PERCEIVED PARENTAL REARING BEHAVIORS AND TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER INHEALTHY-ADULTS

In a study of 132 healthy individuals, the relationships between Tempe rament and Character traits (assessed by the TCI, Temperament and Char acter Inventory)on the one hand and perceived parental rearing (assess ed by EMBU, Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran-My memories of Upbringi ng) on the other hand, were studied. The temperament dimensions of har m avoidance and reward dependence and the character dimension of self- directedness yielded the most frequent and highest correlations with t he factors rejection, emotional warmth and overprotection. In particul ar rejecting rearing behaviour and lack of emotional warmth of both pa rents during childhood, seemed to constitute a risk factor for develop ment of high harm avoidant behaviour (anticipatory worry, fear of unce rtainty, shyness) and low self-directed behaviour (blaming others, una ble to set goals and values, helplessness, lack of self-acceptance and low self-esteem). II was further found that parental emotional warmth contributed highly to the development of social sensitivity and attac hment (Reward Dependence, RD) and was more pronounced in female than i n male subjects. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.