title: The association of parental temperament and character on their children's behavior problems.
abstract: Purpose. Parents have important roles in child rearing, but the influence of their personality on rearing practices and their impact on the behavior of children has received surprisingly little attention. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between parents' personality and children's problem behaviors. Materials and Methods. Participants consisted of 190 preschool outpatients (104 boys, 86 girls) and their parents who visited traditional Korean pediatric clinics with minor physical symptoms as chief complaints. The personality profiles of the both parents were measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory and children's behavior problems by the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5. Correlation and stepwise regression analysis were employed for the statistical analyses. Results. The temperament trait of Harm Avoidance and the character traits of Self-Directedness and Self-Transcendence of the parents were significantly correlated with children's problem behaviors. Character as well as temperament, played an important role in explaining children's problem behaviors after age and gender of children were taken into account. Conclusion. The maturity of parents' character appears to have a key role in reducing the risk of behavior problems in their children. Suggestions are made for parental education and future research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychotherapy, School of Nursing and Public Health, Kyungil University , Daegu , Korea ; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis , St Louis, MO , USA.
authors.forename: Soo Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis , St Louis, MO , USA.
authors.forename: C Robert
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Cloninger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, Yonsei University , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis , St Louis, MO , USA ; School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chae
keywords: Children’s problem behavior; Parent–child relations; Personality development; Temperament and character