INTRODUCTION:

In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned. A great many classificatory schemes for temperament have been developed; none, though, has achieved general consensus in academia. More recently, scientists seeking evidence of a biological basis of personality have further examined the relationship between temperament and character (defined in this context as the learnt aspects of personality). However, biological correlations have proven hard to confirm.

Types of Children

Psychologists found that about 60% of children fall into one of three groups.

The Easy Child -(About 40% of most groups of children) this child showed regular eating, sleeping, elimination cycles, a positive approach response to new situations, and could accept frustration with little fuss. They adapted to change, such as new food or a new school quickly. They showed a good mood most of the time, and smiled often. Most of the problems reported with these children resulted when the child was placed in situations that required responses that were inconsistent with what they had learned at home.

The Difficult Child -(About 10% of children) this child showed irregular eating, sleeping, and elimination cycles. They displayed a negative approach response to new situations, for example frequent and loud crying or throwing tantrums when frustrated. They are slow to adapt to change, and need more time to get used to new food or people. Most of the problems reported with these children centers around socialization patterns, expectations of family, school, and peer groups. If pushed to become immediately involved in a situation, these children were more likely to exhibit loud refusal and sometime oppositional and aggressive behavior.

The Slow-to-Warm-Up Child - (About 15% of children)this child showed negative responses of mild intensity when exposed to new situations, but slowly came to accept them with repeated exposure. They have fairly regular biological routines.

What are temper tantrums?

Temper tantrums is a sudden, unplanned display of anger or behaviors that are attention seeking, which is typically unwanted by the caretaker, and occurs when the child encounters either physical or emotional challenges. Tantrums can include yelling, crying, complaining, throwing things etc. It is estimated that 50- 80% of toddlers (2-3 years of age) experience a tantrum once a week and 20% of them have them daily.

When do they normally begin?

Temper tantrums typically begin between the ages 18 to 36 months as the child continues to develop and gain independence from his or her caretakers. In addition, the environment surrounding the child can also contribute to the development of tantrums. Some of the risk factors are being exposed to violence, depression, substance abuse, and marital stress. It is important to remember that children have different temperaments which also contribute to the way that they express their frustrations.

Traits of Temperament

Thomas and Chess (1970) studied nine behaviors in children in order to understand temperament.

Activity level	Amount of movement and body activity
Biological Regularity	Regularity of biological functions (e.g., sleep-wake cycle, hunger, bowel elimination)
Adaptability	How quickly or slowly the person adapts to a change in routine or overcomes an initial negative response
Approach/Withdrawal	How the person initially reactions to a new person or an unfamiliar situation
Sensitivity Threshold	How sensitive the person is to potentially irritating stimuli (e.g. sound, temperature, crowds, textures, tastes)
Intensity of Emotional Response	How strongly the person reacts to positive and negative situations. The energy level of mood expression, whether positive or negative
Distractibility	How easily the person is distracted by unexpected stimulus.
Quality of Mood	The amount of pleasant and cheerful behavior (positive mood), as contrasted with fussy, sad and unpleasant behavior (negative mood)
Persistence/Attention Span	How long the person will keep at a difficult activity without giving up

Parenting style

The researchers interviewed the parents to try and ascertain the elements of parenting that fostered these qualities. They described four styles of parenting, as listed below, based on how parents used authority.

Authoritarian parents

They are highly controlling in their use of authority and rely on punishment. They value obedience as a virtue and do not encourage give-and-take. They do not expect their children to express disagreement with their decisions.

Authoritative parents

They are warm and communicate well with their children. At the same time, they retain their authority, stay in control and expect mature behavior from their children. They respect their youngsters' independence and decisions, but generally hold firm in their own positions, being clear and explicit about their point of view.

Permissive parents

These parents are warm and accepting, but mainly concerned about not stifling their child's creativity. They make few demands for mature behavior.

Uninvolved parents

They demand little and respond minimally. In extreme cases, this parenting style might entail neglect and rejection.

Ways to recognize tantrums by parents and their characteristics:

Frustration or fatigue related tantrums- Children may often throw tantrums because they are frustrated with themselves, because they cannot accomplish certain tasks (like putting things together, or finishing their homework). At this time providing encouragement, help, a snack, or some sleep is all that needs to be done.

Attention seeking or demanding type tantrums- These tantrums are used by children to get their way (get into under the sink, cabinets, garbage can, drawers, not wanting to go to day care, etc.). They may take the form of whining, crying, rolling on the floor, slamming doors, or in extreme cases breath holding. The best way to handle these tantrums is to completely ignore them. Make sure that your child is safe and move away from him. Never give in to his unreasonable demands. Do not try to argue with your child. Deprive him of all attention, even negative attention.

Refusal type tantrums- The refusal type tantrum occurs when your child refuses to do something he needs to do like go to day care or go to bed. These tantrums can be prevented by giving your child about 5 minutes to make the transition. Setting a kitchen timer may help. If he throws a tantrum, let him have a tantrum for 2-3 minutes and then physically take him to the intended location (like the car or to bed).

Disruptive tantrums- Disruptive tantrums are those in which the child is yelling, screaming, hitting you, throwing objects, or damaging property. These are simply impossible to ignore and should not be ignored. Putting your child in a time-out for 2-5 minutes (one minute for each year of age) is the best technique to deal with this type of tantrum.

Harmful or rage type tantrums- Rage type tantrums are ones in which your child is screaming and totally out of control. He could also be violently throwing himself backwards or creating a possible risk for injury. At this time you should hold your child, and acknowledge his anger without losing control yourself. Hold him until you feel him relax and then let him go.

Guidelines for Parents

From a number of research studies plus Tavris, the following guidelines are suggested for building child self-control and self-esteem.

1. Learn to deal with your own and others' anger.

2. Distract or redirect the child.

3. Be prompt and brief with discipline..

4. Try to discover the reason for your child's anger or temper tantrum.

5. Avoid shaming your child about being angry.

6. Teach children about intensity levels of anger.

7. Set clear limits and high expectations for anger management, appropriate for your child's age, abilities, and temperament..

8. Notice, compliment and reward appropriate behavior Teaching your child to do the right things is better (and easier) than constantly punishing bad behavior.

9. Maintain open communication with your child..

10. Teach understanding and empathy by calling your child's attention to the effects of his or her actions on others.

Can tantrums be prevented?

There might be no foolproof way to prevent tantrums, but there's plenty you can do to encourage good behavior in even the youngest children.

· Be consistent.

· Plan ahead.

· Encourage your child to use words

· Let your child make choices. Praise good behavior.

· Use distraction to change your child's focus

· Avoid situations likely to trigger tantrums.

· Expectations.

· Warnings

· Avoid Known Problems

REFERENCES:

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2. Bhatia, M. S., Dhar, N. K., Singhal, P. K., Nigam, V. R., Malik, S. C., & Mullick, D. N. (1990). Temper tantrums: Prevalence and etiology in a non-referral outpatient setting. Clinical Pediatrics, 29, 311-315.

3. Chamberlin, R. W. (1974). Management of preschool behavior problems. Pediatric Clinic of North America, 21, 33-47.

4. DeBord, K. (1996). Appropriate limits for young children: A guide for discipline, part two (FCS-456). Raleigh: North Carolina Extension Service.

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Received on 29.12.2012 Modified on 20.01.2013

Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research 3(2): April.-June 2013; Page 66-68