Structure of observed temperament in middle childhood

•We derived a four-factor structure of observed temperament in middle childhood.•Factors include: PE/sociability, disinhibition/anger, sadness, fear/behavior inhibition.•Disinhibition/anger was positively related to externalizing child problems.•Sadness was positively related to internalizing and externalizing child symptoms.•Fear/behavior inhibition was negatively related to child CD symptoms.

Although much is known about the structure of adult temperament and personality, significantly less is known about the structure of child temperament. We examined the structure of child temperament in 205 seven-year-olds using observational measures. Exploratory factor analysis identified factors representing positive emotionality/sociability, disinhibition/anger, fear/behavioral inhibition, and sadness. The predictive validity of these dimensions was evaluated by examining their associations with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms: positive emotionality/sociability showed positive associations with ADHD symptoms, disinhibition/anger showed positive associations with externalizing symptoms, fear/behavioral inhibition showed negative associations with ADHD and CD symptoms, and sadness showed positive associations with both internalizing and externalizing problems. These associations were consistent with extant literature on temperament and psychopathology, supporting the validity of the structure obtained.