Study of The Relationship Between Styles of Behavior in Age

A longitudinal study carried out in Dunedin, New Zealand looked at 1,000 three-year-old children who were born in 1972-1973, who exhibited the following temperament types, Inhibited, Under- controlled, Confident, Well-adjusted and Reserved. A follow-up twenty- three years later re-examined these children as adults using methods of detailed personality assessment. The aim of this study was to examine the connections between behavioral styles at age three and personality traits at age 26. When the children were three years old they participated in developmental testing sessions, based on which the researchers categorized them into following five types of temperament.

The well-adjusted type involved children who were capable of self-regulation when it was demanded of them, were self-confident, and who did not become overly upset when confronting the researcher in a unique or unexpected situation. The Under-controlled type  included children who were impulsive, hyper, negativistic, distractible and liable in their emotional reactions. The Confident type  were adaptable, enthusiastic, sociable, somewhat impulsive, eager to explore and demonstrated little or no concern when separated from their caregiver.

The Inhibited type were shy, fearful and easily upset by the researcher. The Reserved type (n=151; 48% male) displayed shyness and were somewhat comfortable during the assessment however, unlike the Inhibited type their shyness was limited.

When the participants were 26 years old they completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) which defined three super-factors of personality: Negative Emotionality, Constraint and Positive Emotionality. Also close friends of the participants (informants) assessed them on a ‘Big-5’ questionnaire which evaluates individual differences on the five-factor model of personality: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Open to Experience.

Get quality help now

KarrieWrites

Verified

Proficient in: Behavior

5 (339)

“ KarrieWrites did such a phenomenal job on this assignment! He completed it prior to its deadline and was thorough and informative. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Each of the five types identified at age three years were found to have specific profile on the Big-5 personality factors as rated by their friends at the age of 26 years. The Confident children were rated as the most Extraverted adults by friends. The Inhibited children were rated as the least Extraverted.

The Under-controlled children were regarded as the least Agreeable and Conscientious adults who were highly Neurotic and were rated as the least Open to Experience.  However, the Well-adjusted and Confident children were rated as more Open to Experience than the other groups. Furthermore, the five temperament groups differed significantly on the three MPQ ‘super-factors’. Under-controlled children grew up to be characterised by the highest traits levels of Negative Emotionality. Confident children grew up to be the least Inhibited adults. Inhibited children grew up to have the highest trait levels of Constraint and showed the lowest levels of Positive Emotionality. Also, the Reserved children showed low levels of Positive Emotionality. Finally, this study suggests that temperament does exist.

In this study sixty-eight children (mean age of 7) with a diagnosis of autism and having a performance IQ of 50 or above were followed up as adults. The group included sixty-one males and 7 females. The literature suggests that this significant difference in ratio was probably due to the fact that individuals with an IQ below 50 were excluded from study and there tend to be more females within the lower functioning group. Cognitive, language and attainment tests were used to measure outcomes. The Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI) was used with informants (mainly parents) to gather information on communication, social and behavioural issues.

The results suggested many individuals had continuous progress in their lives since childhood as one-fifth had achieved some form of academic qualifications in school, with 5 individuals progressing on to college or university. Nearly a third of the participants were in employment however, only 8 participants were rated as having obtained a high degree of independence. The majority of participants were rated as being highly dependent on their families or availing of residential services. The results also revealed that those who were in employment, their jobs tended to be poorly paid and did not allow for them to be supported adequately to live independently.

In relation to IQ, the results states that IQ remained remarkably stable over time. The correlations between adult and childhood IQ’s were highly noteworthy, as in numerous cases IQ scores presented with little change. Over three-quarters of children with an initial IQ of 70 or above stayed within this range. Participants with an initial IQ of 50-69 tended to have much poorer outcomes in adulthood for example, were highly dependent on others, with few in employment and no social supports such as friends.

For this latter group language skills were also reported to be very impaired.  However, outcomes for those with an IQ of 70 or above was significantly better in nearly every area tested. Although these findings do suggest that having an IQ of 70 is a crucial prognostic factor, above this level outcome can still be very variable. Another noteworthy finding in this study was many children when tested on their verbal IQ, failed to score no higher than the basal level or even to score at all but, in time went on to make significant improvements. It is evident from this study that although there are some greater outcomes for individuals with autism this is mainly seen in the group with IQ scores of 70 or above. However, for many the outcomes are very poor as they remain highly dependent on others for support.