Shyness trajectories in slow-to-warm-up infants: Relations with child sex and maternal parenting

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Abstract

Little is known about slow-to-warm-up temperament in infancy. This study examined the trajectory of shyness in children who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy in comparison to children with other temperament profiles in infancy. Participants were 996 mothers and children in the NICHD SECC studied from 6 months to first grade. Latent growth curve modeling showed that children who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy tended to be shy in early childhood, but with increasing age these children became indistinguishable from children who were easy or intermediate. In comparison, children who were difficult in infancy remained more shy than children with other temperament profiles. Maternal sensitive and stimulating/supportive parenting was associated with less shyness in early childhood for boys who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy. Findings support the distinctiveness of the slow-to-warm-up temperament in comparison to other temperament profiles as well as its potential usefulness for predicting later child outcomes.

Highlights

► We model the trajectory of shyness in children who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy. ► These children were shy at 2 years but became less shy by first grade. ► Maternal positive parenting predicted less shyness in boys who were slow-to-warm-up. ► Findings support the usefulness of the temperament for predicting child outcomes.

Section snippets

Difficult temperament

Much research has documented the poor developmental outcomes of infants who demonstrate behaviors consistent with the Thomas and Chess difficult temperament. For example, Thomas and Chess reported that individuals who were difficult in infancy accounted for the largest proportion of behavior problems in early childhood (Thomas et al., 1970). Moreover, whereas both stability and change in temperament were observed as children became older, children who were difficult in infancy consistently

Slow-to-warm-up temperament

According to Thomas et al. (1970) slow-to-warm-up infants are typically less fussy than difficult babies but are more negative and less predictable than easy infants. Like difficult infants, slow-to-warm-up infants are hesitant to approach others and are slow to adapt to new situations, but in general they are less demanding than difficult infants. In contrast to the substantial and conclusive research findings concerning developmental outcomes for difficult infants, little is known about what

Parenting and temperament

Chess and Thomas (Chess and Thomas, 1999, Chess et al., 1965) proposed that child outcomes vary depending on whether there is a good or poor fit between parenting strategies and the child's temperament. For example, mothers of slow-to-warm-up children who attempt to force their initially hesitant child to quickly approach other children on the playground are pressuring their children to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their temperament. Numerous unsuccessful attempts may result in

Child sex and temperament

Overall, research has demonstrated the utility of considering child sex when evaluating relations between early temperament and later child behavior (Henderson et al., 2001, Simpson and Stevenson-Hinde, 1985, Stevenson-Hinde and Glover, 1996) and relations among parenting, early temperament, and later child behavior (Warren & Simmens, 2005), particularly among children who are shy or fearful (Eggum et al., 2009, Simpson and Stevenson-Hinde, 1985, Stevenson-Hinde and Glover, 1996). Simpson and

The present study

The primary aims of the present study were to determine if slow-to-warm-up temperament in infancy predicts later shyness, and if slow-to-warm-up and difficult temperaments in infancy differentially predict shyness trajectories in childhood. It was hypothesized that slow-to-warm-up infants would be more shy in toddlerhood and early childhood than easy and intermediate infants. Based on previous research on the risks associated with difficult temperament, difficult temperament in infancy also was

Participants and procedure

Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (NICHD SECC) were employed. The NICHD SECC is a longitudinal study that followed over 1200 children and their families from their birth in 1991. Additional information on participants, procedures, methods, and materials is available at http://secc.rti.org. For the purpose of the present study, mothers' ratings of their infants' temperament and observations of their parenting behaviors were related

Results

Correlations among variables are reported in Table 3. Necessary statistical assumptions were tested before conducting analyses and, with the exception of normality, were met. Shyness was positively skewed at each age point. However, the maximum likelihood robust estimation used in the current analyses is a maximum likelihood estimation that has standard errors and a chi square test that are robust to deviations from normality so no transformations were made. Missing data for participants'

Discussion

Despite the conceptual link between slow-to-warm-up infant temperament, characterized by low adaptability and a hesitant approach to new things, and child shyness, past research has not evaluated the relation between these constructs. A primary goal of the present study was to empirically evaluate this conceptual link. Summarizing across analyses, findings from this study indicate that children who are slow-to-warm-up in infancy are at increased risk for shyness at 24 months compared to infants

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted by the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network supported by NICHD through a cooperative agreement that calls for scientific collaboration between the grantees and the NICHD staff.

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