Is your child easy or difficult to raise?

Temperament is the innate behavior style of an individual that seems to be biologically determined. Although some experts feel that labeling a child too quickly as “difficult” may create a self-fulfilling prophecy of 

 

problematic parent-child interaction, knowing what kind of temperament your child has may make the difference between a happy and a troubled child – and between an accepting and frustrated parent. You can use the table below to get a rough idea on how easy or difficult your child is to raise.

Temperamental Traits	Easy	Difficult
Activity Level (how active the child is generally)	Low	High
Distractibility (degree of concentration and paying attention when child is not particularly interested)	Low	High
Intensity (how loud the child is)	Low	High
Regularity (the predictability of biological functions like appetite and sleep)	Regular	Irregular
Sensory Threshold (how sensitive the child is to physical stimuli: touch, taste, smell, sound, light)	High	Low
Approach/Withdrawal (characteristic responses of a child to a new situation or to strangers)	Approach	Withdrawal
Adaptability (how easily the child adapts to transitions and changes like switching to a new activity)	Good	Poor
Persistence (stubbornness, inability to give up)	Low	High
Mood (tendency to react to the world primarily in a positive or negative way)	Positive	Negative

If your child weighs more heavily on one side of the spectrum than the other, he may be a classic example of the easy or difficult child. However, if your child is in-between and his behavior presents you with problems, you may be in need of some new management techniques.

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share