Poster #125 - Observational measurements of temperament in early childhood classrooms

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Children’s behavior in the classroom environment varies greatly and is influenced, in part, by temperament (Duckworth & Allred, 2012). Rothbart and Bates (2006) define temperament as differences in how individuals regulate their natural reactions to environmental stimuli. Research indicates that child temperament is associated with children’s adjustment to school, such as the quality of their relationships with teachers (Rudasill, 2011). Children with more favorable temperamental dispositions exhibit more positive teacher-child relationships (Rudasill & Rimm-Kaufman, 2009). Additionally, the extent to which children’s learning environments are a good fit with their temperament (i.e., goodness of fit) is associated with their peer interactions, academic achievement, and developmental outcomes (McCormick et al., 2015). Researchers have explored the relationship between child temperament and child classroom behavior; however, studies have yet to investigate this link using a standardized observational measure of child behavior. In this study, we sought to compare multi-informant reports of child temperament with observations of classroom behavior. The participants included 142 children and their parents and teachers from 65 kindergarten classrooms in rural Midwest schools. Teachers reported on child temperament using the Teacher School-Age Temperament Inventory and parents reported on child temperament using the Parent School-Age Temperament Inventory (T-SATI; Lyons-Thomas & McClowry, 2012; SATI; McClowry et al., 2003). The temperament dimensions of the SATI and T-SATI include negative reactivity, motor activity, approach/withdrawal, and task persistence. Child behaviors in classrooms during instruction time were videotaped for 30 minutes, observed, and coded using a validated observation measure (Sheridan et al., 2017; Sheridan et al., 2012). Student behavior codes include engaged time, off-task behavior, compliance, and interference. The codes and definitions used were based on existing observational systems (Abikoff & Gittelman, 1985; Gadow et al., 1996; Saudargas, 1997). Multilevel modeling was used to determine how teacher-reported and parent-reported child temperament predicted observed child classroom behaviors after controlling for child gender and SES. Results showed that parent-reported child temperament is not a significant predictor of child classroom behavior. For teacher reports, the task persistence and approach/withdrawal temperament dimensions were not significant predictors of child classroom behavior. Motor activity temperament dimension significantly positively predicted child interference behaviors (β1 = .012, p < .001). Similarly, negative reactivity temperament dimension significantly positively predicted interference classroom behaviors (β1 = .010, p < .001). This study supports previous findings that teacher reports of child temperament may be more helpful than parent reports for understanding and predicting child behavior in the classroom (Major et al., 2015). These findings also contribute to research highlighting the important role of children’s temperament in the classroom related to social emotional and academic development. Pre-service teacher training, professional development, and the implementation of SEL curriculum and interventions can help teachers recognize individual differences in students (behavior) to optimize adjustment and achievement (Dusenbury & Weissberg, 2017; McClelland et al., 2017; Katz et al., 2020).

Authors

• Nicole Adams, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Jungwon Eum, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Xun Liu

• Kaitlyn Kugler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Emilea Rejman

• Emily Wilson

• Yuenjung Joo, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Jentry Stoneman Barrett, University of Nebraska-Lincoln