How Does Child Temperament Relate To Subsequent Adjustment?

Temperament: How Does Child Temperament Relate to Subsequent Adjustment? By Course Name Professor’s Name University City, State Date of Submission Temperament: How Does Child Temperament Relate to Subsequent Adjustment? Temperament is defined as the relativity of one’s tolerance to peoples’ personal differences in emotional reactions, which are partly determined by their experiences and heredity. Researchers have for long been seeking to establish the determinants of one’s personality, which is inseparable to their temperament, through different assessment of children’s behavioral, emotional, and cognitive conduct at early childhood and at early adulthood (Muhtadie et al., 2013). This essay examines findings and methodological approaches of different researchers on the similarities in temperament at early childhood and the subsequent adjustments during the transition to adolescence, early adulthood, and adulthood. Several longitudinal research projects have been conducted to establish the temperament adjustments from age 2 and 3 through to 26years of the same sample population. Caspi et al. (2003) conducted a multidimensional approach in their research to establish if the early behavioral character in children can be applied to predict their subsequent temperament adjustments as adults. The research’s hypothesis was “Show me the child and I’ll show you the man” (Caspi et al., 2003). The study is based on self-reports of participants and their close people whom they recommended. Their research design was structured to overcome three methodical and practical challenges, which could potentially disqualify their deduction. First, the population sample was large due to the multiple possible changes between infancy and adulthood. The large sample presents the researchers with the possibility of attaining more accurate average values of the collected data, as well as reduced errors in the compiled values. Second, the sample population was picked from a general population with an aim to attain the strength of association over time. Third, the research data was collected and analyzed over a long time. The sample population included a thousand children born between 1972 and 1973. The attrition of the population was insignificant at 0.04. Most of the children assessed at age three were still participating in the research at age 26 (Caspi et al., 2003). The method of data collection raises concerns about the possibility of the assessment of the maternal development rather than child’s temperament development. In acknowledgment of this concern, De Vries (1984) proposes the reliance on self-reports of the participants and questioning of close affiliates on precipitants of their changes and behaviors. Caspi et al. (2003) factor this in their research to avoid the shortcoming associated with the identified challenges. While the research on the subject is carried out from different methodical approaches, they are closely associated with Caspi et al., (2003) approach in the assessment of the temperaments at different developmental stages. At the early age of 2 and 3, the children’s temperament was assessed in a developmental testing session for 90 minutes by the examiners. Follow up on the study was done at ages 5, 7, 9, 11, ...