Applying the concept of temperament to child care

This paper reviews the evidence of inborn temperament individuality in children, which affects the child-caretaker interaction and can be a source of differential treatment approaches. Focus on the dynamic interaction between individual characteristics and environmental demands views the child as a contributor to his or her own development and parent behavior as often reactive rather than the cause of various childhood disturbances.When this article was written, the author was with the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology at Utah State University.