Child Temperament As Health Challenge

Parenting is one of the toughest jobs around. Guiding children in today’s world takes a lot of physical and emotional energy. Children are born with their natural style of interacting with or reacting to people, places and things.

In the late 1950s, temperament research began with the world of Alexander Thomas, Stella Chess, and associates. The New York longitudinal study identified nine temperament characteristics or traits. The researchers found that these nine traits were present at birth and continued to influence development in important ways throughout life. By observing a child’s responses to everyday situations, the researchers could assess these temperaments.

Since the 1950s, many scientific studies of temperament have shown that children’s health and development are influenced by temperament. Children are much more challenging to deal with than others starting at birth. The realisation that many behavioural tendencies are inborn and not the result of bad parenting is perhaps one of the most important insights parents gain from learning more about temperament.

Temperament Traits

The examination of a child’s temperament generally occurs when the child’s behaviour is difficult. Clinicians use a series of interviews, observation, and questionnaires that measure the nine temperament traits using a spectrum (scale) from mild to intense responses or reactions. By understanding temperament, the parents can work with the child rather than trying to change his or her inborn traits. The nine temperament traits are given below:

Activity: Is the child always moving and doing something or does he or she have a more relaxed style?

Rhytimicity: Is the child regular in his or her eating and sleeping habits or somewhat haphazard?

Approach/withdrawal: Does he or she never meet a stranger or tend to shy away from new people or things?

Adaptability: Can the child adjust to changes in routines or plans easily or does he or she resist transitions? Intensity: Does he or she react strongly to situations, either positive or negative, or does he or she react calmly and quietly?

Mood: Does the child often express a negative outlook or is he or she generally a positive person? Does his or her mood shift frequently or is he or she usually even-tempered?

Persistence and attention span: Does the child give up as soon as a problem arises with a task or does he or she keep on trying? Can he she stick with an activity a long time or does his or her mind tend to wander? Distractibility: Is the child easily distracted from what he or she is doing or can he or she shut out external distractions and stay with the current activity? Sensory threshold: Is he or she bothered by external stimuli such as loud noises, bright light, or food textures or does he or she tend to ignore them?

These nine traits combine to form three basic types of temperaments. This is because approximately 65 per cent of children fit one of three patterns. 40 per cent of children are generally regarded as easy or flexible, 10 per cent are regarded as difficult, active, or feisty, and the final 15 per cent are regarded as slow to warm up or cautious. The other 35 per cent of children are combination of these patterns. By understanding these patterns, parents can tailor their parenting approach in such areas as expectations, encouragement and discipline to suit the child’s needs.

Easy or flexible children are generally calm, happy, regular in sleeping and eating habits, adaptable, and not easily upset. Because of their easy style, parents, need to set aside special time to talk about the child’s frustrations and hurts because he or she won’t demand or ask for it. This international communication will be necessary to strengthen your relationship and find out what your child is thinking and feeling.

Difficult, active, or feisty children are often fussy, have irregular feeding and sleeping habit, fearful of new people and situations, easily upset by noise and commotion, high strung, and intense in their reactions. Providing areas for vigorous play to work off stored up energy and frustrations with some freedom of choice allow these children to be successful. Preparing these children for activity changes and using redirection will help these children’s transition (move or change) from one place to another.

Slow to warm up or cautious children are relatively inactive and fussy, tend to withdraw or to react negatively to new situations, but their reactions gradually becomes more positive with continuous exposure. Sticking to a routine and your word, along with allowing ample time to establish relationships in new situations, are necessary to allow independence to unfold.

Most children have some level of intensity on several temperament traits, but one dimension will usually dominate. The child’s abilities to develop and behave in acceptable ways are greatly determined by the adults in their lives trying to identify, recognise, and respond to his or her unique temperament.

Miss Obe-Nwako is a student of Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt.

Obe-Nwaka Obele Kayiobari