ASU Research E-Magazine: Ten Keys to Unlocking Temperament

The entire family was working in the front yard when pediatric nurse Shirley Rees-McGee drove up. A little boy—the subject of her visit—rode his bike round and round.

“OK, the nurse is here,” called the mother. “We need to go inside and talk with her.”

He was off his bike and into a tantrum in a flash. He even beat on the family car with a bat.

“The boy hadn’t had enough transition time to get off his bike and come in,” Rees-McGee says. “That is one of his challenging temperament traits I observed on the spot.”

Rees-McGee worked among 15 pediatric nurses in the Temperament Intervention for Parents Study (TIPS). More than 600 Arizona families with preschool-age children volunteered for the research in less than two years.

Some of the parents wanted help with their challenging or spirited youngsters. Others simply hungered for information. Across the board, parents said, “I wish I had known this before.”

The first step was identifying their children’s temperaments, as well as their own. To create a temperament profile, they rated their children in the following 10 categories.

Sensory threshold: How sensitive a child is to each of the senses—touch, taste, smell, hearing and vision. For instance, a child with a low sensory threshold may refuse to wear certain clothes because they “feel funny.” In contrast, a child with a high sensory threshold will be able to wear almost anything, even tight-fitting clothes with itchy tags.
Activity: The amount of physical energy that tends to drive a child’s behavior. Highly active children get fidgety when asked to sit still, feel restless on days they have to stay inside and act impulsively. Children with low activity levels move at a slower pace and prefer inactive pastimes, such as coloring, playing quietly with toys or watching TV.
Intensity: How much energy and strength a child uses to express emotions. Some children are loud or dramatic, while others react quietly and respond with reserve.
Rhythmicity/Regularity: The predictability of sleep, hunger, and elimination patterns. A child with irregular patterns tends to get tired or hungry at different times each day. A highly regular child is predictable and can get onto schedules quickly.
Adaptability: How much time a child needs to adjust to people or circumstances. Children who adapt slowly can act stubborn, strong willed, or headstrong. Children who adapt fast tend to be followers, compliant, and cooperative.
Mood: The way a child generally views the world—the amount of pleasant, joyful, and friendly behavior as contrasted with unpleasant, crying, and unfriendly behavior. Negative-mood children see the world through realistic or pessimistic lenses. Positive-mood children note the favorable side of things, sometimes missing dangers.
Approach/Withdrawal: How a child responds to a new experience, such as meeting a person, tasting a food, or being in an unusual situation. Approaching children jump right in. Withdrawing children hold back cautiously until they feel comfortable.
Persistence: How a child responds when something becomes difficult. Low persistence children become frustrated, ask for help quickly or simply give up. High persistence children tend to keep trying even when a task goes beyond their skill level.
Distractibility: How easily a child’s attention is distracted by things happening around him or her. Highly distractible children have short attention spans and can get sidetracked easily. Low-distractibility children can focus on what they are doing and might not notice things around them.
Emotional sensitivity: How easily a child displays emotions, such as hurt, embarrassment, worry, sorrow, empathy, or fear.On a scale of one to five, most children will rate very high or very low on at least one, but no more than seven, of the temperament traits. The more extreme the ratings, the more challenging the child will be to raise.

Identifying temperament traits allows parents to accommodate their children’s needs and channel inborn qualities in positive directions.

While it may seem difficult to find anything positive in a little boy beating on the family car with a bat, none of the temperament traits, high or low, is patently negative.

The challenging little boy could have had his tantrum defused with a 15-minute warning, “We’re going to go inside to talk with nurse in 15 minutes.” Further, slow-to-adapt children likely will grow into teenagers who stick to their morals—stubborn and independent when pressured by peers.

Incidentally, temperament information also can be useful in understanding the behavior of parents, spouses, co-workers, and other individuals. —Melissa D. Olson