Developing Anticipatory Guidance Programs Based on Early Assessment of Infant Temperament: Two Tests of a Prevention Model

The effectiveness of temperament-based anticipatory guidance for parents of infants aged 4–12 months was tested in two clinical situations. The model consisted of the Carey-McDevitt Infant Temperament Questionnaire provided to parents at 4 months of infant age, a selection of written guidance tailored to the child's temperament, and subsequent questionnaire follow-up at 8 or 12 months of age. Comparison of the 4-month temperament questionnaire results to the follow-up measures indicated that the Carey ITQ had significant discriminant predictability: Infants with different temperament patterns at 4 months had different patterns of issue and problem occurrence during the time period covered. In addition, the anticipatory guidance program showed significant degrees of differential utility: Parents of infants with more reported problems, or who received more accurate anticipatory guidance, rated the guidance materials as generally more useful. The results indicate that further enhancements and testing of this temperament-based anticipatory guidance model, with more objective outcome measures, are warranted.