Browsing by Subject "temperamentti"
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(2014)Prenatal conditions alter fetal development in ways that may have long-term effects on the child's later physical and psychological development and health. According to the fetal programming hypothesis, the environment of the uterus may permanently affect the structure and operation of the organs of the fetus as well as its phenotype. One explanation for the disturbance in fetal development is the glucocorticoid hypothesis, which assumes that the increased glucocorticoid content in the mother's system during pregnancy has a negative effect on fetal development. According to research, early exposure to glucocorticoids may have a lasting effect on the offspring's neural development, and these effects may manifest in various ways in the child's development. The hypothesis states that one adverse factor to fetal development is the mother's prenatal depression, as depression is associated with increased amounts of glucocorticoid. Prenatal depression is a relatively common condition, but its effects on fetal development have not been widely studied and are not very thoroughly known. Research has indicated that prenatal depression has a connection to various developmental problems in the child, such as psychological disorders and impaired cognitive development. Prenatal depression has also been found to have a connection to a more negative (e.g. more timid) temperament in the child. The goal of this thesis is to study the connections between the mother's prenatal depression and the child's temperamental traits. The research material consists of 2 445 mothers, whose symptoms were charted a total of 14 times during the entire pregnancy and afterwards. In addition, the mothers assessed their child's temperament at the age of approximately six months. Based on the results obtained, a higher incidence of symptoms of depression strongly predicts a more negative affectivity in the child. In addition, symptoms of prenatal depression predict a lower orienting/regulation and a lower surgency/extraversion. The reasons for these links have not so far been explained, but a possible explanation is the damage in the early development of the central nervous system of the fetus caused by the mother's high prenatal glucocorticoid content. Especially damage in the hippocampus and amygdala could explain the child's elevated negative affectivity and, conversely, lower surgency/extraversion.
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(2018)ABSTRACT There is evidence that maternal psychopathology is a risk factor for development of psychiatric disorders in the offspring. Unfortunately, many studies have excluded eating disorders even though it's been estimated that 7% of Finnish women suffer from eating disorder during the first 30 years of life. The aim of this review was to examine the impact of maternal eating disorder on children's psychological well-being. Two large cohort studies and multiple smaller studies were examined in this review. Maternal eating disorder was often defined as maternal history of eating disorder either during or before pregnancy. Maternal eating disorder has been associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms in the offspring. Especially children of mothers with anorexia nervosa are at higher risk of having internalizing problems. In addition, mothers with eating disorders rated their children as having a more difficult temperament. The children of mothers with eating disorders showed delays in neurocognitive development. The identified associations were, however, not simple. What might be important considering the effect of maternal eating disorder on child psychopathology is the type and timing of the maternal eating disorder. More research is needed in order to develop early interventions.
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(2008)The temperamental traits of Cloninger's personality theory (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence) reflect independent systems of central nervous system deciding responses toward new, rewarding and aversive stimuli. Thus, certain temperamental traits and their combinations may predispose to heavy drinking and alcohol dependence. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate associations between temperamental traits and the amount of alcohol consumption, frequency of heavy drinking and the maximum number of drinks per occasion. In this study, we investigated also whether these associations are only confounded by between-family differences in genetic and environmental factors. Furthermore the associations between temperamental trait combinations that reflect Cloninger's typology of alcoholism and alcohol use were studied. The subjects (n=401) in the current study were a group of FinnTwin16 study participators, Finnish twins born in 1974-79. Temperament was measured with TCI-R (Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised) a self-report form. The amount of alcohol consumption was asked by Semi-structured interview (Semi-Structured Assessment of Genetics of Alcoholism = SSAGA). The frequency of heavy drinking and maximum number of drinks per occasion were asked by mail form. In accordance with previous studies, novelty seeking had a positive relationship with the amount of alcohol consumption, frequency of heavy drinking and the maximum number of drinks per occasion in both genders. In this study, the association was proven independent of between-family differences in genetic and environmental factors that are associated to both novelty seeking and alcohol use. Surprisingly, reward dependence was negatively related to the maximum number of drinks per occasion in both genders. Persistence had a weak positive relationship with maximum number of drinks per occasion in men. The temperamental trait combinations that reflect Cloninger's typology of alcoholism did not differ from the other combinations in regard to alcohol use as hypothesized. The results confirm the previous finding about the relationship between novelty seeking and alcohol use. Support for Cloninger's typology of alcoholism in regard to combinations of temperamental trait was not achieved in this study.
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(2017)Objective: Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world and elevated blood pressure is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Health behavior such as alcohol use, smoking and physical activity as well as obesity are known to affect the risk for cardiovascular disease. Also temperament has been shown to be associated with the risk for cardiovascular disease in numerous studies. The exact pathway through which the association between temperament and the risk for cardiovascular disease is mediated is so far unknown. Temperament has been shown to be associated with elevated blood pressure but not much research on the subject has yet been conducted. The aim of this study was to examine if temperament is associated with elevated blood pressure, which factors mediate the association and how they mediate it. Methods: The participants of the study were from The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (CRYFS) and the data from the follow-up carried out in 2007. The subjects were divided into groups of elevated blood pressure and normal blood pressure according to their blood pressure levels. Temperament was assessed using a self-report form of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-9) which measures the temperament traits of Cloninger's psychobiological theory - novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence. Concerning mediating variables the subjects were asked to answer questions about their alcohol use, smoking and physical activity. Body mass index was calculated from measures of weight and height. Logistic regression and correlation analyses were used for the analyses. Results and conclusions: A high level of reward dependence was related to a lower risk for elevated blood pressure. Two health behavior variables, higher level of alcohol use and greater body mass index were related to an increased risk. A weak association between a higher level of persistence and a lower level of blood pressure was also found. The association between reward dependence and elevated blood pressure showed evidence for being independent of the health behavior variables. Behavioral styles based on temperament are suggested as the mediating mechanism behind the association. For example behavioral styles could affect a person's tendency to seek medical help and health care. The concept of personalized health care expanded with temperament related information should be considered as a valuable potential asset for preventive health care in the future.
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(2011)Pro gradu tutkielmani aiheena oli tutkia koirien (Canis familiaris) saalistushalukkuutta ja persoonallisuutta sekä näiden mahdollista yhteyttä dopamiinireseptori D4 –geeniin (myöh. DRD4-geeni). DRD4-geeni ilmenee lähinnä hermosoluissa ja se vaikuttaa erityisesti aivojen limbisen järjestelmän toimintaan. Limbinen järjestelmä säätelee tunnetiloja ja tunteisiin liittyviä autonomisia toimintoja sekä motivaatiota eli samoja asioita, joihin dopamiinin tiedetään vaikuttavan. Dopamiini vaikuttaa elimistöön sitoutumalla esimerkiksi aivojen limbisen alueen dopamiinireseptoreihin. Dopamiinin on havaittu liittyvän assosiatiiviseen oppimiseen ja DRD4-geenin puolestaan mm. aktiivisuuteen ja impulsiivisuuteen sekä uteliaisuuteen mistä syystä se valittiinkin kandidaattigeeniksemme tutkimukseen. Koira puolestaan sopii erityisen hyvin mallilajiksi kandidaattigeenitutkimukseen, koska koirarodut ovat geneettisiä isolaatteja ja eroavat toisistaan niin rakenteensa kuin käyttäytymisensäkin puolesta. Kytkentäepätasapaino eli alleeliassosiaatio on koirissa huomattavasti voimakkaampaa kuin ihmisissä ja siten koiralta on merkittävästi helpompaa löytää mm. tautigeenejä. Koirilla kytkentäepätasapaino yltää noin 2 Mb laajuudelle, kun vastaava luku ihmisellä on vain noin 0,28 Mb. Tutkimuksen 405 suursnautserin ja saksanpaimenkoiran saalistushalukkuus testattiin koiran luonteenkuvauksesta eli MH-testistä tutulla viehetestillä. Viehetestissä koiran edestä yllättäen "pakenee" saalista muistuttava mutkittelevasti kulkeva kankainen viehe. Koirien suoritukset viehetestissä videoitiin ja suoritukset luokiteltiin neljään luokkaan äärimmäisen saalistushalukkaasta saalistushaluttomaan. Muita persoonallisuuspiirteitä tutkittiin koirien omistajien täyttämien luonnelomakkeiden avulla. Kaikista viehetestillä testatuista koirista otettiin verinäytteet, joista eristettiin DNA. Saalistustestissä äärimmäisen saalistushalukkaat ja täysin saalistushaluttomat saksanpaimenkoirat (N=44) valittiin DRD4-geenin alleeliassosiaatiotutkimukseen. Tutkittavaa geenialuetta monistettiin käyttämällä alleelispesifejä alukkeita PCR-reaktiossa. Tutkimuksen koirista löydettiin DRD4-geenin alleeleja 2 ja 3a. Luonnelomakeaineiston taustalta paljastui faktorianalyysin avulla neljä faktoria: sosiaalisuus ihmisiä kohtaan, leikkisyys ja aktiivisuus, aggressiivisuus koiria kohtaan sekä rohkeus. Näistä ensimmäinen assosioitui merkittävästi alleelin 3a kanssa. Koirat jotka kantoivat tätä alleelia olivat vähemmän aggressiivisia ihmisiä kohtaan kuin koirat, joilla 3a-alleelia ei ollut. Saalistushalukkuuteen kumpikaan alleeleista eikä mikään genotyypeistä assosioitunut. Saalistushalukkuutta kokonaisaineistossa selitti parhaiten leikkisyys ja aktiivisuus. Rodut erosivat toisistaan ihmisiin ja koiriin suuntautuvalta aggressiivisuudeltaan siten, että saksanpaimenkoirat olivat suursnautsereita aggressiivisempia.
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(2016)High sensitivity is a part of a temperament. Most of the highly sensitive persons are also introverts. Their senses and minds get easily overloaded and they need to rest after being in a large, noisy group. This is why school years can be hard for highly sensitive children. If the teachers understand them, they will enjoy learning and their good qualities will come out.
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(2023)Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tarkastelen kirjallisuuskatsauksen keinoin lasten vertaissuhteita, niiden muodostumista sekä merkitystä lapselle. Jotta kasvattajat voivat tukea lasten vertaissuhteita, on tärkeä tietää tekijöitä, mitkä niiden muodostumiseen vaikuttavat. Tämän tutkimuksen hypoteesina oli, että nykypäivänä tutkimukset ottavat tasapuolisesti huomioon sekä lapsen yksilölliset piirteet että yhteisön ja ympäristön merkityksen. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli koota yhteen uusimpia tutkimuksia vertaissuhteista ja analysoida niissä esiintyviä tekijöitä. Tutkimustehtävänä on nostaa esiin vertaissuhteiden muodostumiseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä sekä sitä, mihin kaikkeen lapsen vertaiskokemukset tai asema vertaisyhteisössä voivat vaikuttaa. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen tyyppinä käytettiin narratiivista, kuvailevaa kirjallisuuskatsausta, jonka keinoin pystyttiin koostamaan useista eri näkökulmista tehdyistä tutkimuksista yhtenäinen teksti. Tutkimusaineistoksi valikoitui kahdeksan vertaissuhteita käsittelevää tutkimusta. Mukana oli enimmäkseen poikittaistutkimuksia, mutta myös yksi pitkittäistutkimus. Analysoidut tutkimukset olivat joko määrällisiä tai mixed methods -menetelmin toteutettuja. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että vertaissuhteisiin vaikuttavia tekijöitä on useita. Kirjallisuuskatsauksesta huomattiin, että vertaissuhteet sekä vertaishyväksyntä ovat hyvin merkittäviä lapsen kehitykselle ja hyvinvoinnille. Moni tekijä vaikuttaa vertaishyväksyntään sosiaalisen osaamisen kautta. Esimerkiksi ikä, perhetekijät, kasvatustyyli, kielelliset taidot ja itsetunto ovat tutkimuksen mukaan yhteydessä sosiaaliseen osaamiseen. Johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että sosiaaliset taidot ovat avainasemassa, kun lapsi harjoittelee luomaan vertaissuhteita, ja siksi niitä on tärkeä harjoitella myös varhaiskasvatuksessa kasvattajien tuella.
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(2020)Aims In previous research, the focus has been on how single factors (e.g. change of school, class or school size) are connected to motivation. No study has used a comprehensive set of aspects of school stability and investigated its association with school motivation. Further, no study has examined whether temperament modifies the connection between the stability of school environment and motivation. This study investigated 1) whether the instability of school environment is associated with students’ motivation and 2) whether this association is modified by temperament. Methods The sample consisted of 3369 Finnish ninth graders. Students’ school motivation and temperament traits (task orientation, reactivity and flexibility) were measured by self-report and teachers’ evaluation. A wide array of factors within school environment were assessed (by asking students and teachers), and three instability scales were formed: instability of physical space, social relationships, and general school structure. Results When adding all the instability scales to the model as predictors simultaneously, high instability in social relations and high instability of physical space were associated with lower student-rated and teacher-rated motivation. Instability of general school structure did not have significant main effect on student-rated or teacher-rated motivation. When adding all the two-way interactions between temperament traits and instability scales to the model as predictors simultaneously, temperament was found to have modifying effects on motivation: high reactivity modified both, the connection of instability of physical spaces and instability of social relationships on student-rated motivation in students. High flexibility modified the connection of instability of general school structure on student-rated motivation. High task orientation modified the connection of instability of physical spaces on teacher-rated motivation. In all the models, covariates included also students’ age, gender, and parental education. Conclusions Various dimensions of instability of school environment are differentially connected with students’ motivation. Temperament traits appear to modify these connections, indicating that different temperaments become differently motivated in instable school environments.
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(2019)Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena oli tarkastella introverttien erityisherkkien piirteitä tutkimuskirjallisuuden valossa. Tavoitteena oli saada tietoa introverttien erityisherkkien piirteistä myöhempää aiheeseen liittyvää tutkimusta varten. Tutkielmani lähtökohtana on siis ollut kiinnostus introvertteja erityisherkkiä kohtaan, mutta tiedon ollessa liian vähäistä päätin ensin tarkastella aihetta lähemmin, jotta voisin myöhemmässä tutkimuksessani muodostaa tarkemman samaan aiheeseen liittyvän tutkimuskysymyksen. Tutkimus toteutettiin systemaattisena kirjallisuuskatsauksena, eli käytiin järjestelmällisesti läpi aiheeseen liittyviä lähteitä, joista sopivimmat valikoituivat tutkimuskohteiksi. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin viittä teosta, joiden kirjoittajina on yhteensä kolme eri kirjoittajaa. Tarkastelun pohjalta toteutettiin taulukko, josta ilmenee kaikki tarkastelussa selvinneet introverttien erityisherkkien piirteet. Tutkimuksessa introverttien erityisherkkien piirteinä todettiin vahvimmin seuraavat piirteet: voimakas reagoiminen ympäristön aistiärsykkeisiin, asioiden syvällinen käsitteleminen ja kuormittumisalttius.
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(2014)Temperament is known to be connected with students' school achievement, both academic achievement and school adjustment. In the Finnish school system, school adjustment can be measured by behavior grade. Equal rating is important for students' future education choices. Rating has also influence on students' self-image. In this study, the aim was to examine the connection between self-rated temperament traits and GPA (grade point average) and behavior grade. Also, the possible mediator effect of behavior grade between the connection of temperament traits and behavior grade was examined. The participants of this study were Finnish adolescents (n=4255, average age 15,1). Students evaluated their temperament traits with TABC-R and DOTS-R questionnaires. School achievement was evaluated with student's latest GPA and behavior grade. The connection between grades and temperament traits were examined with correlational analysis and regression analysis. Mediator effect between temperament and GPA was examined with Bootstrapping analysis. The connection was slightly different between GPA and behavior grade. The strongest connection with behavior grade had traits associated with school adjustment, such as impulsivity and negative emotionality. The strongest connection with GPA had traits associated with task orientation, such as persistence and distractibility. Behavior grade mediated the effect between temperament traits and GPA, especially for impulsivity, distractibility, negative emotionality and mood. These results confirm that teachers' ratings are connected with students' temperament, also when evaluating students behavior. Temperament is connected with grades both directly and medially. In future when developing student evaluation criteria, it is important that teachers are aware of the possible influence of temperament traits. The necessity of rating students' behavior with a grade should be discussed. The criteria of evaluating students' behavior at school should be clear, so that assessing temperament traits would be avoided.
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(2021)Aim of this study was to investigate the connection between children’s self-regulation and temperament. Additionally, the aim of the study was to determine whether a child’s age, gender or mother’s level of education modified the associations between temperament and self-regulation skills. The research material was collected in 2017 in kindergartens in Salo (N=29) and Riihimäki (N=3) as part of the DAGIS project. Data consisted of questionnaire material collected during the baseline measurement of the project. The subjects (N=802) were 3–6 years old children and their families. Children’s self-regulation skills were measured using PikkuKesky survey (challenges in self-regulatory skills) completed by early childhood education teachers or other professional (N=757). Also, parents filled a form that measured child’s cognitive and emotional self-regulation skills separately. Children’s temperament was assessed using Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (very short form). This questionnaire was filled by parents. The relationship between child’s temperament and self-regulation was analysed using linear regression analysis. In addition to that, regression analysis was used to examine whether a child’s age and gender or maternal education level had an interaction effect with temperament on self-regulation. The results of the research showed that there was a connection between children’s temperament and self-regulation. Children with high levels of surgency had more challenges in their self-regulatory skills, while better effortful control meant that the child had fewer challenges in self-regulation. This study did not find connection between challenges of self-regulation and negative affectivity. Children with high levels of effortful control as well as those with more surgency was associated to better cognitional self-regulation. In contrast, children with high levels of negative affectivity had weaker cognitive self-regulatory skills. Children with high levels of surgency or negative affectivity had weaker emotional self-regulation skills, while children with high levels of effortful control was associated to better emotional self-regulation. In this study, age, gender and maternal educational background, had no interaction between temperament and self-regulation. Children’s personal temperament needs to be taken into account when developing child’s self-regulatory skills and pay attention to supporting the self-regulatory skills of children with different temperaments - especially surgency ones - at an early stage.
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(2021)Aim of this study was to investigate the connection between children’s self-regulation and temperament. Additionally, the aim of the study was to determine whether a child’s age, gender or mother’s level of education modified the associations between temperament and self-regulation skills. The research material was collected in 2017 in kindergartens in Salo (N=29) and Riihimäki (N=3) as part of the DAGIS project. Data consisted of questionnaire material collected during the baseline measurement of the project. The subjects (N=802) were 3–6 years old children and their families. Children’s self-regulation skills were measured using PikkuKesky survey (challenges in self-regulatory skills) completed by early childhood education teachers or other professional (N=757). Also, parents filled a form that measured child’s cognitive and emotional self-regulation skills separately. Children’s temperament was assessed using Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (very short form). This questionnaire was filled by parents. The relationship between child’s temperament and self-regulation was analysed using linear regression analysis. In addition to that, regression analysis was used to examine whether a child’s age and gender or maternal education level had an interaction effect with temperament on self-regulation. The results of the research showed that there was a connection between children’s temperament and self-regulation. Children with high levels of surgency had more challenges in their self-regulatory skills, while better effortful control meant that the child had fewer challenges in self-regulation. This study did not find connection between challenges of self-regulation and negative affectivity. Children with high levels of effortful control as well as those with more surgency was associated to better cognitional self-regulation. In contrast, children with high levels of negative affectivity had weaker cognitive self-regulatory skills. Children with high levels of surgency or negative affectivity had weaker emotional self-regulation skills, while children with high levels of effortful control was associated to better emotional self-regulation. In this study, age, gender and maternal educational background, had no interaction between temperament and self-regulation. Children’s personal temperament needs to be taken into account when developing child’s self-regulatory skills and pay attention to supporting the self-regulatory skills of children with different temperaments - especially surgency ones - at an early stage.
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(2017)Kehityksellinen änkytys on puheen motorisen sujuvuuden häiriö, joka puhkeaa tyypillisesti lapsilla ennen kuutta ikävuotta kielenoppimiseen vaiheessa, jossa omaksutaan pyrähdysmäisesti paljon uusia kielellisiä ja motorisia taitoja. Kehityksellisen änkytyksen taustalla ei ole mitään elimellistä tai psykologista traumaa. Nykykäsityksen mukaan eri tavoin yhdistyvät perimän pohjalta määräytyvät yksilölliset ominaisuudet ja ympäristön vaikutukset voivat laukaista änkytyksen. Tutkijat ovat todenneet, että yksi änkytykseen vaikuttava tekijä voi olla biologian pohjalta määräytyvä synnynnäinen reagointitapa, temperamentti. Tämä kirjallisuuskatsaus pyrkii selvittämään, onko tätä yhteyttä havaittu ja missä tempera-menttipiirteissä mahdolliset erot änkyttävien ja sujuvasti puhuvien lasten välillä näkyvät. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen aineisto kerättiin samalla hakulausekkeella Science Direct (Elsevier), MEDLINE (Ovid) ja Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) – tietokannoista. Yhteensä 86 artikkelista varsinaiseen tutkimukseen valikoitui kuusi tieteellisissä lehdissä vuosina 2000–2017 julkaistua englanninkielistä vertaisarvioitua alkuperäistä tutkimusraporttia. Tutkimuksissa määritettiin joko yleisesti eroja temperamenteissa vanhemmille suunnattujen kyselylomaketutkimusten avulla änkyttävien ja sujuvasti puhuvien lasten välillä, tai tarkasteltiin lähemmin aiemman tutkimuksen perusteella todettua eroavaa temperamenttipiirrettä. Kaikissa tutkimuksissa tutkimusotoksen tuli koostua vähintään 30 lapsesta. Tutkimusasetelmana piti olla änkyttävistä lapsista muodostuva koeryhmä ja ainakin iän puolesta yhteen sovitettu sujuvista lapsista muodostuva kontrolliryhmä. Tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että sujuvasti puhuvien lasten ja niiden lasten joilla on kehityksellinen änkytys temperamenteissa on joitain eroja. Tutkimusten määrittämät eroavat temperamenttipiirteet poikkesivat kuitenkin jonkin verran toisistaan – eroja löydettiin kohtalaisen monessa piirteessä. Yleisellä tasolla tulokset osoittivat, että änkyttävien lasten temperamentti on enemmän negatiivinen kuin sujuvasti puhuvilla lapsilla. Lisäksi änkyttävien lasten tapa reagoida on vähemmän kontrolloitu, eivätkä he pysty säätelemään herkästi heräävien reaktioidensa tyyliä yhtä hyvin. Reaktiot ovat tyyliltään emotionaalisempia sujuvien lasten reaktioihin verrattuna.
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(2017)According to studies, changes in work life over last five years have contributed to the growth of work pressure and requirements which is why the stress at work has greatly increased. Work-related stress has been studied a lot from the perspective of external factors, but the need to take employee’s personal characteristics under review has increased. This literature review aimed to bring together studies of temperament, job strain and the relationship between them. Previous studies have shown that certain temperament traits are related to the general stress vulnerability, so interest was to find out whether these traits are related also to work-related stress. The study was carried out as a literature review utilizing largely the field of psychology studies. Narrative and descriptive literature review made it possible to go through a large number of different kinds of materials and analyze them making separated knowledge a unified whole. Data was collected from the electronic information retrieval system and library search engines in University of Helsinki. This study used a lot Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen’s literature, for she is the leading author of Finnish temperament research. Temperament is an innate tendency to react to various stimuli and act in a way that is characteristic for everybody. Temperament is evident specially in stressful situations when stress factors prevent rational thinking and acting in learned manners. Job strain is caused by high job demands and low control and imbalance between efforts and rewards. Previously temperament has been found to be associated with both physical and mental diseases. Also, long lasting work stress will lead to physical and mental symptoms and eventually to serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease and burnout. Emotional sensitivity, tendency to worry, avoidance in new situations and the loss of functional capacity were associated with job strain whereas briskness, flexibility, positive attitude and approach to the new protected from it. To avoid harmful effects of job strain and to design effective interventions employees’ temperament and job strain factors should be identified. One effective option is cognitive-behavioral methods, which affect in individual's ways of thinking and acting in stressful situations. Avainsanat
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(2018)The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of drama education regarding the bold self-expression of the pre-school aged child. Children will go to school the following year, so in pre-school it is valuable to invest on encouraging children in their self-expression skills as the ex-pression skills are highly valued in both the school and the working world. Basis for the study is that various skills, such as self-expression, can be learned. The research task was refined by three research questions exploring the factors that are required to build-up bold self-expression, how drama education can impact on the development of the chil-dren’s self-expression skills, and how being encouraged appears on the individual and the small group level. The theoretical framework of the study contains two main concepts: self-esteem and drama education. Self- esteem is covered from temperament and encouraging perspective. Drama education includes self-expression, emotional education ja social skills. Previous studies have fo-cused mainly on strengthening child’s self-esteem. There is only a small amount of research on be-ing encouraged in self-expression skills from child’s point of view. This study is qualitative in nature and selected approach to the theme was action research which was carried out through three drama sessions to the group of children. Four children were selected to this small group in collaboration with the group’s kindergarten teachers. Common goal for all the children was to get encouraged in their emotional expression and especially to two of them needed additionally encouragement in self-expression in general. Children’s needs and the themes that had risen in previous sessions were taken noted in the planning. The data was collected by using a re-search journal, video observation and children’s interview through “stimulated recall” method. Ma-terial was studied through video analysis, which displayed how many times children did express themselves linguistically, physically and emotionally. In addition, it was analyzed, how many con-tact initiatives children took towards friends, researcher and the whole group. Filming enabled to observe the accurate number of children’s initiatives and to compare results both within and be-tween the sessions. Children’s basic sense of security was supported by selecting friends to the small group. According to the results, it can be said that the children were able to relax quickly and even more shy children were able to make more initiatives. Based on this intervention it can be stated, that drama support children by empowering their self-expression skills. The results also showed that there were differ-ences between different drama methods concerning the effects on children’s self-expression both in individual and group level. Sessions displayed as a small group activity supported children’s self-expression skills to come forth at the individual level in almost all the areas studied.
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(2012)The aim of this study is to investigate the stress levels of children who attend day care by examining the relations between the quality of the day care centre, child's individual characteristics and stress. This study is a part of a broader study concerning children's stress regulation and learning at the Department of Teacher Education in the University of Helsinki. The participants of the study were 33 day care centres in 5 towns in Southern Finland. The 340 children examined in the study were between the ages 3 and 7. The evaluation of stress levels was completed by stress hormone measurements. These measurements were obtained by saliva samples which were taken from the children (N=340) a total of five (N=5) times during a day. The measuring process was carried out both at home and at the day care centre. The samples were then frozen and analysed at the National Institute for Health and Welfare. The quality of the day care centres was explored from several aspects. However, the examination stayed on the micro level – i.e. the quality factors were evaluated empirically. In this process, the structural and process related quality factors in the day care group's learning environment were assessed. To do this, The Learning Environment Assessment Scale (Strain & Joseph 2004) was used as a medium of assessment. In this scale, the observed subjects are multifaceted. They include classroom arrangement, assessment of activity and transition situations, and the working methods of the pedagogues. A child's individual characteristics were assessed by exploring the child's temperament. The parents evaluated their child's temperament with the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire which has been created by Rothbart (2001). The results indicate that the children's stress hormone levels during the day followed the normal everyday cortisol cycle. On average, however, girls were more stressed than boys. High quality evaluations of the pedagogue team's functionality as well as consistency and clarity in the activity and transition situations reduced the children's stress levels. Children who had a tendency to react to the smallest of stimuli were most likely to have higher stress levels. Girls, whose temperament had been evaluated to not show anger and frustration, were more stressed on average. Also, boys whose activity level was evaluated to be high had stress levels above average.
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(2016)Objectives. Anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms are common even as a child, and they cause a major burden to the child as well as to the society. In order to prevent anxiety disorders it is important to understand the predisposing factors to anxiety. The influence of child's temperament and parenting style on children's anxiety symptoms have both been studied, but the results are partly controversial, and there's only a limited number of longitudinal studies. The importance of interactions between temperament and parenting style has been emphasized, but the amount of interaction studies is scarce. The aim of this study is to examine the associations between child's temperament and anxiety symptoms, associations between parenting style and child's anxiety symptoms, and whether parenting style is a moderator between the association with temperament and anxiety symptoms. Methods. The sample consisted of 262 mother-child dyads participating in the Glychyrrhizin in Licorice-study. Mothers assessed their child's temperament with the Children's Behavior Questionnaire and their parenting style with the Parent Behavior Inventory when the children were 5,5 years old. Children assessed their anxiety symptoms with the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders when they were 12 years old. The associations between the variables were analyzed using regression analyzes. Results and conclusions. High negative emotionality and its subfactors anger, fear, sadness and low soothability were associated with several anxiety symptoms. Extraversion was not associated with any anxiety symptoms, but its subfactor high impulsivity predicted increased anxiety symptoms. Low effortful control and its subfactor low inhibitory control were associated with symptoms of school phobia, and low intensity pleasure was associated with panic symptoms. Anxiety symptoms were associated with hostile/coercive parenting style, but not with supportive/engaged parenting style. Both parenting styles moderated some of the associations between temperament traits and anxiety symptoms. The findings give support both to the independent effect of temperament to children's anxiety symptoms and interactions between temperament and parenting. The findings give also some preliminary support to the "goodness of fit" –model, indicating that the effect of parenting style on children's anxiety symptoms may depend on child's temperament.
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(2016)Objectives. Anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms are common even as a child, and they cause a major burden to the child as well as to the society. In order to prevent anxiety disorders it is important to understand the predisposing factors to anxiety. The influence of child’s temperament and parenting style on children’s anxiety symptoms have both been studied, but the results are partly controversial, and there’s only a limited number of longitudinal studies. The importance of interactions between temperament and parenting style has been emphasized, but the amount of interaction studies is scarce. The aim of this study is to examine the associations between child’s temperament and anxiety symptoms, associations between parenting style and child’s anxiety symptoms, and whether parenting style is a moderator between the association with temperament and anxiety symptoms. Methods. The sample consisted of 262 mother-child dyads participating in the Glychyrrhizin in Licorice-study. Mothers assessed their child’s temperament with the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire and their parenting style with the Parent Behavior Inventrory when the children were 5,5 years old. Children assessed their anxiety symptoms with the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders when they were 12 years old. The associations between the variables were analyzed using regression analyzes. Results and conclusions. High negative emotionality and its subfactors anger, fear, sadness and low soothability were associated with several anxiety symptoms. Extraversion was not associated with any anxiety symptoms, but its subfactor high impulsivity predicted increased anxiety symptoms. Low effortful control and its subfactor low inhibitory control were associated with symptoms of school phobia, and low intensity pleasure was associated with panic symptoms. Anxiety symptoms were associated with hostile/coercive parenting style, but not with supportive/engaged parenting style. Both parenting styles moderated some of the associations between temperament traits and anxiety symptoms. The findings give support both to the independent effect of temperament to children’s anxiety symptoms and interactions between temperament and parenting. The findings give also some preliminary support to the “goodness of fit” –model, indicating that the effect of parenting style on children’s anxiety symptoms may depend on child’s temperament.
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(2016)Temperament is child’s individual characteristic, and it serves as a core to personality development. Still we do not have a clear understanding how stable temperament traits are from infancy onward. A strong attachment bond to caregivers is important to child’s development. Attachment bond is known to form also in secondary relationships as with professional caregivers. Temperament is associated with attachment security in primary attachment relationship. Nevertheless, studies on associations with child temperament and quality of secondary attachment are few and far between. This study will focus on the questions about (1) stability of child temperament, (2) association between child temperament and security of attachment with professional caregiver, and (3) how security of attachment will mediate the stability of child temperament, diminishing or strengthening temperament traits. This study is part of Kenguru-project in which professional caregiving was examined in day care centers concerning children under three years old during 2005 - 2006. In day care centers we were running an intervention to boost interaction and development of attachment bond between children and caregivers. This study examined those 126 children (girls 54) who were 8 - 34 months (mean age 23 months) old in the beginning of the study. Temperament was assessed as emotionality, activity and shyness, and we used EAS - temperament questionnaire (parental ratings), at two time points. Security of attachment was observed using Attachment Q-sort. Among other research questions, the factor structure of EAS-temperament questionnaire was observed. The stability of temperament was studied with correlations coefficients and all research questions were analysed using the linear regression modelling. According to this study, there were some changes in child temperament in the short term. Most changes occurred in emotionality. This result support the earlier finding that temperamental traits will be more stable when child get older than in infancy or in toddlerhood. There were no association between emotionality, activity or shyness with the security of attachment. Findings are in line with earlier research, that parental ratings about child temperament are not associated with observed attachment security with professional caregiver.
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(2016)Temperament is child's individual characteristic, and it serves as a core to personality development. Still we do not have a clear understanding how stable temperament traits are from infancy onward. A strong attachment bond to caregivers is important to child's development. Attachment bond is known to form also in secondary relationships as with professional caregivers. Temperament is associated with attachment security in primary attachment relationship. Nevertheless, studies on associations with child temperament and quality of secondary attachment are few and far between. This study will focus on the questions about (1) stability of child temperament, (2) association between child temperament and security of attachment with professional caregiver, and (3) how security of attachment will mediate the stability of child temperament, diminishing or strengthening temperament traits. This study is part of Kenguru-project in which professional caregiving was examined in day care centers concerning children under three years old during 2005 - 2006. In day care centers we were running an intervention to boost interaction and development of attachment bond between children and caregivers. This study examined those 126 children (girls 54) who were 8 - 34 months (mean age 23 months) old in the beginning of the study. Temperament was assessed as emotionality, activity and shyness, and we used EAS - temperament questionnaire (parental ratings), at two time points. Security of attachment was observed using Attachment Q-sort. Among other research questions, the factor structure of EAS-temperament questionnaire was observed. The stability of temperament was studied with correlations coefficients and all research questions were analysed using the linear regression modelling. According to this study, there were some changes in child temperament in the short term. Most changes occurred in emotionality. This result support the earlier finding that temperamental traits will be more stable when child get older than in infancy or in toddlerhood. There were no association between emotionality, activity or shyness with the security of attachment. Findings are in line with earlier research, that parental ratings about child temperament are not associated with observed attachment security with professional caregiver.
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