IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i23p15458-d980441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relationship of Temperament and Character, Parental Stress, and Mental Health Problems with Attachment Disorders among Children

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Schröder

    (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Süheyla Seker

    (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Delfine d’Huart

    (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Yonca Izat

    (Vivantes Clinic Friedrichshain, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Berlin, 10249 Berlin, Germany)

  • Margarete Bolten

    (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Klaus Schmeck

    (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland)

  • Marc Schmid

    (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland)

Abstract

According to Cloninger’s model, personality is conceptualized in temperament and character traits contributing to a child’s psychosocial development. Additionally, parent–child interaction is important for the child’s socio-emotional development. To date, the relationship between attachment and temperament and character for child mental health development and its effects on parents remains mostly unclear. The aim of the present study was thus to examine the relationship of attachment, temperament and character, parental stress, and mental health problems among 125 children (mean age = 7.14 years) in Switzerland. Temperament and character, attachment disorder (symptoms), parental stress, and mental health problems were assessed with psychometric questionnaires; attachment was assessed with an additional observational measure. Descriptive characters of the sample were presented, and group differences and correlations were computed. For temperament traits, results revealed significant group differences for novelty seeking and persistence and attachment disorder types. For character traits, the findings showed significant group differences for self-directedness and cooperativeness and attachment disorder types. Moderate effect sizes for groups differences were found. Further, the mixed-type (inhibited and disinhibited) and inhibited attachment disorder type were the most burdened groups. The present findings suggest that temperament and character traits, as well as parental stress and mental health problems are associated with the occurrence of attachment disorders among children. Future longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to examine the causal relationships of temperament and character with attachment, including person-related and environmental factors among children.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Schröder & Süheyla Seker & Delfine d’Huart & Yonca Izat & Margarete Bolten & Klaus Schmeck & Marc Schmid, 2022. "The Relationship of Temperament and Character, Parental Stress, and Mental Health Problems with Attachment Disorders among Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-14, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15458-:d:980441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15458/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15458/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15458-:d:980441. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.