Do the Temperamental Characteristics of Both Mother and Child Influence the Well-Being of Adopted and Non-Adopted Children?

Abstract

(1) Background: For decades, the temperaments of infants and small children have been a focus of studies in human development and been seen as a potential contributor to children’s developmental patterns. However, less is known about the interplay between the temperamental characteristics of mothers and their children in the context of explaining variations in developmental outcomes. The aim of our study was to explore the associations—with or without genetic links—of the temperaments and psychological distress of mothers and the temperaments of children with behavioral problems in a group of internationally adopted children and their adoptive mothers and in a group of non-adopted children and their mothers. (2) Methods: Data (n = 170) were derived from the ongoing Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) follow-up study. The children included were under the age of 7 years; 74 were adopted internationally through legal agencies between October 2010 and December 2016, and the remaining 96 were non-adopted children living with their birth parents (biological group) recruited from day-care centers. We used Mary Rothbart’s temperament questionnaires to assess temperament, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to obtain data on the children’s behavioral/emotional problems and competencies, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to assess parental psychological distress. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, and written informed consent was obtained from the parents and the children themselves. (3) Results: The negative affectivities of both mothers and children were associated with the total CBCL and with both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors after adjusting for age, gender, and adoption status. Both relationships remained significant when tested simultaneously, suggesting additive effects. Maternal negative affect was associated with problem behavior irrespective of child extraversion/surgency. Child extraversion/surgency was associated with lower levels of all internalizing behavioral problems when adjusted for maternal sociability. Child negative affect was associated with all behavioral problem measures irrespective of maternal sociability or maternal psychological distress. Maternal distress was associated with child problem behaviors only in children with low extraversion/surgency. (4) Limitations: The sample size was relatively small, and the information was gathered solely with questionnaires. (5) Conclusions: The results of the study may be clinically significant. Child negative affect, maternal negative affect, and maternal experienced distress, combined with low child extraversion/surgency, may increase the risk of child problem behaviors in both adoptees and non-adoptees.

Keywords

• temperament
• internationally adopted children
• maternal distress
• child behavioral problems