Parental treatment, children’s temperament, and the risk of childhood behavioral problems: 1. Relationships between parental characteristics and changes in children's temperament over time.

Preschool children's temperament scores, correlated with eight parental domains, revealed that parental intolerance, inconsistency, and conflict were associated with negative temperament changes; strictness and maternal concern/protectiveness with both positive and negative changes, depending on age and sex. Implications with respect to the etiology of children's behavioral problems are explored.