ACTIVITY LEVEL IN YOUNG-CHILDREN - CROSS-AGE STABILITY, SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES, CORRELATES WITH TEMPERAMENT, AND THE PERCEPTION OF PROBLEM BEHAVIORS

Children's activity level is commonly thought to be a stable character istic, but considerable evidence exists in the literature for situatio nal influences. Two studies are reported in this paper. First, prescho ol children who had been observed when they were toddlers participated in a study to evaluate the consistency of their motor activity level over time and across situations and to evaluate associations between h igh levels of motor activity and other dimensions of temperament. Seco nd, the relations among several measures of activity level and ratings of problem behavior in toddler-age boys and girls were examined. Acti vity level was stable when measured by the same methods in the same si tuation, but not across methods or across situations. Girls, but not b oys, rated high on activity level received positive ratings on tempera ment variables. Boys, but not girls, rated high on activity level were rated by parents and teachers as showing more problem behaviors.