More About Children's Temperaments

From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

By Dr James Dobson, Today, 19 Feb 2008 edition

 

More About Children's Temperaments

 

We were talking last time about very strong-willed children versus those with

compliant temperaments, and I shared four findings from a study.

Today, I want to cite a few more conclusions.

 

We wanted to know what parents could expect from strong-willed children

when they reach the teen years. The study showed that 74 per cent of the children

who were tough to handle when they were pre-schoolers went on to rebel significantly

during adolescence.

 

However, strong-willed children showed a rapid decrease in rebellious behaviour

in young adulthood. Their antagonism dropped almost immediately in the early 20s

and then trailed off even more thereafter. A few are still angry into their 20s and early 30s,

but most have lost their fire by that point. Not only does their rebellion eventually run its course,

but 85 per cent of strong-willed individuals tend to return to the values taught by their parents

when they reach adulthood.

 

That should be encouraging to parents who are on the battlefield today.