Poster #60 - Are Temperament Effects on Behavior Problems Universal? A Multi-Level Analysis of Cross-Cultural Differences

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Childhood behavior problems have been linked with significant long-term consequences (Masten et al., 2005; McLeod & Fettes, 2007). Externalizing behaviors tend to emerge first, and are associated with peer rejection and diminished academic performance (Campbell, Spieker, Burchinal, & Poe, 2006; Hinshaw, 1992). These difficulties often continue, as externalizing teens are more likely to engage in “health-damaging behaviors” (e.g., alcohol and tobacco consumption), report difficulties forming social relationships, and experience more academic failures (Laukkanen, Shemeikka, Notkola, Koivumaa-Honkanen, & Nissinen, 2002). Internalizing children share the same difficulties with peer relationships as their externalizing peers, as well as an enhanced susceptibility to negative environmental factors, such as maternal depression (Fanti & Henrich, 2010). Internalizing problems in childhood are associated with an increased risk of depression later in life (Frost, Reinherz, Pakiz-Camras, Giaconia, & Lefkowitz, 1999). The consistency of these problem sets across the lifespan suggests that underlying factors, emerging early in life, may play a key role in the development and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing problems.
Temperament, defined as constitutionally-based individual differences in reactivity and regulation (Rothbart & Derryberry, 1981), has been linked to the emergence of preschool behavior problems (Gartstein, Putnam, & Rothbart, 2012). Although cross-cultural differences in temperament are common in the literature (e.g., Putnam & Gartstein, 2016), to date, a single study has assessed only bi-cultural difference in the relationship between temperament and behavior problems (Gartstein, Slobodskaya, Kirchhoff, & Putnam, 2013).
The present study takes a foundation building step in this area by employing multilevel modeling to explain both within- and between- cultures differences in behavior problems across 14 nations: the United States (US), Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Russia, Finland, Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Turkey, and Chile (N = 865). Specifically, parent ratings of temperament and behavior problems were collected via the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ; Putnam, Gartstein, and Rothbart, 2006) and Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Subsequently, three broad temperament factors: Negative Emotionality (NEG), Surgency (SUR), and Effortful Control (EFF) were used to predict behavior problems, controlling for child age (range 17 – 40 months) and gender (52% male).
Results indicate that temperament ratings for all three factors explain significant individual- and culture-level variance in internalizing problems, and specifically anxiety and withdrawal. Elevated NEG bodes greater risk of internalizing problems, whereas higher ratings of SUR and EFF attenuate it. Higher NEG and lower EFF increase risk of sleep difficulties in toddlerhood. Interestingly, temperament did not significantly account for externalizing variance. Overall, findings suggest although the pattern of associations between temperament and behavior problems may be generally consistent, culture-level differences in the prevalence of behavior problems is also explained by existing temperament similarities within cultures. That is, individuals who share a culture appear to share variation in their temperament profiles, and subsequently in the emergence of early behavior problems. Our findings have implications for generalized prevention/intervention efforts, which should consider inter-culture similarity when addressing risk for emerging internalizing problems.

Authors

• Eric Desmarais, Washington State University
  Presenting Author

• Brian F. French, Washington State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sara Casalin, University of Leuven
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares, University of São Paulo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Felipe Lecannelier, Fundación Chilena de Apego
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zhengyan Wang, Capital Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Soile Tuovinen, University of Helsinki
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kati Heinonen, University of Helsinki, Finland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katri Raikkonen, University of Helsinki
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rosario Montirosso, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Italy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lorenzo Giusti, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Italy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Niccolò Butti, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Italy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Livio Provenzi, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Italy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sae-Young Han, Ewha Womans University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Seong-Yeon Park, Ewha Womans University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eun Gyoung Lee, Ewha Womans University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Blanca Huitron, National Autonomous University of Mexico
  Non-Presenting Author

• Guadalupe Domínguez-Sandoval, National Autonomous University of Mexico
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carolina de Weerth, Radboud University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Roseriet Beijers, Radboud University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mirjana Majdandzic, University of Amsterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Oana Benga, Babeș-Bolyai University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Georgiana Susa-Erdogan, Babeș-Bolyai University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Helena Slobodskaya, Novosibirsk State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elena Kozlova, Novosibirsk State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carmen Gonzalez-Salinas, University of Murcia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Noelia Sánchez-Pérez, University of Murcia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Luis J. Fuentes, University of Murcia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ibrahim H Acar, Ozyegin University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emine Ahmetoglu, Trakya University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda Prokasky, University of Nebraska- Lincoln
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sam Putnam, Bowdoin College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maria Gartstein, Washington State University
  Non-Presenting Author