PSY 255 Early Childhood Temperament as a Predictor of Personality in Adulthood Paper

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PSY-255 Personality Research Paper Outline
Topic: Early Childhood Temperament as a Predictor of Personality in Adulthood
Thesis Statement: There is a thin line between personality and temperament. To this day scholars are yet to agree on what the boundaries between personality and temperament are. In the same vein, some scholars have suggested that both temperament and personality cover endogenous basic tendencies of behaviors, emotions, and thoughts and that the difference between the two is largely non-existent. Even identifying separate dimensions between personality and temperament has not been easy. For example, a study testing the level of relationship between the big five factors of personality and four dimensions of temperament established that many strong links exist between the two. Research suggests the ability to use early childhood temperament as a predictor of future personality in adolescence and adulthood, with many studies observing that it can be a precursor of various personality traits later in life.
1st Main Point: Early childhood temperament has been found to be a predictor of borderline personality disorder in adolescence and adulthood (BPD):
Stepp, S. D., Keenan, K., Hipwell, A. E., & Krueger, R. F. (2014). The impact of childhood temperament on the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms over the course of adolescence. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 1(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/2051-6673-1-18
This article discusses BDP at length. It not only defines BDP but also provides statistics relating to the prevalence of the condition. The article also provides information relating to the link between BDP and suicide. In addition, the article presents the findings of a well-conducted research study that proves that indeed there is a link between childhood temperament and adolescent BPD.
Bozzatello, P., Bellino, S., Bosia, M., & Rocca, P. (2019). Early detection and outcome in borderline personality disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00710
The article seeks to identify early childhood temperamental characteristics that can be predictors of BDP in adolescence and adulthood. According to the authors based on a child’s temperament, it is possible to predict the possibility of the child suffering from BDP later in life. The article lists negative affectivity, inappropriate anger, impulsivity, and affective instability as some of the traits that have been proven to be predictors of BDP. The information provided in this article is based on an analysis of previously conducted research by other scholars.
2nd Main Point: Inhibited temperament can also be used to predict personality and social outcomes later in life:
Tang, A., Crawford, H., Morales, S., Degnan, K. A., Pine, D. S., & Fox, N. A. (2020). Infant behavioral inhibition predicts personality and social outcomes three decades later. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(18), 9800-9807. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917376117
This article presents comprehensive research on behavioral inhibition in childhood and its link to personality in adulthood. The researchers carried out the researchers on the same group of participants from the time they were 14 months old to 26 years old. The research established that behavior inhibition in early childhood can be a predictor of a more reserved personality. Participants who exhibited behavior inhibition at 14 months old were also more likely to been involved in fewer romantic relationships so far in their life as well as lower social functioning with friends and family.
Frenkel, T. I., Fox, N. A., Pine, D. S., Walker, O. L., Degnan, K. A., & Chronis-Tuscano, A. (2015). Early childhood behavioral inhibition, adult psychopathology and the buffering effects of adolescent social networks: A twenty-year prospective study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(10), 1065-1073. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12390
The article seeks to establish whether temperament of behavioral inhibition is can be a predictor of psychopathology. According to the article, there is already an established link between behavioral inhibition in childhood and anxiety later on in life. The article goes on to give statistics relating to this phenomenon that affects over 50% of children that exhibit behavioral inhibition. Findings by the researchers suggest that possibility of developing anxiety disorders for an inhibited child can be exacerbated by the peer networks they developed at adolescence. This is especially true for adolescents that involve themselves with smaller, less socially active peer networks.
3rd Main Point: Early Childhood Temperament and Attachment Security as Precursors of Psychological Functioning:
Blatný, M., Millová, K., Jelínek, M., & Osecká, T. (2015). Personality predictors of successful development: Toddler temperament and adolescent personality traits predict well-being and career stability in middle adulthood. PLOS ONE, 10(4), e0126032. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126032
This article by Blatný et al. (2015), investigates whether child temperament from the toddler period can be used to predict adaptive psychological and social functioning. According to the article temperament traits of a child that develop before the emergence of other aspects of personality have a significant influence on how the child experiences the world and shaping the personality of the child. The authors conducted a research study that established that the temperament of a child not only predicts adaptive psychological functioning but also the well-being and adaptive social functioning of an individual in adulthood. They found out that disinhibition in early childhood is a predictor of well-being and career stability. On the other hand, neuroticism in early childhood was linked to negative outcomes in life satisfaction, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in adulthood.
Barel, E., Mizrachi, Y., & Nachmani, M. (2020). Quantifying the predictive role of temperament dimensions and attachment styles on the five factor model of personality. Behavioral Sciences, 10(10), 145. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10100145
The article seeks to establish whether there is a correlation that early childhood temperament and attachment style have with adulthood personality. According to the authors, there is already evidence that a child’s temperament and attachment can be used to predict individual variations in personality traits. Attachment to parental figures lead to the development of internal working models that influence how one relates to significant others and establishes interpersonal interactions in their adulthood. The research study carried out by the authors established attachment security which is a trait gained in childhood can predict personality differences in adulthood. Secure attachment in childhood is associated with openness, agreeableness, and extraversion while it is negatively associated with neuroticism. Secure attachment comes with the motivation and ability to cultivate stable relationships and lower neuroticism.
Conclusion
Information from the articles has shown that a link between early childhood temperament and borderline personality disorder in adolescence and adulthood. The third and fourth articles also prove that behavioral inhibition in early childhood can be a predictor of anxiety disorders later in life. The last two articles add weight to the findings of the first four articles by adding psychological functioning as an aspect of adulthood personality that is affected by childhood temperament. This information serves to prove that a link indeed does exist between early childhood temperament and adulthood personality in adulthood.