Investigations of Temperament at Three to Seven Years: The Children's Behavior Questionnaire

This article reviews evidence on the reliability and validity of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), and presents CBQ data on the structure of temperament in childhood. The CBQ is a caregiver report measure designed to provide a detailed assessment of temperament in children 3 to 7 yea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 2001-09, Vol.72 (5), p.1394-1408
Main Authors: Rothbart, Mary K., Ahadi, Stephan A., Hershey, Karen L., Fisher, Phillip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Behavior Development
Biological and medical sciences
Case studies
Child
Child Behavior
Child development
Child psychology
Child, Preschool
Children
Children & youth
Children's Behaviour Questionnaire
China
Cross Cultural Studies
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Culture
Developmental psychology
Emotions
Extroversion
Factor analysis
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Fear
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Individual behaviour
Individual Differences
Infants
Japan
Male
Measures (Individuals)
Mood
Parents
Personality
Personality and Social Development
Personality Development
Personality Measures
Personality Tests - standards
Pleasure
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Questionnaires
Reproducibility of Results
Sadness
Shyness
Socialization
Surveys and Questionnaires - standards
Temperament
Test Reliability
Test Validity
United States
Young Children
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Summary:This article reviews evidence on the reliability and validity of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), and presents CBQ data on the structure of temperament in childhood. The CBQ is a caregiver report measure designed to provide a detailed assessment of temperament in children 3 to 7 years of age. Individual differences are assessed on 15 primary temperament characteristics: Positive Anticipation, Smiling/Laughter, High Intensity Pleasure, Activity Level, Impulsivity, Shyness, Discomfort, Fear, Anger/Frustration, Sadness, Soothability, Inhibitory Control, Attentional Focusing, Low Intensity Pleasure, and Perceptual Sensitivity. Factor analyses of CBQ scales reliably recover a three-factor solution indicating three broad dimensions of temperament: Extraversion/Surgency, Negative Affectivity, and Effortful Control. This three-factor solution also appears to be reliably recovered in ratings of children in other cultures (e.g., China and Japan). Evidence for convergent validity derives from confirmation of hypothesized relations between temperament and socialization-relevant traits. In addition, parental agreement on CBQ ratings is substantial. The CBQ scales demonstrate adequate internal consistency, and may be used in studies requiring a highly differentiated yet integrated measure of temperament for children in this age range.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/1467-8624.00355