T.O.T.S (Temperament Over Time Study)

We are currently carrying out a large longitudinal study investigating the endogenous (temperament, frontal EEG asymmetry, inhibitory control, and attention skills) and exogenous (patterns of mother-child interaction) factors associated with the development of regulated or unregulated social behavior from infancy through early childhood. The research examines the developmental trajectories of three groups: (1) Temperamentally fearful infants (2) Temperamentally exuberant infants and (3) A control group consisting of randomly selected infants.

The study is framed within a model that understands the development of regulated social behavior in the young child as a result of three interacting factors: the child's temperament; the child's developing cognitive and attention skills necessary for regulation of temperamental reactivity; and the manner in which parents care and socialize children of different temperaments, particularly in situations of mild stress or frustration. This study extends our previous work on the biological and environmental factors associated with continuity of behaviorally inhibited children.

This study is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD#17899) and by a MERIT award (4R37HD017899-21) from NICHD.

Principal Investigator:
Dr. Nathan A. Fox

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