Psychology Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2801
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Item Understanding Parent and Teacher Perspectives of Temperament Profiles in Young Children(2023) Waldrip, Sabrina M; Teglasi, Hedwig; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The study of temperament profiles is considered a person-centered approach to understanding temperament, as it takes into consideration the complex combinations and interactions of multiple traits that characterize an individual. However, most studies of temperament profiles have focused on reactive traits in infants and toddlers using parent ratings and/or laboratory conditions and since outdated methodologies. This study contributed to the temperament profile literature by exploring profiles based on parent and teacher ratings of reactive and regulatory traits of young children in kindergarten using the modern statistical technique of latent profile analysis. Kindergarten is a unique and critical time in development in which children are suddenly learning new academic, social, and self-regulatory skills as they begin formal education. Parent and teacher ratings of kindergarteners’ temperament were analyzed separately and the behavioral profiles produced by each were described. When only reactivity traits were included in the analyses, the profiles that emerged were mostly consistent with the three to four profiles that have been found in previous studies, including inhibited, exuberant, average, and/or low reactive profiles. When both reactive and regulation traits were included in the analyses, more nuanced profiles emerged that generally reflected subdivisions of the traditional reactivity profiles found in the literature but with varying levels of regulation. There were many similarities but important distinctions among the profile numbers, temperament patterns, and proportion sizes of the parent and teacher profile solutions. Neither child age nor child sex were found to be important predictors of profile membership. Despite its own limitations, the present study serves as a model for how previous methodological limitations in the field may be addressed to enhance our understanding of the complexity and nuances of temperament development and continue to push the field forward. Through such person-centered approaches, the field may one day guide parents, educators, and practitioners towards meeting the diverse needs of children with various temperament dispositions.Item PARENTAL COMPLIANCE WITH CHILD SALIVARY CORTISOL SAMPLING: IMPACT ON CHILDREN'S CORTISOL DATA(2013) Smith, Victoria; Dougherty, Lea R; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Studies assessing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning in young children commonly involve parental collection of salivary cortisol in ambulatory settings. However, no data are available on the compliance of parents in collecting ambulatory measures of children's salivary cortisol. This study examined the effects of parental compliance on the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol slopes in a sample of preschoolers. Eighty-one parents were instructed to collect their child's salivary cortisol samples upon their child's waking, 30 and 45 minutes post-waking and before bedtime on two weekdays. Subjective parental compliance was assessed using parent-report, and objective parental compliance was assessed using an electronic monitoring device. Rates of compliance were higher based on parent-report than electronic monitoring. Parental noncompliance as indicated by electronic monitoring was associated with higher waking cortisol and lower CAR. Findings suggest the need to incorporate electronic monitoring of parental compliance into developmental neuroendocrine research, especially when assessing the CAR.