Abstract
This longitudinal study of 254 first-borns showed that infants' temperamental difficulties and their mothers' separation anxiety were associated with maternal stress about child-rearing when the children reached preschool age. As preschoolers, the children were classified as difficult on the Behavioral Style Questionnaire (BSQ) if their mothers had rated them as high on withdrawal and low on adaptability in infancy. Mothers of these difficult preschoolers, compared to mothers of easy preschoolers, reported high child-rearing stress. Canonical correlations were computed between 3 factors of the RITQ (Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire) and the 9 dimensions of the BSQ. These analyses indicated that difficulty in care-taking and low adaptability during infancy predicted adverse temperamental qualities such as high activity, low adaptability and low persistence in preschool. Mothers of these preschoolers tended to have high child-rearing stress. Finally, mothers who reported high levels of separation anxiety in infancy had traditional attitudes toward maternal role, fewer opportunities to go out alone without their children, and high child-rearing stress when their children were in preschool.
