Abstract
The present study examined both parents' ratings of infant temperament according to the infant's risk status and type of delivery. Ninety parents rated their 45 infants, 23 of whom were low-risk and 22 who were high-risk with medical complications, on the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ). Type of delivery was not related to the easy-difficult ratings of the high-risk babies; however, a strong trend (p<.067) emerged in the low-risk sample with C-section babies receiving more difficult ratings than the vaginally-delivered infants. As the easy-difficult ratings of the RITQ are determined by 5 individual profiles, these profiles were analyzed according to risk status and delivery type. The high-risk infants received more positive ratings on the mood profile than the low-risk infants (p<.04), while low-risk, C-section babies received the most negative ratings on mood (p<.04). Low-risk, C-section and high-risk, vaginally-delivered infants were rated more withdrawing than the low-risk, vaginally-delivered and high-risk, C-section babies (p<.001). In addition, there were trends for the high-risk babies to receive more rhythmic ratings than the low-risk infants (p<.06); vaginally-delivered infants were rated more adaptable than the C-section babies (p<.053); and low-risk, C-section babies were rated the least adaptable of all the infants (p<.07).
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Simons, C., Mullett, M., Connors, K. et al. INFANT TEMPERAMENT ACCORDING TO RISK STATUS AND TYPE OF DELIVERY. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 114 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00124
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00124
