Different, difficult or distinct? Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of temperament in children with and without intellectual disabilities.
High negative emotion and impulsivity on a quick parent survey spot toddlers with ID/DD whose families need early support.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents filled out the EASI temperament survey. They rated shyness, activity, sociability, emotionality, and impulsivity.
The sample had toddlers with Down syndrome, mixed ID/DD, autism, and typical peers. Moms and dads answered separately so the team could see gender differences.
What they found
Kids with ASD or mixed delays scored highest on shyness, impulsivity, and negative emotion. Parents said these traits hurt family life the most.
Children with Down syndrome were calmer and created less family strain.
How this fits with other research
Lancioni et al. (2006) and Beaumont et al. (2008) seem to disagree. They show money problems and poor health predict parent stress, not child behavior. The clash is about what hurts families most: child traits or poverty.
Zeng et al. (2025) backs the toddler focus. They tracked moms with ID for 15 years and found stress peaks when kids are one to three. Early screening still matters.
Vassos et al. (2016) adds another layer. When dads feel depressed, unsupportive parenting rises and preschoolers with ID show more anxiety. Temperament is only part of the story.
Why it matters
High EASI scores for negative emotion and impulsivity flag families who need help now. Pair the survey with questions about income, parent health, and dad mood. Use the full picture to start supports like respite, parent training, or financial aid before stress grows.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Can ratings of temperament be a way of identifying young children with intellectual disabilities (ID) who are at risk for being experienced as difficult? We aimed to explore parents' reports of temperament in their young children with or without ID, as well as positive and negative impact of the child on parents. METHOD: Mothers and fathers of 55 children recently diagnosed with ID and 183 age-matched typically developing (TD) children completed the EASI Temperamental Survey and two scales of the Family Impact Questionnaire measuring positive and negative impact of the child on parents. RESULTS: Parents rated children with mixed ID/DD (developmental delay) as shyer and more impulsive, and less active and sociable when compared with TD children. Children with mixed ID/DD were also reported to have more negative and less positive impact on the family compared with the TD group. In subgroup analyses, children with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy/motor impairment were described as having less negative impact on parents and were described as low in negative emotionality. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ID/DD nos and other less common diagnoses had a similar pattern of temperament with high emotionality, shyness and impulsivity, and low activity and sociability. Parents of children with ASD and ID/DD reported the highest level of negative impact. CONCLUSIONS: Temperamental characteristics such as high negative emotionality and impulsivity, which can be identified earlier than behavioural problems, could be indicators of negative impact on parents of young children with ID. Despite great variability in temperament among children with mixed ID/DD, results indicated common temperamental characteristics among children with ASD, ID/DD and other diagnosis.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2010 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01309.x