively direct

during infancy but becomes more complex as the child matures

(Goldsmith et al., 1987).

The present thesis commences Chapter 1 with a review of the

dominant theoretical frameworks in which to conceptualize and study

empirically the construct of temperament. The frameworks are diverse

and each carries a uniqueness to the construct. This diversity of defining

characteristics believed to encompass temperament has been suggested

as the greatest obstacle for researchers to overcome (Goldsmith et al.,

1987). There are also however, compelling similarities across the

frameworks in the core defining features of the construct. The review

concludes by providing an operational definition of temperament generally

accepted in the field and the one to be used in the current research. The

rationale for choice of measurement instruments used in the current

research based upon this operational definition is also provided.

Chapter 2 reviews the empirical literature examining the

relationship between infant temperament and later behaviour disorders.

Chapter 3 discusses several possible reasons for the lack of sufficient

evidence linking early temperament with later behaviour problems.

Chapter 4 outlines a method of measuring early temperament relatively

independent of maternal perception bias and closes the chapter with the

research hypotheses for the present study.

Chapter 5 outlines the method, Chapter 6 the results and Chapter 7

provides a discussion of the findings of the current study and future

directions for research on temperamental differences in the infancy period.

I. Theories of temperament

The term temperament is defined in diverse ways by different

scholars and practitioners in the field of child development, with empirical

research in the area less than 30 years old (Garrison & Earls, 1987).

Basic conceptions and classifications of temperament have their roots in

adult personality research. The functional thinking that applies to internal

regulatory roles of temperament tend to derive from psychophysiology, the

Pavlovian tradition, and the work of Eysenck and Gray (Goldsmith et al.,

1 987; Roth bart, 1 989a).

Early adult personality theorists such as Allport (1 937) and Cattell

(1 950) viewed temperament largely as hereditary characteristics that were

somewhat resistant to environmental influence when compared to those

aspects of personality more determined through experiential factors.

Allport emphasized emotional and mood qualities, while Cattell discussed

temperament in terms of impulsiveness versus reflectivity, or threshold for

excitability.

Developmental research frontiers were broken by Alexander

Thomas and Stella Chess in the early 1960s, with their approach to

temperament emphasizing these personality characteristics as being

displayed in the form of a behavioural style. To these researchers,

temperament is viewed as "a general term referring to the how of

behavior. It differs from ability, which is concerned with the what and how

well of behaving, and from motivation, which accounts for whya person

does what he is doing. Temperament by contrast concerns the way in

which an individual behaves" (Thomas & Chess, 1977; p. 9).

Originally Thomas's and Chess's theoretical perspective

emphasized the organismic contribution of genetic and physiological

factors over environmental variables such as early social interaction

(Thomas & Chess, 1957). Incorporating new findings as their longitudinal

research (New York Longitudinal Survey; NYLS) progressed over the

years has resulted in an emphasis on viewing temperament as a

phenomenon largely created through transactions between the child and

the environment, although consideration of organismically originating

characteristics are still present in their work (Chess & Thomas, 1986).

Thomas, Chess and Birch (1 968) constructed a multidimensional

description of early behavioural style from a content analysis of the first

twenty of a total of 136 parental descriptions of infant behaviour from the

NYLS sample. Nine separate dimensions of temperament were derived

from the original analyses: Activity level; Rhythmicity; Approach or

Withdrawal; Adaptability; Threshold of responsiveness; Intensity of

reaction; Quality of mood; Distractibility; and Attention span and

persistence (Thomas, Chess & Birch, 1968).

Further exploration of the data using factor-analysis identified three

general constellations of temperament based upon combinations of more

than one dimension. The largest group (approximately 40%) in their

sample were considered Easy children and displayed a behavioural style

high in rhythmicity, high in adaptability, and moderate in activity, intensity

and mood. The second largest group (approximately 15%) of children

were labeled as Slow-To-Warm-up and displayed a behavioural style

combining slower adaptability to new situations with mild intensity and

negative responsivity. About 10% of the sample were categorized as

Difficult. These children displayed a behavioural style consisting of the

dimensions of high negative mood, high withdrawal, high intensity and low

rhythmicity (Chess & Thomas, 1986).

Thomas, Chess and their colleagues have contributed enormously

to the study of early human development, publishing research findings

from the NYLS since the 1960s. These authors are considered pioneers

in the field of individual differences during infancy and early childhood,

generating interest as well as voluminous research over the years.

Consequentially, they have also set the tone of much of the subsequent

work in this area.

Bates, Freeland and Lounsbury (1 979) retain all nine NYLS

dimensions in their Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ) and add

fussiness, sociability, changeability, and soothability. Bates and his

colleagues have focused their efforts on the temperamental style of fussy-

difficultness which corresponds to the negative mood and high intensity

dimensions in the NYLS framework. Bates (1 987) defines temperament

as dimensions of personality that are basic, early appearing, biologically

rooted and fairly continuous. His framework emphasizes the extent to

which temperament affects social relations and personality development.

Bates (1 980) views temperament to be an inherently interactional

phenomenon and defines difficult temperament as " representing an infant

or child's negative emotional responsiveness as perceived by the

individual parent, as well as representing qualities of the child, the parent

and their relationship" (p. 308).

The major criticism of the highly interactional view of temperament

postulated both by Thomas, Chess (1 986) and Bates (Bates et al., 1979;

Bates, 1980; 1987; 1989a) centres on the issue of stability. Plomin (1 982)

agreed that the interaction of child and environment are required for

behaviour, but argued that in understanding individual differences the

important question is the relative extent to which behavioural phenomena

can be explained by individual temperament, by environmental influences,

and by temperament-environmental interactions. In order for the construct

of temperament to be useful in attempting to delineate the heritability and

predictive utility of individual differences, stability is a critical factor. Thus,

Plomin stated "although any measure of temperament includes the

products of former temperament-environment interactions, to measure

temperament as independently as possible of the environment is a

reasonable goal" (Plomin, 1982, p. 39).

Buss and Plomin's (1 975) approach emphasized the heritability and

predictive value of temperament characteristics and derived their definition

directly from theoretical work by Allport (1 937) and Diamond (1 957). To

them, temperament is a set of genetically inherited broad dispositions that

appear early in life and underlie a variety of personality traits (Buss &

Plomin, 1975). These authors presented five criteria to be met when

deciding which personality dispositions should be called temperaments.

These criteria include: evidence of a genetic component, stability during

development, presence in adulthood, adaptive qualities, and presence in

other animals. Buss and Plomin identified three dimensions of

temperament: Emotionality, Activity and Sociability. Originally impulsivity

was included but later eliminated after failing to meet the specific criteria

concerning heritability and continuity (Buss & Plomin, 1984). Although the

model stresses the importance of genetic inheritance and stability, Buss

and Plomin (1 975) stated that temperament is expected to differentiate

during development with the course of these inborn dispositions being

determined by interaction with the environment. For example, emotionality

in early infancy is displayed by crying and fussing behaviours

undifferentially, however, with maturation emotionality differentiates into

fearfulness, frustration, and negative responses to specific environmental

situations.

Rothbart (1 989c) argued that concepts of temperament that

emphasize tr,ait-like qualities has led to a focus on the stability of

temperament over time rather than its development. By taking a

developmental perspective, she attempted to describe the structure of

temperament at successive periods of development, to assess the degree

of stability or instability of individual differences in the components of

temperament over time, and to determine the degree to which

temperament at one age may constrain personality and temperament at

the next. Rothbart (1 986) has defined temperament as "constitutionally

based individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation, with

"constitutional" referring to the relatively enduring biological makeup of the

individual, influenced over time by heredity, maturation, and experience."

(p. 356). This approach emphasized the psychobiological bases of early

behaviour by examining the reactive aspects of infant behaviour in terms

of physiologic arousal, and the active qualities of self-regulation that serve

to modulate reactivity such as cognition, perception, and affect. Rothbart

(1 989a) suggested that temperament can be behaviourally observed as

individual differences in Emotionality, Activity, and Attention. This

framework of temperament builds upon the basic tenet that temperament

is constitutionally based and therefore measurable via physiologic indices

(Rothbart 1989b).

The inclusion of cognitive factors is in contrast to previous work and

to the view of temperament and cognition as two distinct and pure

constructs (Garrison & Earls, 1987). Support of this new position may be

increased in the near future, however, as current research on cognition

and temperament are discovering a relationship between the two

constructs. Perhaps the main value of Rothbart's perspective is in its

ability to designate psychophysiological parameters to measure child

behaviour. These measures, which will be crucial in developing scientific

credibility for the construct of temperament, are currently being

investigated and validated by a number of researchers. Individual

differences in physiological and anatomical mechanisms regulating

attention (Foote, Bloom, & Aston-Jones, 1983; Posner & Rothbart, 1981 ;

Posner & Presti, 1 987; Posner, Inhoff, Freidrich, & Cohen, 1 987; Pribram

& McGuiness, 1975); reactivity (Gray, 1982; Davidson & Fox, 1989;

Masser & Farley, 1989; Tucker & Williamson, 1984); approach to novel

stimuli (Amsel, 1986), mood (Gray, 1982; Panskepp, 1982; Easterbrook,

1959; Murphy & Redmond, 1975); motor activity (Foote et al, 1983; Tucker

& Williamson, 1984); and sociability (Farley & Farley, 1970) have been

indentified. In addition, physiological correlates have also been proposed

for individual differences in cognitive style (Israel, 1969; Zuckerman,

Buchsbaum, & Murphy, 1980; Casal, Caballo, Cueto, & Cubos, 1990:

Eysenck, 1967; Gale, Coles & Blaydon, 1969; Nussbaum, Bigler, Koch, &

Ingram, 1988).

A criticism of Rothbart's framework is that by conceptualizing

temperament so broadly in terms of physiological parameters, it may not

allow the construct of temperament to be operationalized in empirical

research (Goldsmith & Campos, 1982). The definition of temperament

offered by Goldsmith and Campos (1 982) employed measurable

behaviors of individual differences in the probability of expressing the

primary emotions and arousal. They included among the primary

emotions Anger, Fear, Pleasure, and Interest, and measured arousal in

terms of Activity Level. Thus, temperament was considered emotional in

nature, and referred to behavioural tendencies rather than actual

occurrences of emotional behaviour. Cognitive-or perceptual factors were

specifically excluded (Goldsmith et al., 1 987).

Kagan, Reznick and Snidman (1 989) did not list a minimal set of

fundamental temperamental dispositions, but suggest that the

predisposition towards behavioural inhibition or disinhibition as a possible

underlying characteristic. Kagan et al., (1 989) treated temperamental

constructs as referring to categories rather than assuming a continuous

dimension, such as sociability or shyness. Initial reaction to unfamiliar

events was reported as a behavioural quality that is moderately stable

over time and independent of social class and intelligence scores.

Related, but not identical, theoretical constructs of introversion-

extraversion have been reported to be among the most stable and

heritable in adult personality work (Kagan, et al., 1989; Eysenck, 1982).

Individual differences in behaviour are associated with peripheral

physiological reactions in the reactivity of limbic structures to novel

situations (Kagan et al., 1989).

Towards conce~tual aareement

In synthesizing the four approaches presented at the Society for

Research in Child Development Roundtable: "What is Temperament?",

(Goldsmith et al., 1987) McCall offered the following definition:

"temperament consists of relatively consistent, basic dispositions inherent

in the person that underlie and modulate the expression of Activity,

Reactivity, Emotionality, and Sociability. Major elements of temperament

are present early in life, and those elements are likely to be strongly

influenced by biological factors. As development proceeds, the

expression of temperament becomes more influenced by experience and

context" (p. 524). The inclusion of sociability highlighted the opinion that

temperament was largely expressed within a social context, although

temperament is viewed as a subset of sociability.

Although it is doubtful that one theoretical framework will satisfy all

possible dimensions to be included under the construct of temperament,

Rothbart's psychobiological approach has theoretical and empirical merit.

From a theoretical level, Rothbart's framework is developmental in

orientation allowing an investigation of temperamental continuity and

discontinuity over time and in relation to normative developmental events.

The specification of parameters within the framework provide association

between the behavioural and physiological domains of temperament. By

focusing on individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation, Rothbart

goes beyond a behavioural style advocated by Thomas and Chess, and

specifies individuals' predispositions to particular reactions, including but

not limited to primary emotions as do Goldsmith and Campos (1 982), or

negative emotions as do Buss and Plomin (1 975). In addition, although

Rothbart sees temperament as existing within the person, the framework

is also transactional in nature. The environmental demands influence the

expression of temperament, affect others directly, and require different

caregiving strategies. Temperament influences the choice of

environments in which to participate, and contributes to the development

of cognitive strategies, social skills, and later personality functioning

(Goldsmith et al., 1987).

The Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart, 1978) assesses

Activity Level, Smiling (and Laughter), Fearfulness, Distress to Limitations,

Duration of Orienting and Soothability through caregiver report. The IBQ

is free from several methodological problems dominant in other

temperament measures and is recommended by Slabach, Morrow, &

Wachs (1 991) for studies involving infants' normal behaviour patterns. A

full description of the IBQ and its psychometric properties is included in the

Method section.

II. Temperament and childhood behaviour disorders

Implicit in the majority of research concerning temperament and

behaviour disorders is the assumption that certain individual

characteristics are perceived by others in the environment as negative or

difficult. This interactional view suggests that the infant who is more

difficult for the caregiver will be at risk for later behaviour problems.

Considering the hypothetical role that temperament is implied to play in

the development of behaviour disorders, there have been relatively few

studies on this issue, especially during infancy.

The New York Longitudinal Study was originally designed to attain

a better understanding of the development of behaviour disorders in

children, with a focus on temperament and on the role it plays in the

etiology and expression of disorder (Thomas, Chess & Birch, 1968). Of

the original 136 subjects who entered the study at approximately three

months, 42 developed behaviour disorders during the first five years of life.

Although this research is commonly cited as supporting a direct link

between infant "difficultness" and later behaviour disorders, this is not

confirmed by the 1968 original work. The hypothesized relationship

between difficult behavioural style and behaviour disorders did not emerge

until four years of age. At one year, only activity level, a temperament

dimension not included in the concept of "difficultness", differentiated

between the clinical and nonclinical sample for later behaviour disorders.

No significant association between behaviour disorders and any

temperament dimension was evident from two years of age, and at three

years the only temperament dimension associated with behaviour

disorders was Intensity. Thomas et al. (1 968) concluded from their

analyses that difficult temperament in and of itself did not account for

behavioural problems. More recently, Chess and Thomas (1 986) have

suggested that it is the goodness of fit between the individual child's

temperament and the kind of child management techniques used by

parents which accounts for behavioural problems.

Maziade (1 989) also did not find infant temperamental

"difficultness" predictive of behavior problems at age four and one half.

Maziade, Cote, Bernier, Boutin, and Thiverge (1 989a; 1989b) recruited

infants from the general population who were rated at each extreme end of

temperament. No significant relationship was found between infant

temperament and later behaviour problems, even when the data were

analyzed in terms of extreme difficult temperament scores in infancy.

Similar to the Thomas et al. (1 968) findings, temperament assessed after

four years of age was significantly associated with concurrent behaviour

disorders. However, significant continuity for extreme temperament

scores from infancy to the preschool years was found, particularly in the

boys (Maziade, et al 1 989a; 1 989b).

Wolkind and De Salis (1 982) did report that difficult temperament,

defined as negative mood and irregularity in biological functions at 4

months of age predicted behaviour problems at42 months. Temperament

at four months of age was assessed through an interview with the mother

which incorporated 40 items from an original 70-item self-report

questionnaire developed by from the NYLS interviews. Wolkind and De

Salis (1 982) derived cluster scales from a correlation matrix of the 40

individual items. Infants were grouped on this scale according to quartile

position, the two extreme quartiles being kept separate and the two middle

quartiles being combined. When the infants were 42 months of age, the

mothers were interviewed regarding behavioural difficulties measured on

the Behavioural Screening Questionnaire (BSQ; Richman & Graham,

1971). The BSQ consists of 13 items of behaviour difficulties or concern

rated on a scale from 0 (not present) to 2 (severe); a total score of ten and

above on the BSQ is considered indicative of a definite behaviour disorder

(Wolkind & De Salis, 1982). Quartile position on temperament was

significantly associated with the BSQ scores, with the highest quartile

group, called Negative Mood/lrregular receiving higher scores on the BSQ,

although none of the three groups of children had a mean BSQ score

above 10. Of the thirteen behaviour problem items, only "day wetting" was

significantly more prevalent in the Negative Mood/lrregular group.

Management problems were significantly less common in the Good

Mood/Regular group, with no difference between the Middle Quartile

group and the Negative Mood/lrregular group.

Bates and his colleagues (Bates, 1987; Pettit & Bayles, 1984;

Bates, 1989b) reported that 6 month mother rated difficult temperament

predicted later mother rated externalizing (e.g.;aggression) and

internalizing (e.g., anxiety) behaviour problems at 3, 4, and 5 years of age.

By differentiating the type of difficulty, Bates (1 987) reports that 6 month

activity management problems are predictive of later externalizing

behaviour problems, and fearfulness at 6 months predicted later

internalizing problems.

Huttunen and Nyman (1 982), in their longitudinal epidemiological

sample of 1,855 found that children who had been rated high on intensity

and negative mood between 6 and 8 months of age were more likely to be

admitted to hospital prior to their fifth birthday for either "acute behavioural

crisis", acute colic spasms, or for "impulsive accidents" which included

contusions, fractures and wounds, while those children being admitted for

pneumonia did not differ on temperamental characteristics.

The measurement of temperament in general, and its predictive

ability in specific, is at present ambiguous. Temperamental qualities,

when measured in toddlerhood or later have been associated with an

increased risk of psychiatric disorder (see Garrison & Earls, 1987; Rutter,

1987; Bates, 1989b). General negative emotionality and negative

reactions to new people and situations show some evidence of predicting

later reports of behaviour problems, especially those seen by the mother

herself. However, results reported in the majority of the reviewed studies

are only of modest size. The few studies that suggest infant temperament

might be related to future behaviour problems are confounded in that the

mother is usually the rater of both temperament and behaviour problems,

which may indicate a personality bias. Furthermore, any association

apparent in the research thus far could be considered a continuity of

temperamental characteristics rather than the cause or precursor for

behavioural outcome.

Compelling evidence to support the association between infant

temperament and later behaviour problems is lacking. The endeavor to

detect a linear association between infant characteristics and later

behaviour problems rests on the assumption that early measurement will

best represent those characteristics that are independent of environmental

interaction; an assumption that may be false. Prenatal and perinatal

environmental influences (Rutter, 1989), and maturational differences

(McCall, 1981) have a major impact within the infancy period.

Furthermore, constitutional qualities may not be evident early in life.

Plomin (1 986) states that for most characteristics, the force and stability of

heritability influences increase over time.

I I I. Methodological Issues in Measurement

Psvchometric unsoundness of infant measures.

The lack of significant association between infant temperament and

later behaviour disorders could be due to infant measures being

psychometrically unsound. Temperament items in early infancy may not

reflect a reliable picture of the infant, or early scales may not measure

validly those characteristics that are considered to be temperament later in

development. Although individual temperament measures have been

criticized for their psychometric properties, especially those instruments

developed from the NYLS (Slabach et al., 1991), it is unlikely that all

measures suffer from such deficiencies.

Parental personalitv bias

A common criticism levied in the area is that maternal rated

temperament instruments reflect maternal personality rather than child

characteristics. Mothers with severe psychopathology such as

schizophrenia and depression perceived more difficult and fearful

temperaments in their infants, both concurrently (Sameroff, Seifer &

Barocas, 1983) and retrospectively (Silverton, Finello & Mednick, 1983).

This research could be interpreted several ways. It could imply that

maternal reports of infant temperament are merely an assessment of

maternal personality variables. However, equally valid, the association

may imply a genetic component or pre- and perinatal influences on infant

constitution. What this research strongly implies is a possible risk to the

infant-caregiver dyad.

Parental re~ortina bias

The lack of concrete association between early infant temperament

and later behaviour disorders may indicate a parental reporting bias,

rather than a parental personality bias. This hypothesis may explain why

temperament, especially at the extreme ends of the distribution, shows

some stability from infancy through school-age but its association with

behaviour problems only strongly emerges during the preschool years or

later. It is conceivable that parental ratings of temperamental

characteristics during early infancy are less variable than those ratings

assessed in toddlerhood and beyond, decreasing the predictability to later

behaviour disorders. Parents may be reluctant to rate the infant as

displaying any extreme characteristics, because of lack of experience with

the infant or unavailability of a reference point to judge behaviour.

Because infants change and develop so rapidly, parental ratings during

early infancy may reflect some form of an averaging bias, whereby

behaviors are accurately rated according to their presence but less

extreme. By the preschool years, parents likely have a more stable and

concrete perception of their child, feel more competent, and have more

experience to incorporate when rating the items. They may thus be more

comfortable in assigning extreme scores.

McDevitt (1 986) and Chess and Thomas (1 990) have suggested

that lack of sufficient variance in temperament measures during early

infancy prevents many of the links between early and later behaviour

being detected. Lewis and Starr (1 979) stated that lack of variability or

differentiation of behavioural responses at one point make it extremely

difficult to predict subsequent behaviours. These authors suggest that it is

not until the end of the third year of life that differentiation of behaviour

responses is complete. Although not specific to temperament, these

authors suggests that observed behaviour does not develop response

differentiation until the preschool years.

If continuity is evident in the rank ordering of individual

temperament items over time, and ratings become more variable with age,

early infant temperament may indeed be predictive of later behaviour

problems when the structure of variability is considered.

The concept of difficultness

A further explanation to account for the lack of association between

early temperament and later behaviour problems could relate to changes

across dimensions or scales believed to make up difficult temperament.

When a combination of temperament dimensions are used to reflect a

particular style, e.g., as in the concept of difficultness, stability over time

does not necessarily indicate that each individual dimension remains

stable. Thus, a child could be rated dramatically differently on two scales

from infancy to toddlerhood, but if they were in the opposite direction, the

composite score for difficulty might remain the same. For example, a

young infant displaying irregular patterns in sleeping, eating and bowel

movements might be perceived as average; the same infant might also

continually fuss and cry and be rated slightly higher on ratings assessing

negative emotionality. If in toddlerhood, this same child was waking

during the night, hampering toilet training due to unpredictability, and was

still not on a regular eating schedule, parental ratings on Rhythmicity

would be affected negatively. Since crying and fussing behaviors

decrease in frequency and intensity during the toddler years, the child

might no longer be perceived as extreme in mood, especially if there was

a marked decrease from early infancy. A child displaying highly irregular

and unpredictable bodily functions combined with an average mood would

likely receive different reactions from the environment than those received

by a child displaying frequent and intense negative mood combined with

normal regularity, although both children would qualify as having a

"difficult" temperament. Adult characteristics are also stable within the

individual, which may present a problem when characteristics of the child

change over time. Speculatively, a parent may show greater ability to

interact with some aspects of child behaviour than with others, causing the

goodness of fit to shift and create a risk factor for the development of later

behaviour problems.

Therefore, when behavioural styles such as difficultness are

measured it is not clear whether child characteristics do in fact remain

stable over time. It could be maintained that this criticism is unwarranted

as the temperamental style remained stable; however, as just described,

different combinations of temperamental dimensions may have more

power than others when the goal is to predict behavioural outcome.

In addition, there is great diversity across and within studies in how

difficultness has been operationally defined, measured and analyzed.

Investigators have analyzed difficultness in terms of a behavioural style

reflecting a composite score from several dimensions of temperament, as

well as only using one dimension. McNeil (1 982) argued "there are

already at least six different constellations of characteristics that have

been suggested to constitute the difficult child concept. When shall we be

able to achieve convergence across different studies if everyone has

different versions?" (p. 152). This lack of specification is likely a major

contributor to the inconsistent results. Several challenges to the concept

of difficult temperament have been put forth on empirical grounds

(Rothbart, 1982). Bates (1 987) reported that several studies using a

variety of temperament questionnaires have found that rhythmicity is not

associated with the cluster proposed to encapsulate temperamental

difficulty. It has also been found that mother's ratings of infant difficultness

are more associated with negative mood than with unadaptability (Bates,

1987). A study by Maziade (1 989) did find however, that mood and

unadaptability scales tended to cluster.

A major issue that has never been addressed is whether the

temperamental dimensions which encompass difficultness are in fact

perceived as negative by the the parent. The notion that individual

dimensions of temperament constitute a risk factor for later behavioural

problems implies parental perception of those characteristics to be

negative when they may not be. Furthermore, what is considered to be

negative in one situation or at one age may not be considered negative in

another. Although Bates (1987) has found that parental reports of infant

difficultness center around fussing and crying behaviours, whether these

difficult infant behaviours are considered negative in quality has not been

investigated. It is surprising that there is no evidence on the extent to

which parents find the components of difficult temperament to be negative.

The present research will attempt to remedy this lack.

lnteractina variables

The fact that conclusive evidence for a relationship between early

temperamental characteristics and later behaviour problems is not present

in the literature may indicate not that a relationship does not exist, but

rather, that the relationship is not a direct one. Early infant ratings of

temperament associated with later behavioural problems generally do so

with the introduction of interacting variables such as "goodness of fit"

(Chess & Thomas, 1986). The goodness of fit model suggests that

favorable development occurs when there is a compatability between the

"capactities and characteristics of the individual and the demands and

expectations of the environment" (Chess & Thornas, 1986, p. 12).

Cameron (1 978), reanalyzing the NYLS, data found that difficult

temperament at 1 year predicted childhood behaviour problems at 3 years

only when parenting management styles were taken into account, and

only among the female children. Initially, no parental characteristics

differentiated between the difficult and easy temperament groups, but

differences emerged between the parents as the difficult children placed

demands on them. These differences in parental reaction to similar

temperaments determined the development of behaviour disorders

(Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1 968; Achenbach, 1 974).

Other researchers have attempted to investigate the notion that

difficult infants are the subject of less warm or less responsive interactions

with their mothers. To date, there is little evidence to support this notion,

at least in the infancy period. Bates (1987) in a thorough review of such

studies concluded that mother warmth-responsiveness is not importantly

affected by infant temperament. Daniels, Plomin, and Greenhalgh (1 984)

did not find any relationship between mother rated difficultness and

observed quality of parenting on the HOME scale at 12 or 24 months.

Wachs and Gandour (1 981) also reported no differences in the observed

quality of maternal stimulation to 6-month-old easy or difficult infants.

Findings that do show differences of interaction with more difficult

infants usually occur in "at risk" dyads, such as mothers who are young

and less well educated (Nover, Shore, Timberlake, & Greenspan, 1984),

psychologically disturbed (Campbell, 1979), or hold preexisting attitudes

towards the amount and quality of responsiveness needed by infants in

the early neonatal period that are independent of child temperament

(Crockenberg & Smith, 1982).

Other researchers have suggested that infants who are more

difficult to care for affect their mother's physical and psychological health,

and that these changes within mothers lead to risk situations within the

family which may lead to the child developing behavioural problems.

Wolkind and De Salis (1 982) found mothers of 4-month-old infants who

were described as having a negative mood and being irregular in their

biological functioning were more physically tired than other mothers.

Although these mothers were not different on measures of emotional

tiredness or depression at 4 months postpartum, by the time their children

were 42 months old, they were more likely to have developed depression.

Of this group of initially difficult infants with tired mothers who became

depressed, 40% had developed behavioural problems at three and one

half years.

Easterbrooks and Emde (1 984) found that first born, 6-month-old

infants who were more intrusive during a couple-oriented task had

mothers who reported having lower marital satisfaction than those mothers

with less intrusive infants. The intrusive infants were not rated differently

on the IBQ from the non-intrusive infants except for being rated higher on

the temperament dimension of smiling and laughing. The mothers of

these intrusive infants were more likely to respond to them than were their

fathers, who also rated the infants higher on smiling and laughing.

Interpretations of these findings could suggest that the root of socially

demanding behaviour (difficultness) could lie in marital distress, or that

possibly the parents diffused their marital tension by redirecting attention

to their child, or by communicating through the child (Bates, 1987).

Other findings suggest that difficult infant behaviour is reacted to

differently by multiparous and primiparous mothers, and may be affected

by the gender of the child. Bates et al. (1 979) found that primiparous

mothers were more likely to rate their infants as difficult, and in fact these

children were observed to exhibit more fussiness than infants of

multiparous mothers. According to Bates et al. (1 979), gender was not a

determinant of whether the mothers perceived the infant as difficult. Dunn

(1 977) also found that primiparous mothers were more likely to let their

infants cry and were less responsive to infant cues. Crockenberg and

Smith (1 982) reported that first born children had mothers who exhibited

more caretaking only behaviors towards them, rather than socially

interactive behaviors.

Wolkind and De Salis (1 982) assessed whether maternal

confidence in parenting affected ratings of temperament. Mothers rated

themselves more at ease and comfortable with their second child than

they did with their first born; however, there were no significant differences

in the temperament ratings of their first and second born children. Bates

et al. (1 979) found no difference between primiparous and multiparous

mothers on their knowledge of developmental milestones; however, the

more knowledge the mother had regarding child-rearing the more likely

she was to rate her infant as easy. Sameroff (1 975) reported that mothers

with more children were more likely to rate them as difficult than mothers

with fewer children.

There are numerous studies which indicate that boys show more

behavioural and psychiatric disorders than girls. If temperament is related

to the development of later disorders, and boys are more likely to develop

disorders, gender differences should be evidenced in the research. Most

studies do not find gender differences on temperament dimensions

(McNeil, Persson-Blennow, 1982; Wolkind & De Salis, 1982; Bates et al.,

1979; Crockenberg & Smith, 1982; Fish & Crockenberg, 1981) with the

exception of activity level, where males appear to be more active (Eaton &

Enns, 1986; Hegvik, McDevitt & Carey, 1982; Buss & Plomin, 1984).

However, it has also been found that parents see active infants as more

sociable and more fun (Bates et al., 1979).

Moss (1 967) found that first born female infants who had been

highly irritable at 3 weeks were observed to have more maternal contact (!:

=.68), than were first born irritable male infants (L = .20) observed when

the infants reached three months of age. Moss suggested that male

infants were less consolable; so that their mothers were less reinforced for

interaction; and over time, these mothers showed less responsiveness to

their infant males.

Crockenberg and Smith (1 982) also found that mothers of 3-month-

old infants were less likely to respond to their highly irritable male infants

than their highly irritable female infants. Although these authors reported

no gender differences in actual irritability, the highly irritable female infants

were reported as the most alert. Crockenberg and Smith (1 982)

suggested that the greater responsivity to irritable females might be due to

their increased alertness over the male infants, which the mothers might

find rewarding. These authors cited a study by Bell, Weller and Waldrop

(1 971) who reported that irritable male infants displayed reduced social

interest with others as they matured, a possible result of reduced maternal

responsivity.

As indicated by the previous review, and suggested by Thomas

(1 982), even when children display similar temperament, the reactions by

people in the environment may be very different. These differences can

be non-temperamental in nature but related to the birth order, gender,

physical and emotional health of the mother as well as marital satisfaction.

Thus, attention to infant as well as family characteristics should be

considered.

The present research is an effort to address some of the issues

reflected in the research which may account for the lack of significant

predictability of early temperament to later behaviour disorders.

Firstly, as discussed previously, the lack of a significant relationship

between early infant characteristics and later behaviour problems may rest

on aspects of parental perception. A parental reporting bias may exist in

terms of small variability of the temperament dimensions in the infant

period which increases in toddlerhood. This hypothesis can be tested by

examining the extent to which age accounts for the variance in maternal

ratings. Secondly, it needs to be asked whether certain temperamental

characteristics are indeed perceived by mothers as negative.

IV. Objective measure of Infant Difficulty

Thirdly, it would clearly be advantageous to delineate an early

measure of temperament that is as independent as possible of

environmental interaction, or of maternal bias while remaining practical for

research. A theoretical framework encompassing the manner in which

temperament influences behaviour as well as how it affects the

environment to promote risk for later behaviour disorders must also be

convincing. In addition to a theoretical link, there must be empirical

evidence supporting the relationship.

Although temperament researchers do not always agree on which

behaviors are important, most of the theories have in common a

component that relates to negative emotionality or reactivity (Goldsmith et

al., 1 987; van den Boom, 1989; Bates, 1 989a).

Negative mood is included in two of Thomas and Chess'

dimensions, quality of mood and intensity, both of which are included in

their description of difficultness (Chess & Thomas, 1986). Buss and

Plomin (1 984) consider distress, the tendency to become upset easily and

intensely, to be equivalent to emotionality. Emotionality involves

emotional and behavioural arousal. In terms of temperament, arousal is

the crucial component that yields inherited individual differences. Distress

during infancy should be seen as fear and anger. Early appearing

examples of emotionality are crying, unsoothability, and intense activation

of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system (Goldsmith et

al., 1987).

Negative emotionality is included in Rothbart and Derryberry's

(1 981) temperament construct of reactivity which refers to the excitability,

responsivity, or arousability of the behavioural and physiological systems

of the organism. Negative emotionality is approached in terms of the

duration or intensity of stimulation which can be endured before a distress

threshold is reached. lnfants differ in the levels of stimulation or arousal

that they can experience before distress is elicited. Once such a threshold

is attained, some infants rise gradually toward their peak of distress, while

other infants may move rapidly to the level of intense crying (Rothbart,

1989a). lnfants also differ in the peak to which their distress reactions

rise: some infants seldom move beyond moderate fussiness, while others

build all the way to hard, harsh wailing.

Kagan et al. (1989), in their behavioural inhibition approach to

temperament suggest that the biological bases for differences in inhibition,

if present in the first few months of life, would be reflected in extreme

distress to frustration, extreme irritability, poor quality of sleep, chronic

constipation, and other symptoms reflecting high arousal in the central

nervous system circuits involving the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal,

reticular activating system, and the sympathetic arm of the autonomic

nervous system.

Bates (1 980) identified through factor analysis, frequent and intense

fussing and crying to be the major temperamental component related to

parental perceptions of the level of difficulty the infant would present to the

average caregiver. To Bates (1 980) negative emotionality is the central

feature of difficultness. Bates et al. (1979) found significant correlations

between mother and father ratings of difficultness; between mother and

father ratings of difficultness and observer ratings for difficultness; and

between mother rated difficultness and two home observation factors of

fussiness and unsoothability.

Further information on the objective component of irritability is also

available. Highly irritable infants' cries have a different quality to them

than do those of non-irritable infants. Spectrographs of difficult infants'

cries have shown longer pauses between cry sounds and higher pitched

sounds than cries of temperamentally easy infants (Bates et al., 1979).

Further research on spectrographs revealed that the difficult infants cries

were rated as more 'psychologically demanding' by independent raters

(Lounsbury & Bates, 1982).

Therefore, the most viable temperament theories to date

demonstrate a universal inclusion of negative emotionality as a

temperamental dimension. Research has shown that this dimension of

temperament contributes importantly to perceptions of infant difficultness.

As emotionality is one of only two, the other being activity level,

consensual dimensions of temperament delineated by the dominant

approaches in the field there is validity in its investigation.

Behavioural Measurement of Negative Emotionality:

Crying and its Correlates

Negative emotionality or reactivity during infancy is largely

characterized by general irritability marked by fussiness and crying

behaviors. Support for a biological hypothesis can be found in the

consistent diurnal pattern of both excessively and normally crying infants;

that is, most crying episodes occur during the evening hours (Bernal,

1973; Brazelton, 1962). Early infant crying also shows a similar

developmental course over time. Rebelsky and Black (1 972) found that

amount of crying increased from one to six weeks of age, where it peaked

and then declined to 13 weeks. Brazelton (1 962) also found that total

crying per day increased from birth to a peak median of 2.75 hours per

day at six weeks and declined thereafter.

Individual stability of crying has been demonstrated by Korner,

Hutchinson, Koperksi, Kraemer, and Schneider (1 981). Crying was

monitored on 72 healthy full term infants during the first three postnatal

days. Results showed high stability across the three days on percentage

of total crying time. Rebelsky and Black (1 972) reported stability in the

amount of crying from one to 13 weeks of age. Variability within each

infant was high, but it was lower than the variation between infants,

suggesting some individual consistency over the three month period of

study. Fish and Crockenberg (1 981) also found-the frequency of fussing

and crying to be consistent across time and within individual when 16

infants were assessed with the Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale

(BNAS; Brazelton, 1973) in their homes between five and 10 days of age,

and observed in their homes interacting with their mothers at one, three

and nine months. Ackland (1 988) found crying time per day, averaged

over five and seven day infant diaries, to be significantly correlated from

six weeks, to six months and to 14 to 22 months. Snow, Jacklin and

Maccoby (1 980) found the frequency of crying episodes to be reasonably

stable over time in individual children from 3 to 26 months, with crying at 9

months significantly predicting crying at 12, 18, and 26 months.

The trend in thinking about early infant crying is related to

neurological explanations and the biobehavioural shift of the central

nervous system that occurs between 3 and 12 weeks of age, the peak of

crying in young infants. Emde, Gaensbauer and Harmon (1 976) cite

evidence for this shift from the fields of learning, perception, emotionality,

psychophysiology, and neurology. Towards the end of the fourth month

increases in orienting, smiling and laughter occur, corresponding to the

development of the 'stimulus-barrier shift' which decreases infants' distress

to overstimulation (Goldsmith et al., 1987). Rothbart (Goldsmith et al.,

1987) reported lack of stability in questionnaire measures of irritability from

this period to one year and suggested that this was due to a possible

transition in susceptibility to distress after three months.

There is a suggestion in the literature that excessive crying during

the early period is related to other indicators of central nervous system

functioning, such as sleep and activity. Sleep shows marked changes in

early infancy, with active REM sleep declining and quiet sleep increasing.

Newborns' sleep in general is controlled by the brainstem. During

postnatal development these brainstem mechanisms come progressively

under the control of the higher level forebrain mechanisms, resulting in

more quiet and less active sleep (Ackland, 1988).

Bernal (1 973) found that 31 O/O of infants in her sample of 14 month

olds were night wakers, defined as waking between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

regularly. Total crying time and frequency of crying episodes recorded

during the first ten days of life in the 14-month-old group who were night

wakers, were significantly higher than in those who were not. The night

wakers slept significantly less than did non-wakers both during the first ten

days and at 14 months. The relationship between frequent night waking at

14 months and three years was also significant.

Ackland (1 988), following infants from 6-8 weeks to two years,

found support for the relationship between crying and other biological

correlates. Crying at 6-8 weeks was negatively related to concurrent total

sleep time. By seven months of age crying was no longer

contemporaneously related to total sleep time but showed a strong

positive relationship to contemporaneous night waking episodes. This

relationship was also evident in the 14-22 month group, where increased

night waking was more strongly related to contemporaneous crying than to

total sleep time. Paret (1 983) also reported that those children considered

night wakers, had similar total sleep time to those who slept well, when

measured with a videocamera. Ackland (1 988) and Paret (1 983)

concluded that by later infancy and toddlerhood, total sleep time is

compensated for by parental management techniques such as increasing

the number of naps, while early total sleep time reflects less environmental

interaction. Night waking showed significant stability across the three time

periods and was related to early infant crying. In fact, the best predictor

for 14-22 month night waking was crying at six weeks and seven months

(Ackland, 1988).

Several researchers have reported increased motoric activity during

crying episodes as well as retrospective reports of extreme infant irritability

in children later diagnosed hyperactive (Werry, Weiss & Douglas, 1964).

Activity levels appear to be stable over time and have been associated

with sleep problems in childhood. Stability in activity level has been

reported. Korner, Zeanah, Linden, Berkowitz, Kraemer and Agras (1985)

found that neonatal movements measured by a transducer mattress

predicted later activity. Those infants who showed more vigorous activity

in the newborn period tended to become highly active children at four to

eight years, measured by an activity monitor. Battle and Lacey (1 972) in

following up 74 subjects who had been included in the Fels Longitudinal

Study since birth found that activity level could be predicted from previous

age periods. Children who were overly active in the preschool period had

been more active in infancy. Preschool activity level also was related to a

more active behavioural style in adolescence. Fish and Crockenberg

(1 981) assessed newborns with the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale

and found newborn characteristics of motor maturity strongly correlated to

motor activity at nine months of age.

In support of the relationship between crying and activity, Brazelton

(1 985) stated that "active, intensely driving babies were likely to have long

periods of crying, which rapidly built up with more and more activity,

startles, and these upset the babies and caused even more crying. High

motor activity, poor consolability, and rapid change of state were

predictable characteristics in the newborn to an intense, unreachable

crying period at the end of each day in the first three month" (p. 331 -332.)

Korner et al. (1 985) studied the activity patterns and characteristic

levels of energy output during the first 3 days of life with an electric activity

monitor that distinguished activity during periods of crying from periods of

non-crying. Crying and non-crying activity were significantly correlated

over the three days, suggesting that the infants tended to be either active

or inactive independent of crying. The researchers made the observation

that non-crying activity was the only reliable measure of activity level

because total activity was so strongly influenced by individual differences

in crying behaviors.

McKeen (1 988) asked parents of 46 infants aged six months to

complete a diary record of their children's crying and sleep behaviors while

the children's activity was independently monitored with actometers.

Parents also completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart,

1978) prior to the recording. Diary measures of crying were significantly

related to the actometer measures of activity, aswell as with the activity

scale on the IBQ. The activity scale on the IBQ and the actometer

measures were also significantly correlated.

Gotowiec (1 987) provided support for the proposal that excessive

crying is related to the organization of the infants' nervous system. In his

study neurological organization was operationalized as behaviourally

defined state, the argument being that the organization of state

parameters reflects the underlying functioning and organization of the

neurological systems. Six-to-eight-week-old infants were videotaped while

lying in a crib, and rated every ten seconds for behavioural state. The

results showed that infants who cried more during observation spent more

time in active states even when not crying.

The first prospective study on the relationship between early crying

and later activity was reported by Ackland (1 988; Ackland & Ames, 1990).

Mothers completed diary records of crying at six to eight weeks, seven

months and between 14-22 months. The Toddler Behavior Assessment

Questionnaire (TBAQ; Goldsmith, 1987) was also completed at 14-22

months. Significant correlations were found between concurrent

measures of crying and the activity scale on the TBAQ. Further analysis

revealed that infant crying at six to eight weeks accounted for 37% of the

variance in activity ratings at 14-22 months (Ackland & Ames, 1990).

Negative emotionality defined as crying behaviour illustrates a

stable individual difference present and measurable early in life. It is

related to other neurological factors, that are also dimensions of

temperament, such as irregularity in biological functioning and activity

level. In support of Rothbart and Derryberry's (1 981) temperament of

reactivity, Elliot, Fisher, and Ames (1 988) reported excessively crying

infants reached a peak of crying more rapidly than non-excessive criers.

Brazelton (1 985) also reported that excessive criers had more rapid build

up to full cry, changed states more frequently and were less consolable.

Thus, early crying may reflect the neurological organization of the infant

reasonably independent from environmental influences and illustrate

temperamental differences.

Infant crvina as a social mediator

Parents of excessively crying infants have reported less

effectiveness in soothing them when they are distressed (Ames, Khazaie,

Gavel, & Farrell, 1987). Empirical evidence would also suggest that

excessive criers are unsoothable in general and not just in response to

parental method of soothing (Elliott, Fisher, & Ames, 1988). Maternal

reports of ability to terminate crying indicate that mothers are not only less

effective with more irritable infants, but also that more varied techniques

are used (Ames et at., 1987). Excessive infant crying has also been

shown to contribute to increased parenting stress in first time parents.

MacWilliam, Ames, and Mason (in press) have shown that early infant

crying is related to maternal levels of anxiety. Irritability has also been

shown to influence the quality of mother-infant interaction negatively

(Crockenberg & Acredolo, 1 983).

van den Boom (1 989) found that irritability-measured in the

newborn period by the BNAS was related to a developmental pattern of

change in interaction within the infant-mother dyad. Irritable infants were

rated as more difficult at 6 and 12 months of age, which was associated

with mothers gradually refraining from involvement with their infant. In

home observations over a period of one year, mothers of irritable infants

tended to ignore crying for part of the time it occurred as well as used

more distance soothing strategies. van den Boom (1 989) reported that

newborn irritability was predictive of an insecure attachment style at one

year.

The mechanism for infant irritability acting as a risk factor for

interactional problems was described by van den Boom (1 989). She

suggested that the more irritable infants will use distress signals such as

crying or fussing to bring their mother into proximity, while less irritable

infants will use positive signals such as smiling. The interaction of these

infant behaviours and maternal response can be seen as a positive

feedback in the case of positive signals (Bowlby, 1969), and negative

feedback in the case of distress signals (Bischof, 1975; cited in van den

Boom, 1989). For example, non-irritable infants will be more likely to use

positive behaviours such as smiling or vocalizations to gain proximity.

These infants will be more effective in not only having their caregiver

respond, but because the intensity of the infant behaviours will likely

increase with proximity to the caregiver, non-irritable infants are more

likely to have his or her mother continue to be responsive until the infant's

needs are met (van den Boom, 1989).

An infant who uses distress signals such as crying will be less

effective in getting and maintaining contact with the caregiver. Distress

signals decrease with proximity; thus when the mother responds, the

infant will decrease his or her distress behaviours, and because there is a

reduction in distress, the mother may stop responding before the infant's

needs have been met (van den Boom, 1989). If the infant's needs have

not been met, distress signals will re-occur. Because the mother

perceives herself as unsuccessful in stopping the negative behaviour, she

may attempt to soothe the infant by means other than maintaining physical

contact, such as talking to or distracting the infant with toys. Eventually

the mother may become unresponsive.

A similar framework describing dyadic interaction at risk is provided

by Patterson (1 982). He suggests that if there is a high need for

stimulation in the infant, controlled by fussing and crying to receive

attention, parents may be less inclined to attend to the child when he or

she is not fussing. The coercive pattern in child-mother interaction found

in acting out and aggressive children may have its roots in early infant

crying behaviours.

Summarv and hv~otheses for the gresent studv

Although there is evidence for the continuity of temperament from

infancy to later years, the association between temperament and

behaviour disorders is most clearly detected after ages three or four. The

failure of early infant temperament to predict later behaviour problems may

be due to several reasons: insufficient variability in temperament ratings

in early infancy; behaviours that are theoretically believed to be difficult for

parents, but perhaps are not; temperament rating scales that are not

objective enough to tap individual differences; and the mediation of the

association between temperament and behaviour problems by gender,

birth order, or factors within the mother or the family system. Based on

the previously reviewed literature the following hypotheses are made:

1. Increased maternal experience (measured as age or birth order status

of the child) will result in increased variability in ratings on the Infant

Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ: Rothbart, 1978). It is reasoned that parents

may be reluctant to rate their infant as displaying any extreme

characteristics during early infancy, because of lack of experience with the

infant or unavailability of a reference point to judge behaviour. With

increased age of the child, parents may be more likely to assign extreme

scores. Furthermore, multiparous mothers will be more variable in their

ratings than primiparous mothers due to the availability of a reference

point.

2. Mothers will not rate those dimensions of temperament which are

theoretically postulated to encompass "difficulty" as significantly negative.

It is hypothesized that those dimensions reflecting negative emotionality

(distress to limitations and fearfulness) will be rated as neutral behaviours.

It is reasoned that during the first year of life parents are more tolerant of

difficult behaviours, and since the infant is not faced with the demands of

social and family rules to a large degree, the expression of "difficult"

behaviours will not be considered to be negative in valence.

3. An objective measure of difficult infant behaviour (Infant Behaviour

Diary) will be more highly associated with overall parenting stress than will

a mother rated temperament measure (IBQ). This hypothesis suggests

that infant behaviour requiring increased parenting (crying, fussing, and

night waking behaviours) will be a better predictor for parenting stress

(measured as the score on the Parent Domain Scale of the PSI) than will

difficult behaviour rated on a temperament scale. It is suggested that

"difficult" behaviours in the first year of life will not have a negative impact

on the mother; rather, those behaviours which demand increased

parenting resources will have a negative impact of the mother.

4. Mothers are hypothesized to rate themselves as having a less positive

relationship with their male infants than their female infants, but male and

female infants will not differ on measures of temperament. This

hypothesis is included to confirm previous research which has shown that

mothers find their male infants to be less reinforcing, and are less

responsive to them.

5. Multiparous mothers are hypothesized to receive higher scores than

primiparous mothers on parenting stress, but their infants will not differ on

measures of temperament. This final hypothesis is included to lend

validity to the notion that temperament is a within-individual construct

rather than a within-dyad phenomenon. It had been reported that

psychologically disturbed mothers were more likely to rate their infants as

difficult. If temperament is a within-individual construct, multiparous

mothers who should experience increased parenting stress due to caring

for more than one child, should not rate their infants differently from

mothers with fewer children.

V. Method

Subiects

52 mother-infant dyads were included in the present study. All

infants were reportedly full-term and weighed more than 2500 grams at

birth, with a mean birth weight of 3575 grams (range = 2510 - 4564

grams). The ages of the infants ranged from 58 to 385 days, with a mean

age of 202 days (sd = 98). Mothers were represented in all income levels,

reporting annual family incomes from below $20,000 to over $90,000 (M = between $50,000 and $60,000). All except one mother were married or

currently living with the child's father. Thirteen percent of the mothers

reported current full-time employment outside the house, 2% reported their

full-time employment as within the household, 23% were employed part-

time, and 62% reported being 'on leave' from employment, with the

intention of returning to work within the next six months. The mean age of

the mothers was 32 years (range = 23 - 42), and their mean education

level was 15 years (range = 9 - 24 years). Of the total sample of 52 infants, 33 were male and 19 female.

There were no significant differences between the ages of the infant males

(M = 196 days, sd = 94) and females (M = 21 2, sd = 105), f(51) = -.56, e < .57), or their birth order (f(51) = -.04, Q < .96). Of the twenty-three first

born infants, 11 were male. First born children were not significantly

different in age from later born children (f(51) = .49, Q < .62).

Due to insufficient or incorrectly completed data on some

measures, the number of subjects used for analyses ranged from 46 on

the Parenting Stress lndex to 52 on the lnfant Behavior Questionnaire.

The number of subjects and degrees of freedom were adjusted for each

statistical analysis.

Procedure and Measures

Mothers in the present study received a letter in the hospital when

their infant was born describing current research activities at Simon Fraser

University. If the parents were interested in having their infant participate

in the research they were instructed to mail an attached card to the

Infancy Research Group at the university. Each of a total sample of 70

mothers was contacted by telephone, informed about the current research

and asked to participate. Upon acceptance by the mother, a package

containing the lnfant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart, 1978) in its

original form; the IBQ in a modified form inquiring about the valence of

each behaviour; the Parenting Stress lndex (PSI; Abidin, 1990); an lnfant

Behaviour Diary; and a demographic questionnaire was mailed out in a

stamped self-addressed envelope for return. Of the 70 mothers

contacted, 4 refused, 8 could not be included due to prematurity or to the

infant being small for weight at birth, and 6 did not return the research

package. Upon completion of the study, mothers were mailed the results

of the research and an lnfant Scientist Award to thank them for their

participation.

Infant Behavior Questionnaire. The Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ;

Rothbart, 1978) assesses temperamental dimensions of Activity Level,

Smiling and Laughter, Fear, Distress to Limitations, Soothability, and

Duration of Orienting through caregiver report. It was designed for 3- to

12-month-old children, and item analyses were performed separately for

463 infants 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age. To decrease the possibility of

reporting biases, parents are asked about the relative frequency of

occurrence of concrete behaviours in carefully defined situations within the

past week, or, for some items, within the past two weeks. This procedure

reduces the biases which operate most strongly when judgements are

retrospective, global, or involve comparing one's own child to others

(Goldsmith & Rothbart, 1991). The temperament scales were designed to

avoid any conceptual overlap of operational definitions. Items are scored

on a scale from 1 (never) through 4 (about half the time) to 7 (always), or

as X (does not apply: the situation did not occur in the period covered).

Internal reliabilities for the scales, estimated by coefficient alpha,

range from .67 to .85, with a median value of .80. Moderate levels of

agreement between two judges within a two week period have been

reported (1's ranging from .45 to .69, mean 1 = 57, N = 22). All

correlations were significant at Q < .05 (Goldsmith & Rothbart, 1991).

Stability correlations for the IBQ scales range from .23 to 5 8 (mean

1 = .38) between 3 and 6 months; .43 to .67 (mean 1 = 56) between 6 and

9 months, and .29 to .72 (mean 1 = .60) from 9 months to one year. The

data show a general trend for stability to be higher over shorter periods of

time and to increase as the infant matures (Goldsmith & Rothbart, 1991).

Correlations range from .15 to .55 (mean !: = .35) from 3 to 9 months, from

.34 to .72 (mean I = .51) from 6 to 12 months; and from .06 to .57 (mean !:

= .31) from 3 months to one year.

Convergent validation of the IBQ and home observations has been

provided by Rothbart (1 986). Product-moment correlations between

Activity, Distress to Limitations, Fear, and Smiling and Laughing converge

with corresponding observationally based behavioural categories at 3

months (mean 1 = .25), at 6 months (mean = .20) and at 9 months (mean

1 = .33). An example from the activity scale is: When put into the bath

water, how often did the baby splash or kick?.

Valence of Infant Behaviour Questionnaire. In the present study, each

item on the IBQ was also rated by the mother on a scale of 1 (a very

positive behaviour) to 7 (a very negative behaviour). Each temperament

scale was summed and averaged over those completed items to provide a

measure of which areas of infant behaviour were viewed as the most

negative. Instructions given to the mother were: "Please rate the

following questions on the scale below indicating how you would perceive

the behaviours IF your baby displayed them (whether or not your baby

actually behaves in this way)". An example item would be: IF your baby,

when put into the bath water splashed and kicked?".

Parenting Stress Index. The Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1990) is

a screening and diagnostic assessment technique designed to yield a

measure of the relative magnitude of stress in the parent-child system.

There are three sources of stress as identified by this measure: stress

from the child, stress from the parent, and stress from external life

circumstances. The first source, the child domain (six subscales), consists

of Distractability/Hyperactivity, Demandingness, Mood, Adaptability,

Reinforcement to Parent, and A