ABSTRACT
Some of the most interesting cases in pediatric practice evolve through time. What may begin as a clear, well defined problem with a predictable natural history and an accepted intervention strategy may develop into a more complex, multi-faceted set of problems. It is these children who potentially provide clinicians with new insights into behaviors. This case of a colicky infant illustrates the wide spectrum of behavioral and physiological symptoms that emerge from a specific underlying behavioral phenomenon. It also emphasizes the significant benefit derived from a longitudinal perspective of developmental events.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Colic/diagnosis , Personality Development , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Child, Preschool , Colic/psychology , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Patient Care Team , Personality Assessment , TemperamentABSTRACT
Which tells us more about children, behavioral science or the general literature? Actually, neither gave us much information until the last two centuries. Only since Rousseau's contributions in literature and Darwin's in science have accurate descriptions been offered. Now one can find presentations on the impact of physical characteristics and disabilities, family interactions, other social influences, and temperamental predispositions in both literature and science. The difference in treatment is that science describes in abstractions the general principles of human nature, while literature synthesizes vivid, coherent illustrations of whole, believable persons in all their complexities. Literature, moreover, has ventured into some areas that science has not. The complete pediatrician needs both sources of information for a well-rounded knowledge of children and their development.
Subject(s)
Child Development , Literature , Pediatrics , Child , Humans , Psychology, Child , ResearchABSTRACT
Parents need to understand temperament because it has an impact on their daily interactions with their children. The essential messages for parents should be that temperament traits are real; they are important for both child and parent, and they are best managed by accommodation, not confrontation or attempts to change them. Parents can be reached at all levels of professional contact throughout childhood, including the newborn nursery at well-child visits, and in preschool or day care.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior/psychology , Health Education/methods , Parents , Psychology, Child , Temperament , Child , Child Development , Child, Preschool , Humans , Infant , Infant Behavior/psychology , Parent-Child Relations , Physician's RoleSubject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Biological Evolution , Instinct , Social Perception , Adaptation, Psychological , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/etiology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/rehabilitation , Child , Environment , Humans , Neuronal PlasticitySubject(s)
Colic/prevention & control , Counseling/methods , Crying , Mother-Child Relations , Mothers/psychology , Adult , Behavior Therapy , Empathy , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant Care , Psychology, Child , TelephoneABSTRACT
Although there are several scales routinely used for assessment of temperament during the first year of life, none of them is well suited to the infant younger than 4 months old. The Early Infancy Temperament Questionnaire (EITQ) was designed to meet this need. The EITQ is a 76-item parent questionnaire for assessing the nine New York Longitudinal Study temperament characteristics in 1- to 4-month-old infants. The majority of the items were adapted from the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire to be developmentally appropriate for the very young infant. The standardization population consisted of 404 infants from one pediatric practice. Means for the nine categories were calculated separately for infants from 1 to 2 months and 3 to 4 months old. Internal consistency for the nine categories ranged from .42 to .76. Test-retest scores, completed between 2 to 3 weeks after the first rating, ranged from .43 to .87, with generally increasing retest levels in the older age group. None of the categories showed significant differences between male and female infants. This newly developed instrument should enhance the ability of both researchers and clinicians to assess temperament reliably and to understand better its contribution to clinical problems in the very young child.
Subject(s)
Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Psychology, Child , Temperament , Female , Humans , Individuality , Infant , Male , Personality Development , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Children's temperament continues to make a significant contribution to their physical health, development, and behavior as they progress into later childhood and adolescence. The definition of temperament as behavioral style remains the same, although the relative importance of the several dimensions shifts, factors affecting it broaden, its stability increases, and its measurement becomes more complex. An important role has been established for temperament in behavior problems through childhood but less so for new ones in adolescence, in several aspects of physical health and some other areas such as coping or adaptive style. This article stresses the strong influence that temperament has on school performance and emphasizes the probability that many children who are now said to have the disorder of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are likely to have normal neurologic function and a temperament that does not fit well with the demands of the modern school environment.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Psychology, Child , Temperament , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/etiology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Attitude to Health , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/etiology , Child Behavior Disorders/therapy , Chronic Disease/psychology , Cognition , Educational Status , Humans , Obesity/psychology , Pediatrics/methods , TeachingSubject(s)
Certification , Child Behavior , Child Development , Pediatrics/education , Specialization , Child , Child Psychiatry/education , Curriculum , HumansSubject(s)
Education , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity , Humans , Terminology as TopicABSTRACT
This review presents a report of an international conference and its published monograph, which dealt with three questions. What do we know about temperament risk factors that is useful? Depending on the "goodness of fit," risk factors may affect children's physical health, development, social behavior, or scholastic performance. What has been done or could be done with these findings? Practical applications have been made in pediatrics, psychiatry, and anticipatory guidance by psychologists. The greatest opportunity for wider use of temperament determinations will be in diagnosing and managing problems in behavior and scholastic performance, rather than in routine screening in the general population. What steps can we take in the future? Several are discussed, but the most obvious is further application of what we already know.
