The Global Temperament Project: Parent-reported temperament in infants, toddlers, and children from 59 nations.

Data from 83,423 parent reports of temperament (surgency, negative affectivity, and regulatory capacity) in infants, toddlers, and children from 341 samples gathered in 59 countries were used to investigate the relations among culture, gender, and temperament. Between-nation differences in temperament were larger than those obtained in similar studies of adult personality, and most pronounced for negative affectivity. Nation-level patterns of negative affectivity were consistent across infancy, toddlerhood, and childhood, and patterns of regulatory capacity were consistent between infancy and toddlerhood. Nations that previously reported high extraversion, high conscientiousness, and low neuroticism in adults were found to demonstrate high surgency in infants and children, and countries reporting low adult openness and high adult neuroticism reported high temperamental negative affectivity. Negative affectivity was high in Southern Asia, Western Asia, and South America and low in Northern and Western Europe. Countries in which children were rated as high in negative affectivity had cultural orientations reflecting collectivism, high power distance, and short-term orientation. Surgency was high in Southeastern and Southern Asia and Southern Europe and low in Eastern Asian countries characterized by philosophies of long-term orientation. Low personal income was associated with high negative affectivity. Gender differences in temperament were largely consistent in direction with prior studies, revealing higher regulatory capacity in females than males and higher surgency in males than females, with these differences becoming more pronounced at later ages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A short executive functioning questionnaire in the context of early childhood screening: psychometric properties.

Early childhood executive functioning (EF) predicts later adjustment and academic achievement. However, measuring EF consistently and efficiently across settings in early childhood can be challenging. Most researchers use task-based measures of EF, but these methods present practical challenges that impede implementation in some settings. The current study of 380 3-5-year-old children in the United States evaluated the psychometric properties of a new 14-item parent-reported measure of EF in a diverse urban school district. This questionnaire aimed to capture a normative range of EF skills in ecologically valid contexts. There was evidence for two specific subscales - one that measures children's EF challenges and another that measures children's EF skills. Results suggested that several items demonstrated differential item functioning by age and race. After adjusting for measurement differences across demographic groups and controlling for age at screening, the EF challenges subscale was more strongly related to task-based measures of EF than was the EF skills subscale. EF challenges predicted third-grade math achievement, controlling for demographic variables and a performance-based measure of children's early cognitive and academic skills. Results suggest that this parent report of EF could be a useful and effective early childhood screening tool.

Relations between bedtime parenting behaviors and temperament across 14 cultures.

Objectives: The present study examined parental sleep-supporting practices during toddlerhood in relation to temperament across 14 cultures. We hypothesized that passive sleep-supporting techniques (e.g., talking, cuddling), but not active techniques (e.g., walking, doing an activity together), would be associated with less challenging temperament profiles: higher Surgency (SUR) and Effortful Control (EC) and lower Negative Emotionality (NE), with fine-grained dimensions exhibiting relationships consistent with their overarching factors (e.g., parallel passive sleep-supporting approach effects for dimensions of NE). Methods: Caregivers (N = 841) across 14 cultures (M = 61 families per site) reported toddler (between 17 and 40 months of age; 52% male) temperament and sleep-supporting activities. Utilizing linear multilevel regression models and group-mean centering procedures, we assessed the role of between- and within-cultural variance in sleep-supporting practices in relation to temperament. Results: Both within-and between-culture differences in passive sleep-supporting techniques were associated with temperament attributes, (e.g., lower NE at the between-culture level; higher within-culture EC). For active techniques only within-culture effects were significant (e.g., demonstrating a positive association with NE). Adding sleep-supporting behaviors to the regression models accounted for significantly more between-culture temperament variance than child age and gender alone. Conclusion: Hypotheses were largely supported. Findings suggest parental sleep practices could be potential targets for interventions to mitigate risk posed by challenging temperament profiles (e.g., reducing active techniques that are associated with greater distress proneness and NE).

Shoreline Drying of Microseira (Lyngbya) wollei Biomass Can Lead to the Release and Formation of Toxic Saxitoxin Analogues to the Water Column.

The harmful, filamentous cyanobacteria Microseira (Lyngbya) wollei produces several toxic analogues of saxitoxin (Lyngbya wollei toxins 1-6, or LWTs 1-6), grows in shallow water, and can deposit significant biomass on nearby shorelines. Here, we show that the LWTs are stable in the biomass during subsequent drying but that the process facilitates the later release of LWTs upon return to the water column. Under basic conditions, LWTs hydrolyzed to generate products that were significantly more neurotoxic than the initial toxins. Aqueous LWTs were subjected to conditions of covarying temperature and pH, and their degradation rates and products were determined at each condition. LWTs 1, 5, and 6 degraded faster at pH ≥ 8 at all temperatures. Their degradation products, which included decarbamoyl saxitoxin and LWT 4, were consistent with a base-catalyzed hydrolysis mechanism and represented a net increase in total biomass toxicity normalized against the equivalent toxicity of saxitoxin. The corresponding pre-exponential terms and activation energies for hydrolysis were obtained for pH 6-10 over the temperature range 10-40 °C. A locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) regression was developed to predict the loss of parent toxins and subsequent products in the water column under conditions corresponding to those commonly encountered in cyanobacterial blooms.

Growth of the harmful benthic cyanobacterium Microseira wollei is driven by legacy sedimentary phosphorous.

Models for cyanobacterial harmful algae blooms (cHABs) in fresh waters are usually predicated on the relationship between cyanobacterial ecology and dissolved nutrients, particularly phosphorous. Here we show legacy sediment-associated phosphorous as the primary driver of a benthic cHAB, not phosphorous in the water column. Biogeographical surveys by teams of citizen science volunteers working with the University of South Carolina identified over 200 distinct mats of Microseira wollei in Lake Wateree, SC based on toxin characterization. In sum these were estimated to affect approximately 175 km of the lake's shoreline. This growth occurred under water quality conditions that were near or below the regulatory total maximum daily load for phosphorous and nitrogen. A series of established predictive models for cyanobacterial biomass growth were applied retroactively to match the measured growth with measured water quality parameters. The only component of the system that successfully predicted microbial biomass was sedimentary phosphorous. Concentrations of the Lyngbya wollei toxins (LWTs) 1, 4, 5, and 6 were determined at multiple sites over an 18-month period and a toxin inventory for the lake was calculated. Toxin profiles between sites differed at the 95% level of confidence, establishing each site as a unique mat. An empirical model of toxin production potential based on sedimentary phosphorous was developed.

Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Very Short Form of Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQR-VSF): A Study among Vietnamese Children.

The Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R) assesses the temperament of infants in Western and non-Western countries. Although its factor analyses revealed three factors-surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control-in the Western culture, the degree to which these are universal or culturally specific is unclear. This study developed a Vietnamese version of the IBQ-Revised Very Short Form (R-VSF) and examined its factor structure in a Vietnamese population. The Vietnamese IBQ-R VSF was administered to 292 mothers of infants between the ages of 3 and 18 months in Nha Trang city, Vietnam, between July and September 2019. After deleting items to achieve sufficient Cronbach's alphas for each scale (surgency, negative affectivity, and orienting/regulation), the remaining 28 items were aggregated to parcels subjected to exploratory factor analyses (EFAs). EFAs revealed a 3-factor model corresponding to the original theory, and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a good fit of this structural model. The final 3-factor model with parcels indicated measurement and structural invariance between mothers of boys and girls.

Microseira wollei and Phormidium algae more than doubles DBP concentrations and calculated toxicity in drinking water.

Warm weather and excess nutrients from agricultural runoff trigger harmful algal blooms, which can affect drinking water safety due to the presence of algal toxins and the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) during drinking water treatment. In this study, 66 priority, unregulated and regulated DBPs were quantified in chlorinated controlled laboratory reactions of harmful algae Microseira wollei (formerly known as Lyngbya wollei) and Phormidium using gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS). Live algae samples collected from algae-impacted lakes in South Carolina were chlorinated in both ultrapure water and real source waters containing natural organic matter. DBPs were also measured in finished water from a real drinking water plant impacted by a Microseira bloom. Results show that the presence of Microseira and Phormidium more than doubles total concentrations of DBPs formed by chlorination, with levels up to 586 µg/L formed in natural lake waters. Toxic nitrogen-containing DBPs also more than doubled in concentration, with levels up to 36.1, 3.6, and 37.9 µg/L for haloacetamides, halonitromethanes, and haloacetonitriles, respectively. In ultrapure water, DBPs also formed up to 314 µg/L when algae was chlorinated, demonstrating their ability to serve as direct precursors for these DBPs. When environmentally relevant levels of bromide and iodide were added to chlorination reactions, total DBPs increased 144, 51, and 24% for drinking water reservoir, Lake Marion and Lake Wateree Microseira respectively and 29% for Phormidium. Iodo-DBPs, bromochloroiodomethane, chloroiodoacetic acid, bromoiodoacetic acid, and diiodoacetic acid were observed in finished water from a drinking water plant impacted by Microseira, and bromochloroiodomethane and dibromoiodomethane were observed in chlorinated ultrapure water containing algae, bromide, and iodide. Notably, total calculated cytotoxicity tripled in Microseira-impacted waters and doubled for Phormidium-impacted waters. Calculated genotoxicity doubled for Microseira-impacted waters and more than doubled in Phormidium-impacted waters. Haloacetonitriles were major drivers of calculated cytotoxicity in algae-impacted waters, while haloacetic acids were major drivers of calculated genotoxicity in algae-impacted waters. These results provide the most extensive assessment of DBPs formed from chlorination of algae-impacted waters and highlight potential impacts to drinking water and human health. Results from this study are particularly applicable to drinking water treatment plants that employ pre-chlorination, which can cause the release of algal organic matter (AOM) precursors to form DBPs.

The structure of child temperament as measured by the Polish versions of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire and the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire: insight from the network psychometrics approach.

BACKGROUND: The model proposed by Rothbart is one of the most frequently used models to describe children's temperament. However, the structure of temperamental traits in children is not unambiguous. We examine this structure in children from 3 to 10 years of age using two different measures in a less often studied cultural context (i.e., central Europe), and using a recently developed and still less common approach to study the internal structure of scales (i.e., network psychometrics). PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: This paper examines the structure of temperamental dimensions in children using two different measures - the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) and the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ) - in two studies conducted on children aged 4-7 years (N = 178; CBQ) and aged 7-10 years (N = 189; TMCQ). We verified the structural validity of these measures with a bootstrapped exploratory graph analysis, which represents the network psychometric approach. RESULTS: Network psychometric analysis supported differentiation of three factors of temperamental traits in both groups of children. In addition, the construct validity of these instruments was supported through correlations of the temperament factors measured by the CBQ and the TMCQ with Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Shyness scales measured with the EAS Temperament Survey; and through confirmation of expected gender differences in the CBQ and TMCQ factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support a three-factor solution of temperamental traits in children representing Negative Affectivity, Effortful Control, and Surgency.

Parity moderates the effect of delivery mode on maternal ratings of infant temperament.

OBJECTIVE: Cesarean section (CS) rates are rising rapidly around the world but no conclusive evidence has been obtained about the possible short- and long-term effects of CS on child behavior. We evaluated prospectively the association between CS and infant temperament across the first 9 postpartum months, controlling for indications for CS and investigating parity and infant sex as moderators. METHODS: The sample consisted of mothers and their healthy infants. Infant temperament was measured using the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire completed by the mothers at 6 weeks (n = 452) and 9 months (n = 258) postpartum. Mode of birth was classified into spontaneous vaginal birth (n = 347 for 6 weeks sample; 197 for 9 months sample), CS planned for medical reasons (n = 55; 28) and emergency CS (n = 50; 33). RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis revealed no main effects of birth mode, but showed a significant interaction between birth mode and parity indicating that emergency CS in firstborn infants was associated with more difficult temperament at 6 weeks. There were no significant associations between indications for CS and infant temperament, although breech presentation predicted difficult temperament at 9 months. CONCLUSION: We largely failed to support the association between CS and infant temperament. Although our results suggest that emergency CS may be associated with temperament in firstborns, further research is needed to replicate this finding, preferably using observational measures to assess child temperament.

Social support buffers the effects of maternal prenatal stress on infants' unpredictability.

OBJECTIVE: Exposure to stress in pregnancy has been shown to affect fetal development with short- and long-term physiological and behavioral consequences for the offspring. Although social support is known to lower perceived stress, no prior study has investigated the buffering role of social support in the context of prenatal stress effects on infant temperament. The aim of this study was to examine interactive effects of prenatal stress and social support on several dimensions of infant temperament at 9 months postpartum. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 272 mothers completed the Perceived Stress Scale and the Perceived Social Support Scale in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Infant temperament was assessed by mothers at 9 months postpartum using the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire. Linear regression models were performed to assess the effects of perceived stress, social support, and their interaction on infant temperament. RESULTS: Prenatal stress interacted with social support, such that prenatal stress increased infant unpredictability when social support was below -0.5 SD. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal stress was found to be a risk factor for infant temperamental unpredictability when combined with low social support perceived by the mother during pregnancy. Support of others, not previously examined in this context, can reduce the impact of prenatal stress.

Links between television exposure and toddler dysregulation: Does culture matter?

Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.

Temperament in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic review.

The study of temperament in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has the potential to provide insight regarding variability in the onset, nature, and course of both core and co-morbid symptoms. The aim of this systematic review was to integrate existing findings concerning temperament in the context of ASD. Searches of Medline, PsychInfo and Scopus databases identified 64 relevant studies. As a group, children and adolescents with ASD appear to be temperamentally different from both typically developing and other clinical non-ASD groups, characterized by higher negative affectivity, lower surgency, and lower effortful control at a higher-order level. Consistent with research on typically developing children, correlational findings and emerging longitudinal evidence suggests that lower effortful control and higher negative affect are associated with increased internalizing and externalizing problems in ASD samples. Longitudinal studies suggest there may be temperamental differences between high familial risk infants who do and do not develop ASD from as early as 6-months of age. Limitations of existing research are highlighted, and possible directions for future research to capitalize on the potential afforded through the study of temperament in relation to ASD are discussed.

Using the Very Short Form of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire for Spanish-Speaking Populations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Psychometric Analysis of Dichotomized Variables.

While the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Very Short Form of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ-VSF) have been assessed in the US and Europe in samples composed of middle- and high-income parents with high levels of education, no studies have tested the instrument in low-income Spanish-speaking populations living in low- and middle-income countries. To fill this gap, our cross-sectional study assessed the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the CBQ-VSF version in a sample of 315 low-income and low-educated parents with preschool children living in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. While our findings revealed problems that were similar to those identified in previous assessments of the CBQ-VSF Spanish version, they also showed unique problems related to the sociodemographic characteristics of our sample, containing many individuals with a low income and low educational level. Most of the participants gave extreme responses, resulting in a notable kurtosis and skewness of the data. This article describes how we addressed these problems by dichotomizing the variables into binary categories. Additionally, it demonstrates that merely translating the CBQ-VSF is insufficient to be able to capture many of the underlying latent constructs associated with low-income and low-educated Latino/Hispanic populations.

The Protégé Nitinol Self-Expanding Stent for the Treatment of Iliofemoral Veno-Occlusive Disease.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Protégé nitinol self-expanding stent for the treatment of iliofemoral veno-occlusive disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of 376 (284 left, 92 right) Protégé stents in 212 limbs of 183 patients (mean age: 53 ± 17 years, 52% female) treated for iliofemoral veno-occlusive disease between 2011 and 2018. Binary patency was assessed with duplex ultrasound and calculated by Kaplan Meier analysis. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by clinical-etiology-anatomy-pathophysiology (CEAP) classification and Villalta scores. Adverse events were recorded and categorized per Society of Interventional Radiology reporting standards. RESULTS: Of the 212 limbs, 125 presented with acute thrombosis and 28 with chronic thrombosis requiring thrombectomy (n = 44), catheter directed thrombolysis (n = 32), or both (n = 77). Fifty-nine limbs were non-thrombotic. Mean follow-up time was 11.44 ± 11.37 months. Kaplan Meier analysis revealed a primary limb-level patency of 92.3%, 88.6%, 86.9% and 86.9% at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. CEAP and Villalta scores improved from a median of C3 (range: 0-6) to C1 (0-5) (p < 0.001) and from a mean of 13.4 ± 7.5 to 5.3 ± 4.9 (p < 0.001), respectively. Nine minor and 2 major adverse events were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular treatment of iliofemoral veno-occlusive disease with the Protégé self-expanding stent appears to have good mid-term patency. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4, Case Series.

Child Temperament Outcomes After Laser Surgery for Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is a severe pregnancy complication of monochorionic (identical) twins that results in markedly discordant in utero environments for each twin. The aim of this study was to test for differences in temperament between former donor (hypovolemic, smaller) and recipient (hypervolemic, larger) twins with TTTS. METHODS: Parents of dual survivors aged 3 to 7 years who underwent in utero laser surgery for TTTS were surveyed using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF). The CBQ-VSF assessed 3 traits: Surgency, Negative Affect, and Effortful Control. Differences in traits between donor and recipients were assessed using a paired t test. RESULTS: We studied 85 twin pairs treated in utero for TTTS. There were no statistically significant differences in Surgency, Negative Affect, or Effortful Control between recipients and donors, although score differences for each trait varied widely among sibling pairs. CONCLUSION: Despite varied in utero environments, no temperament differences between donor and recipient monozygotic twins were found for the population as a whole. This finding may be of some reassurance to parents whose pregnancies are complicated by TTTS.

Associations Between Mode of Birth and Neuropsychological Development in Children Aged 4 Years: Results from a Birth Cohort Study.

The aim of this prospective longitudinal study was to examine the association between Cesarean section (CS) and child development and behavior. The sample consisted of 256 children who were born at term without serious perinatal pathologies. Their development and behavior was assessed at the age of four using Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3), Children's Behavior Questionnaire and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between CS and child outcomes. CS was associated with better scores in the Problem Solving domain of the ASQ in the whole sample. After stratifying by child sex, the positive association between CS and the Problem Solving domain was significant in boys, while no association was found in girls. Girls were rated less optimally in the Gross Motor domain of the ASQ when born via CS. Mode of birth was not associated with behavioral outcomes.

Characterization of an Asphalt Binder and Photoproducts by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry Reveals Abundant Water-Soluble Hydrocarbons.

Road asphalt is comprised of aggregate (rocks) mixed with a binder composed of high-boiling petroleum-derived compounds, which have been thought to be relatively inert (unreactive) and thus leach small amounts of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into water from the built environment. However, recent studies have demonstrated that petroleum readily undergoes photooxidation and generates water-soluble oxygen-containing hydrocarbons. Therefore, here, we investigate the effects of solar irradiation on an asphalt binder. Upon irradiation in a photooxidation microcosm, thin films of the asphalt binder produce abundant oil- and water-soluble oxygenated hydrocarbons, which we hypothesize are also leached from roads and highways through photooxidation reactions. Ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) enables extensive compositional characterization of the virgin asphalt binder, irradiated asphalt binder, and the water-soluble photoproducts. The results reveal the production of water-soluble species that resemble the molecular composition of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter, including abundant hydrocarbons and S-containing species with up to 18 oxygen atoms. The results also confirm photo-induced oxidation, fragmentation, and potentially polymerization as active processes involved in the production of water-soluble organic pollutants from asphalt.

Using item response theory to evaluate the Children's Behavior Questionnaire: Considerations of general functioning and assessment length.

Although the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001) is the most popular assessment for childhood temperament, its psychometric qualities have yet to be examined using Item Response Theory (IRT) methods. These methods highlight in detail the specific contributions of individual items for measuring different facets of temperament. Importantly, with 16 scales for tapping distinct aspects of child functioning (195 items total), the CBQ's length can be prohibitive in many contexts. The detailed information about item functioning provided by IRT methods is therefore especially useful. The current study used IRT methods to analyze the CBQ's 16 temperament scales and identify potentially redundant items. An abbreviated "IRT form" was generated based on these results and evaluated across four independent validation samples. The IRT form was compared to the original and short CBQ forms (Putnam & Rothbart, 2006). Results provide fine-grained detail on the CBQ's psychometric functioning and suggest it is possible to remove up to 39% of the original form's items while largely preserving the measurement precision and content coverage of each scale. This study provides considerable psychometric information about the CBQ's items and scales and highlights future avenues for creating even more efficient high-quality temperament assessments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).