Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Temperament and Attachment

Temperament
Each child comes to earth with an inborn temperament that influences how they respond to everything they encounter. This is a list of the different traits of each child’s temperament.
  • Activity level: how active the child is
  • Distractibility: the degree to which other things distract from the task at hand
  • Sensitivity: the energy of response to stimuli 
  • Rhythmicity: how regular their hunger, excretion, sleep, and wakefulness
  • Sensory Threshold: intensity of stimulation required to evoke a response
  • Approach/Withdrawal: response to a new object, situation, or person
  • Adaptability: ease of adaptability to changes in child’s environment
  • Persistence: the amount of time devoted to an activity and the effect of distraction on the activity
  • Quality of mood: the amount of friendly, pleasant, joyful behavior as contrasted with unpleasant, unfriendly behavior
Types of children grouped by their range on their temperament traits
  • Easy- 40% of children fall into this category
  • Difficult- 10% of children fall into this category
  • Slow to warm up- 15% of children fall into this category
  • The other 35% of children's temperament doesn't fit exactly into one of the three categories
Parents need to adjust their parenting to fit their child’s temperament. This means they will have to treat each child differently from the next. To deal with difficult children, it is best to allow them extra time to adjust to change and unfamiliar situations. Also try to create situations that take advantage of your child’s innate strengths and avoid their weaknesses. When children are young they don’t have the ability to use self-control to regulate their temperament.

Attachments
  • Secure attachment: Mother is responsive to baby’s needs gives baby faith to rely on her and trust her. Child uses mother as a secure base to explore the world.
  • Insecure-avoidant attachment: Child acts independently. The mother didn’t respond to baby’s needs and thus the child learned they could not rely on the mother.
  • Insecure-ambivalent attachment: Child is very clingy. The mother inconsistently responded to the baby’s needs. Thus the child is confused to whether or not they can trust the mother.
Quotes from the Prophets:
  • To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself. - President Faust
  • In the past, having family prayer once a day may have been all right. But in the future it will not be enough if we are going to save our families. – President Kimball
  • And so it is with being parents. The little things are the big things sewn into the family tapestry by a thousand threads of love, faith, discipline, sacrifice, patience, and work. – President Faust

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