Temperament in Children with Down Syndrome BEST

The purpose in this study was to examine temperament characteristics in children with Down syndrome and to consider the effects of condition, chronological age and measurement on these characteristics. This presentation addresses three questions: Are there differences in temperament between children with Down syndrome and normally developing children? Are there differences in temperament across the developmental levels of infancy, toddlerhood, preschool, and early childhood? Are there differences in category placement based on condition, developmental level, and level of measurement differences? Significant differences were found in each of these areas. Subjects The subjects of this study were 191 children with Down syndrome and 388 normally developing children matched according to the developmental levels of infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, and early school age: The sample was predominantly white, middleupper class, and English-speaking. In both groups, approximately half of the mothers were employed outside the home. The sample was evenly divided between boys and girls and there were no significant differences on any of the demographics collected between the families of children with Down syndrome and the families of typically developing children. Procedures Mothers of children with Down syndrome and normally developing children were recruited from local agencies. Maternal ratings were measured with the short form of the Parent Temperament Questionnaire (PTQ) (Keogh, Pullis, & Cadwell, 1980). This instrument contains 23 items rated on a scale of 1 (hardly ever) to 6 (almost always). This instrument is based on the work of the New York Longitudinal Study (Thomas & Chess, 1977) and involves maternal ratings of child temperament organized into the dimensions of approach/withdrawal, adaptability, intensity, threshold of responsiveness, distractibility, persistence, and mood. Categories were determined in two ways; by analyzing maternal responses to individual items on the PTQ and by asking mothers to directly categorize their child as easy, difficult, slow-to-warm, or none of these.