[Study on the relationship between toddler temperament and development (first report)--the correlation among toddler temperament, maternal perception and rearing environment]

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify how a child's temperament and maternal perception influences the rearing environment. As the conceptual framework, we used A.J. Sameroff's transactional model and Miyake's conceptual model of mother and child. The following process was hypothesized: toddler temperament influences maternal perception, which in turn influences rearing environment under which children are developing. Questionnaires concerning toddler temperament, maternal perception and rearing environment were sent to mothers whose children were scheduled to receive 1 year and 6 months child health examinations, and results from 306 mothers and children who answered the questionnaires were analyzed. The results were as follows: (1) Child temperament showed a tendency to accord with maternal perception of how easy it is to handle him/her. (2) Maternal perception was related to rearing environment. (3) Temperamental characteristics were related to rearing environment. (4) While the influence of child temperament and maternal perception on the rearing environment was not shown to be strong, the hypothesized process of this study was supported to a certain degree. From these results, it appears that it is important to pay attention to a child's temperament as a contributing factor in the health practice of mother and child.