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Contributions of Temperament to Buffering and Sensitization Processes in Children's Development
Author(s) -
WACHS THEODORE D.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1376.004
Subject(s) - temperament , psychology , developmental psychology , impulsivity , personality , vulnerability (computing) , social psychology , computer security , computer science
Temperament refers to relatively stable, early appearing, biologically rooted individual differences in behavioral traits. Individual differences in temperament are multidetermined encompassing both biological and experiential influences. Evidence indicates that certain temperament traits, such as impulsivity, inhibition, and negative emotionality, can serve as developmental risk factors. Evidence also indicates that other temperament traits, such as flexible self‐regulation, sociability, and task orientation, can serve to increase children's resilience. Five potential mechanisms through which individual differences in temperament can increase vulnerability or facilitate resilience are presented: (1) Differential treatment of children with different temperaments by caregivers or teachers (reactive covariance). (2) Children with different temperament styles seeking out environments that may increase risk or promote resilience (active covariance). (3) Goodness or poorness of fit between child temperament characteristics and environmental demands. (4) Children with different temperaments reacting to similar levels or types of stress in different ways. (5) Different coping strategies used by children with different temperaments.