Temperamental Individuality from Childhood

to Adolescence

Stella Chess, M.D. and Alexander Thomas, M.D.

Abstract. Continuties and discontinuities in the expression of temperamental characteristics

from early infancy to adolescence of the subjects in the New York Longitudinal Study are re-
poned. The findings are interpreted in terms of a model in which organism-environment in-
teraction is considered to produce new behavioral patterns of succeeding age periods. As
these new pattenls interact with recurrent and new features of environment, in some in-
stances the same temperamental factors continue inHuential as in the past, in other instances
different aspects of temperament become ascendant, or the inHuential temperamental attri-
butes may be distorted, or temperamental issues may dwindle in significance.

The New York Longitudinal Study has followed the behavior de-
velopment of 136 children from early infancy into adolescence. A
major focus of this study has been on individuality in behavioral
styles, or temperament, and its inHuence on normal and deviant
psychological functioning at different age periods. A number of
previous publications have reported our methods of data collec-
tion, the definition of, and scoring criteria for, nine categories of
temperament, and the identification of several constellations of
temperamental characteristics with special functional significance
(Thomas et aI., 1963, 1968). We have also reported on the signifi-
cance of these temperamental characteristics for the ontogenesis
and evolution of behavior disorders in children (Chess et aI., 1967;
Gordon and Thomas, 1967; Thomas et aI., 1968; Chess, 1968) and
academic achievement (Chess et aI., 1976). In addition, studies
have been conducted on the role of temperament in special popu-
lations, such as children with paranatal brain damage (Thomas and
Chess, 1975), mildly retarded children (Chess and Hassibi, 1970),
special environmental stresses (Thomas et aI., 1974), and children
with multiple handicaps as a result of congenital rubella (Chess et
aI., 1971).
In these reports we have at all times emphasized that a given pat-

Dr. Chess is Professor oj Child Psychiatry and Dr. Thomas is Professor oj Psychiatry, New York Uni-
l'enity Medical Coller. Reprints may be requestrdjrom Dr. Chess, Department oj Psychiatry, New York
Universit» Medical Center, 550 First A,/nlue, New York, NY /00/6.
This p~lper wa.1 presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy o] Child Psychiatry, St.
Louis, Missouri, October 25, /975.

218
Temperamental Individuality Followed Up 219

tern of temperament does not, as such, result ipso facto in any

fixed psychological outcome. Normal and deviant development is
at all times the result of a continuously evolving interaction be-
tween a child with his individual characteristics and significant fea-
tures of his intrafamilial and extrafamilial environment. Tempera-
ment is only one attribute of the growing child-albeit a highly
significant attribute-and must at all times be considered in its in-
ternal relations with abilities and motives and in its external rela-
tions with environmental opportunities and stresses.
In the past few years a number of workers both in this country
and abroad have utilized our conceptualization and character-
ization of temperament to identify temperamental individuality in
a variety of populations (Cooper and Tapia, 1971; Torgersen,
1972; Gregg, 1973; Graham et aI., 1973; Carey, 1973; Seegars,
1974; Colvin and Brown, 1974; Sameroff, 1975; and Scholom,
1975). The significance of temperament in the reactions of chil-
dren to a mentally ill parent (Graham et al., 1973), in the produc-
tion of infant colic (Carey, 1973) and night-awakening (Carey,
1974) and in school adjustment (Scholom, 1975) has been re-
ported, and twin studies have indicated a genetic component to
temperament (Rutter et al., 1963; Torgersen, 1972).
As we have followed the development of our study sample from
infancy into adolescence, we have been struck by the consistency of
one or another temperamental characteristic in some of the young-
sters. In others, such continuity has not been evident. The issue of
continuity or discontinuity of a significant psychological trait-
whether it be intelligence, temperament, psychodynamic pattern-
ing, etc.-is of theoretical and practical interest. One position is
expressed by Bronson (1974), "Along with some others, I see our
apparent inability to make empirical predictions about later per-
sonality from the early years as so much against good sense, com-
mon observation, and the thrust of all developmental theories that
I can take it only as an indictment of established paradigms and
methods rather than as evidence of a developmental reality"
(p. 276). Another position is stated by Sameroff (1975) in a review
of the literature on early influences on development,
Despite the reasonableness of the notion that one should be able
to make long-range predictions based on the initial character-
istics of a child or his environment, the above review has found
little evidence for the validity of such predictions. One view of
the inadequacy of developmental predictions sees their source in
the scientist's inability to locate the critical links in the causal
chain leading from antecedents to consequence. A second view,
220 Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas

propounded above, is that such linear sequences are non-existent

and that development proceeds through a sequence of regular
restructuring of the relations within and between the organism
and his environment [p, 285].

Some of the issues involved in determining continuity or discon-

tinuity of temperament and their relevance to the questions posed
by Bronson and Sameroff above can be illustrated through the
longitudinal behavioral data of four of our study subjects.
1. Carl requested a discussion with one of us (S.c.) after his first
term in college because of feelings of depression and inability to
cope with the academic and social situation at college. He had
made virtually no friends and found studying difficult, experiences
he could not recall ever having had before. He had done well
academically in high school, had many friends, found school enjoy-
able, and had a wide range of interests, including the piano. In the
interview he was alert, articulate, and in very good contact. He did
not appear depressed, but rather bewildered at what was happen-
ing, exclaiming, "This just isn't me!"
The anterospective longitudinal data showed that in earlier life
Carl had been one of our most extreme "difficult child" tempera-
mental types, with intense, negative reactions to new situations and
slow adaptability only after many exposures. This was true whether
it was the first bath or first solid foods in infancy, the beginning of
nursery school and elementary school, first birthday parties, or the
first shopping trip. Each experience evoked stormy responses, with
loud crying and struggling to get away. However, his parents
learned to anticipate Carl's reactions, knew that if they were pa-
tient, presented only one or a few new situations at a time, and
gave Carl the opportunity for repeated exposure to the new, he
would finally adapt positively. Furthermore, once he adapted, his
intensity of responses gave him a zestful enthusiastic involvement,
just as it gave his initial negative reactions a loud and stormy char-
acter. His parents recognized that the difficulties in raising Carl
were due to his temperament and not to their being "bad parents."
The father even looked on his son's shrieking and turmoil as a sign
of "lustiness." As a result of this positive parent-child interaction
Carl never became a behavior problem even though the "difficult
child" as a group is significantly at higher risk for disturbed devel-
opment (Thomas et aI., 1968).
In his later childhood and high-school years Carl met very few
new situations and developed an appropriately positive and self-
confident self-image. However, the entry to college away from
Temperamental Individuality Followed Up 221

home suddenly confronted him simultaneously with a number of

new situations-strange surroundings, an entirely new peer group,
new types of faculty approaches and learning demands, and a com-
plex relationship with a girl student with whom he was living. This
resulted in a recrudescence of his "difficult child" pattern of re-
sponse to the new and brought him for help.
Only one discussion was necessary with Carl, consisting primarily
in clarifying for him his temperamental pattern and the techniques
he could use for adapting to the new. Actually, Carl had already
begun to take these steps on his own--cutting down the number of
new subjects, insisting with himself that he study each subject daily
for specific times, attenuating his involvement with the girl, and
making a point of attending peer social group activities, no matter
how uncomfortable he felt. By the end of the academic year his
difficulties had disappeared and his subsequent functioning has
been on the previous positive level. He was told that similar nega-
tive reactions to the new might occur in the future. His response
was, "That's all right. I know how to handle them now."
2. David, in contrast to Carl, appears to have developed a
marked change in an initially striking temperamental character-
istic. When seen at age 17 for the direct interview done in adoles-
cence with all our study youngsters, David was obese and conspicu-
ously apathetic and lethargic. He reported little interest or
involvement in any kind of outside activities. The time-related in-
terview with his parents confirmed this observation of David as a
very "low-active" adolescent.
In his early years David had been consistently one of the most
motorically active children in our study sample. He was always in
motion, with a cheerful and friendly manner. However, David's
home environment was marked by constant discord and destruc-
tive competition between his parents. They repeatedly preached to
David and others what a superior child he was (David did indeed
have a superior IQ), and that any difficulties he had in school were
due to poor teaching. As time went on David's school performance
deteriorated, as did his overall interests and other activities. The
parents held the school and teachers entirely responsible for their
son's growing school underachievement, and over time David in-
ternalized his parents' almost paranoid projection of blame. Mo-
tivation dwindled, any critical self-evaluation was entirely absent,
and disinterest and apathy became a progressively dominant fea-
ture of his functioning. These attitudes of the parents and the boy
led to complete resistance to psychotherapy.
3. Nancy presented almost the opposite kind of change. When
222 Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas

seen in the routinely scheduled interview at age 17, she was bright,
alert, and lively. She was involved in a number of activities that in-
terested her, and reported an active social life, good school func-
tioning, and a pleasant relationship with her parents. Although her
parents described her as "hot-headed," they did not consider this a
problem.
Yet it would have been very difficult to predict this favorable de-
velopment into adolescence in Nancy's early years. Like Carl, she
was a difficult child temperamentally from early infancy onward.
But unlike Carl's parents, Nancy's parents responded to her inten-
sity, irregularity in biological functions, negative reactions, and
slow adaptability in a way that produced extreme stress and dif-
ficulty in development in the youngster. The father was highly crit-
ical of her behavior, rigid in his expectations for quick positive ad-
aptation, and punitive when Nancy did not respond to his
demands. The mother was intimidated by both husband and
daughter, and vacillating and anxious in her handling of her child,
By age 6 years Nancy developed explosive anger outbursts, fear of
the dark, thumb-sucking and hair-pulling, and poor peer group
relationships. Her symptoms and clinical findings were severe
enough to warrant the diagnosis of Neurotic Behavior Disorder,
moderately severe. Psychotherapy was instituted with some im-
provement. But the dramatic change occurred when in the 4th and
5th grades Nancy showed evidence of musical and dramatic talent.
This brought increasingly favorable attention and praise from
teachers and other parents. This talent also ranked high in her
parents' own hierarchy of desirable attributes. Nancy's father now
began to see his daughter's intense and explosive personality not as
signs of a "rotten kid" as heretofore, but as evidence of a budding
artist. She was now a child he could be proud of, and he could af-
ford to make allowances for her "artistic" temperament. With this
view of Nancy and her temperament, the mother was also able to
relax and relate positively to her daughter. Nancy was permitted to
adapt at her own pace, the positive aspects of her temperament
came into evidence, and her self-image improved progressively. By
adolescence all evidence of her neurotic symptomatology and func-
tioning had disappeared and she was considered as recovered from
her neurotic disorder.
4. Norman was seen at age 17 by one of us (S.c.) who had fol-
lowed him since age 412 because of persistent behavior disturbance.
At age 17 he had already dropped out of two colleges in one year,
and was planning to go abroad for a work-study program. He was
in good contact, but dejected and depressed. He was extraordi-
Temperamental Individuality Followed Up 223

narily self-derogatory, said he couldn't finish anything he started,

was lazy, and didn't know what he wanted to do. "My father
doesn 't respect me, and let's face it, why should he." He talked of
"hoping to find myself" in a vague, unplanned way.
Norman had always been a highly distractible child with a short
attention span. Intelligent and pleasant, the youngest in his class
throughout his school years due to birth date, he started his aca-
demic career with good mastery. However, at home his parents
were impatient and critical of him even in the preschool years
because of his quick shifts of attention, dawdling at bedtime, and
apparent "forgetfulness." By his 5th year he showed various reac-
tive symptoms such as a sleep problem, nocturnal enuresis, poor
eating habits, and nail tearing. Year by year his academic standing
slipped. His father, a hard-driving, very persistent professional
man, became increasingly hypercritical and derogatory of Norman.
The father equated the bo y's short attention span and distrac-
tibility, which were the opposite of his own characteristics, with ir-
responsibility, lack of character and will-power. He used these
terms openly to the boy and stated that he "disliked" his son . The
mother grew to understand the issue, but no discussion with the fa-
ther as to the normalcy of his son's temperament and the impossi-
bilit y of the bo y's living up to the father's standards of concen-
trated hard work succeeded in altering the father's attitude. He
remained convinced that Norman had an irresponsible character
and was headed for future failure-indeed a self-fulfilling proph-
ecy. There were several times when the bo y tried to comply with
his father's standards and made himself sit still with his homework
for long periods of time. This only resulted in generalized tension
and multiple tics and Norman could not sustain this effort so disso-
nant with his temperament-another proof to himself and his fa-
ther of his failure. Direct psychotherapy was arranged in early ado-
lescence, but Norman entered this with a passive, defeated attitude
and the effort was unsuccessful. His subsequent development was
all too predictable.

DISCUSSION

These four vignettes do not by any means exhaust the different de-
velopmental paths taken by our study youngsters. They are also
not unique, and do suggest certain implications for theory and
practice.
I. There are different aspects to an y individual's temperamental
characteristics. One type of expression of a temperamental trait
224 Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas

may be evident in new, unfamiliar situations. Once a positive adap-

tation has been made and the activity has become routinized, an-
other and even conspicuously different aspect of the same trait
may become manifest (Carl).
2. The significance of established temperamental characteristics
as a factor to be considered in the development of deviant behavior
or symptomatology can easily be missed unless careful history-
taking includes specific questions which can elicit information on
temperament. This was dramatically evident in Carl's case.
3. No single aspect of the child or environment-whether it be
intellectual level, temperament, parental characteristics, rela-
tionships to sibs or peers, etc.-no matter how important in gen-
eral, is necessarily a significant etiological factor in every instance
of behavior problem development. In the case of David, tempera-
ment did not appear to play an influential role in the ontogenesis
of his behavior disorder. Furthermore, a conspicuous tempera-
mental characteristic of his early years was later altered by psycho-
dynamic factors which led to an opposite behavioral course.
4. At the opposite extreme are the individuals in whom environ-
mental factors intensify a specific temperamental characteristic.
Thus, in Norman's case, his father's derogatory and hypercritical
value judgments on himself led to increasing drifting, shifting
quickly from one vague plan to another, grasping at straws-all in
all, a caricature of his temperamental characteristics of distract-
ibility and short attention span.
5. In many cases the developmental course of a youngster can
be decisively influenced by new factors emerging-s-either in the
child or in the environment, and in the interaction between the
two, which could not have been predicted ahead of time. Thus, in
the case of Nancy, in her preschool years there would have been no
way of predicting the emergence of her artistic talents, the pro-
found influence this would have on her father's attitude and be-
havior toward her, and the qualitative change this would make in
her development. In the case of Norman, it would also have been
very hard to predict in the boy's infancy that his father would be so
unresponsive to his son's many positive qualities and so rigidly
unyielding in his condemnation of the boy's temperamental charac-
teristics. This is in line with the conclusions of Rutter (1970) and
Sameroff (1975) regarding the limits of predictability from early
childhood to later life. Prediction has an "iffy" quality. If a child
with such and such characteristics interacts with an environment of
such and such features, and if no unexpected new factors arise in
the child or the environment, then we can predict such and such a
Temperamental Individuality Followed Up 225

developmental course. But new factors do arise, making prediction

hazardous.
6. The discontinuities in behavior evident in so many of our
study sample as we have followed their development from infancy
into adolescence (Thomas and Chess, 1972; 1976) can be under-
stood in terms of an interactionist model or what Sameroff (1975)
has called a transactional model. This concept has been well stated
by Schneirla and Rosenblatt (1961):
Behavior is typified by reciprocal stimulative relationships. . . .
Mammalian behavioral development is best conceived as a uni-
tary system of processes changing progressively under the influ-
ence of an intimate interrelationship of factors of maturation
and of experience-with maturation defined as the develop-
mental contributions of tissue growth and differentiation and
their secondary processes, experience as the effects of stimula-
tion and its organic traces on behavior [p. 231].
Using such an interactionist model, we can view temperament as
interacting with environment together with other organismic char-
acteristics to produce certain consequences in behavior. As these
new behavioral patterns interact with recurrent and new features
of environment, in some instances the same temperamental fea-
tures will continue influential as in the past, in other instances dif-
ferent aspects of temperament may become ascendant, or the
influential temperamental attributes may be distorted, or
temperamental issues may dwindle in significance. The same varia-
bility in significance and manifestation over time can occur for in-
tellectual level or other organismic characteristics and for any spe-
cific aspect of the intra- or extrafamilial environment. To put it
simply, if the past is no longer evident in the present, it may mean
that it is gone because it has entered into a new form as a conse-
quence of dynamics of discontinuity in development.

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