Temperament

how do adults respond to infants?

• with attention

• more rapid heart beat

• urgency

• physiological arousal

what are the predisposition features of infants?

• show attatchment behaviour when begin to be mobile - safety

• cute appearance - elicits carign and parental response e.g facial portions

What did the study of Thomas, chess and Birch look at? what did they find by 2-3 months?

9 different dimensions they could characterise babies to

• 40% of babies are easy

• 10% difficult

• 50% mixed

Nature vs nurture is sometimes hard to discriminate, describe the studies that looked into this and what they found?

lewis et al (1993)

• most european american 4 mos cry loudly within 5 seconds of injection

• only half of japanese babies cried

• less than half euro were soother

• ¾ of japanese infants soother and stopped cring after 90 sec

Romus et al (2000)

• canadian chinese babies with little accultration to canadian way of life showed a greater pain response to injection at 60 days compared to canadian euro babies

at 1-2 weeks old how long do babies cry for a day?

about 2 hours

most aspects of temperament are what?

stable and have a genetic component

temperament in infancy or childhood is more influenced by heredity?

childhood

why is infants temperament important?

• persistent - more likely to succeed in school

• active, distractable - not likely to succeed in school

• anxious, fearful - comply with parents rules

• fearful , angry - more prone to depression

• shy - less liekly to help stranger

• can affect attatchment, parenting style

can temperament and personality change?

yes

describe shyness

• most durable and consistent traits

• shy men tend to date less and marry late

• shy women tend to stay home rather than work

how many white americna children are outgoign and shy?

outgoing -25%

shy-10%

at what age ranges is there stability over motor activity and crying?

4 months and 9 and 14 motnhs

what two components is shyness made up of?

genetic and environment

describe the enviornemnt component of shyness

• shyness more likely if you have dominating sibling

• extremely shy toddler has 50/50 chnace of not being shy at age 7

• famiyl encouragement and play with other children reduces shyness

• shyness is more accepted in chinese and american

• very few shy toddlers become extroverts at 7 yo

what percentage of mothers develop post natal depression?

what is post natal depression?

• not wanting to hold baby

• having negative thoughts about baby

• sleep problems

• post partum psychosis = 1/1000 women

women are ___ more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric unit iin the ___ months after giving birth than at any other time in their lives

23%

18

In the NZ survey of women who had recently given birth what did they find?

• asian _ low household income were more likely to meet criteria for post natal depression

• long way from suppport system - asian

what are the risk factors for post natal paternal depression in nz? how many fathers have it?

10%

• previous history of depression

• depression/anxiety during pregnancy

• partner who has developed depression

• limited education

• other children in family

whata re the risk factors for the child if their father has post natal depression in NZ?

• reduced IQ at 11 in boys

• increased behavioural problems

• ADHD, special needs

• effects in girls in same direction but not as strong

describe post maternal depression

• affects 70-80% of wome

• peaks 3-5 days post-partum, resolves by 10-14 days

• anxiety, depression, irratibility, fatigue, insomnia

what did shapiro find?

marital satisfaction declines more in wives with children

what was found in the relationship between marital status and parents with children?

• relationship satisfaction decreases after baby is born

• negative communication increases

• relationship quality overall declines