Oberklaid F, Prior M, Sanson A, Sewell J, Kyrios M
Department of Ambulatory Paediatrics, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Pediatrics. 1990 Apr;85(4):559-66.
We used the Toddler Temperament Scale with large representative samples of younger (mean age = 20.5 months; N = 1188) and older (mean age = 35.4 months; N = 1360) Australian toddlers. There were significant sex differences on 6 of the temperament dimensions for the young group, and on 5 of the 9 dimensions for the older group. Older boys were also more likely to be categorized clinically as having a "difficult" temperament and less likely to have an "easy" temperament. Each group was divided into quartiles according to socioeconomic status. For the younger toddlers there were significant differences in 3 of 9 temperament dimensions, and for the older group there were significant differences in 7 of 9 dimensions. Groups with higher socioeconomic status had temperament ratings which were more likely to make them easier to manage, and to be categorized clinically as having an easy temperament, but toddlers with low socioeconomic status were more likely to have a difficult temperament. There were significant differences in temperament dimension scores between Australian toddlers and those studied in an American setting. These results indicate that toddler temperament ratings differ according to age, sex, social class, and cultural context. Great caution needs to be taken in interpreting individual temperament profiles utilizing comparison data obtained from different sociocultural settings. Future temperament "norms" may need to specify characteristics of the group of children from which they were derived to allow more valid comparisons.
我们对年龄较小（平均年龄 = 20.5个月；N = 1188）和年龄较大（平均年龄 = 35.4个月；N = 1360）的澳大利亚幼儿的大量代表性样本使用了幼儿气质量表。在较小组的6个气质维度上以及较大小组的9个维度中的5个维度上存在显著的性别差异。年龄较大的男孩在临床上也更有可能被归类为具有“困难型”气质，而不太可能具有“容易型”气质。根据社会经济地位，每个组都被分为四分位数。对于年龄较小的幼儿，在9个气质维度中的3个维度上存在显著差异，对于年龄较大的组，在9个维度中的7个维度上存在显著差异。社会经济地位较高的组的气质评分使他们更易于管理，并且在临床上更有可能被归类为具有容易型气质，但社会经济地位较低的幼儿更有可能具有困难型气质。澳大利亚幼儿与在美国环境中研究的幼儿在气质维度得分上存在显著差异。这些结果表明，幼儿气质评分因年龄、性别、社会阶层和文化背景而异。在利用从不同社会文化背景获得的比较数据来解释个体气质概况时需要格外谨慎。未来的气质“规范”可能需要指定其所源自的儿童群体的特征，以便进行更有效的比较。
