Understanding Your Child's Temperament [Paperback]

William B. Carey (Author)

Book Description

Series: Understanding | Publication Date: January 4, 1999

"This book … should revolutionize parenting for many readers." —Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, from the Foreword From a Respected Pediatrician Comes This Liberating Approach to Parenting Dr. William B. Carey, director of Behavioral Pediatrics at the renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, brings important research to the public in this enlightening book. Unlike many approaches to parenting that view children in relation to just one particular trait or behavior, Understanding Your Child's Temperament offers a way to look at your child in his or her totality, as a combination of nine different kinds of behavioral styles. Temperament is an individual's unique way of reacting to people, things, and situations—at home, at school, and in the community. Anxious parents can breathe a sigh of relief: Dr. Carey makes it clear that a child's temperament is mostly inborn, and not something caused by "good" or "bad" parenting. And, reassuringly, he explains that while about 50 percent of a child's temperament is genetic, parents can learn to work with it to prevent and reduce problems. Using Dr. Carey's practical strategies, parents will learn how to:

• profile a child's temperament in relation to nine aspects: activity • adaptability • distractibility • initial reaction • intensity • mood • persistence and attention span • regularity • sensitivity
• see both the positive and negative sides of temperaments
• apply the most rewarding techniques for working with your child's inborn nature
• tailor parental discipline to each child's temperament, and more

Comprehensive and filled with Dr. Carey's warm and wise counsel, Understanding Your Child's Temperament belongs in every family's library and is sure to be consulted again and again. http://www.mgr.com

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has once again produced a remarkably wise and useful reference for parents. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is spot-on when he says in the foreword that the book "should revolutionize parenting for many readers." That is, especially for those parents who are tired of euphemistically referring to their kid as a "spirited child" and find themselves frequently exhausted and embarrassed by their child's temper tantrums, insensitive remarks, and general impatience, self-centeredness, and irritability. Instead of merely advocating ways to discipline behavioral problems, this book will help you fathom just where your child's inscrutable (but normal) outbursts are coming from--to prevent and better manage them in the future.

During his 30 years of research into childhood and adolescent behavior, author Dr. William B. Carey has found that temperament is about 50 percent genetic. So even if you were a little monster and have found your fruit hasn't fallen far from the tree, there's that whole other 50 percent that can be improved upon. He's also found that temperament can be separated into nine aspects: activity, adaptability, distractibility, initial reaction, intensity, mood, persistence and attention span, regularity, and sensitivity.

Once Dr. Carey has walked you through the process of profiling your child's temperament according to these easy-to-comprehend factors (and the ways it affects you that you're probably unaware of), you'll learn specific techniques for managing your child's behavioral problems both at home and at school. He also offers tips for parenting siblings whose temperaments may be quite different from each other; helpful facts on temperament's relationship to learning disabilities; and its influence on common physical problems such as sleep disorders, bed wetting, and obesity. With page after page of enlightening tips, Understanding Your Child's Temperament is certainly a sanity saver for exhausted parents.

From Booklist

Learning about and understanding children's temperaments or ways of reacting are increasingly important parenting tools because they influence how well parents and children get along. A poor "fit" of parents and children may lead to problems in children's development, behavior, school performance, and even physical health. Carey draws on research, clinical practice, and case studies to describe nine temperamental traits (activity, regularity, initial reaction, distractibility, etc.), a simple technique for assessing them, the ways children's temperaments affect parents, and tips for managing differences to avoid behavioral problems. Clear and concise, Carey's book provides a basic reference for parents unfamiliar with the depth and scope of temperament and with the impact temperament has on children's development. Kathryn Carpenter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (January 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028628268
• ISBN-13: 978-0028628264
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,984,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely useful book for all parents!, December 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Your Child's Temperament (Hardcover)

This book is an extremely helpful resource for all parents, especially those who consider their children difficult. An explanation is given of what temperament is, along with a discussion of the wide range of normal behaviors, some of which have traditionally been labeled as abnormal in the past but are actually just variations of normal. The book's most useful aspect as I see it is its guidelines for reducing the amount of stress and conflict between parent(s) and child(ren). A suggested plan is given for identifying the temperament profile of your child and how to spot the trouble areas, which depend not only on the child's innate temperament but how well that temperament "fits" with the parent's expectations for the child. To alleviate stress in problem areas (such as a naturally slow and careful child with active, fast-paced parents who are aggravated by the child's pace) Dr. Carey gives many specific suggestions and strategies for adapting to the child's style. This is one thing I really like about the book: there are many, many specific, concrete examples and suggestions of things to say and do, that a parent can use right away. Besides the notion that many behaviors considered "problems" by some parents and health care professionals are actually variations of normal behavior, another important point is that extremes of behavior that are problematic in a small child (such as dogged persistence leading to inflexibility) can be assets later in life (persistence is a good thing for most adults). This book can change lives for parents who are fed up with their children, or who find themselves at their wits' end dealing with them. It can immediately make life easier for all members of a family. Even for parents who don't feel quite so frazzled by their children, there is much important insight to be gained from Understanding Your Child's Temperament. I recommend it to all parents.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insight into children's behavior, April 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Your Child's Temperament (Paperback)

Even though I am only an aunt to two children - and not a parent - I found that this book provides valuable information for anyone dealing with children. Dr. Carey dispells the myth that babies and children are 'blank slates' that can be regulated, scheduled and expected to behave in certain ways. One of the most heartening aspects of the book is that Dr. Carey shows both the "positive" and "negative" aspects of each type of termperament he identifies, avoiding completely the categorizing of any sort of personality as 'problematic.'

His argument against the use of Ritalin is very persuasive, as so many of the children prescribed the drug are actually exhibiting behaviors that are within the range of "normal." Parents having "trouble" dealing with their child's behavior would learn a great deal from this book, particularly how modifying their own actions can influence an individual child's "fit" with his or her environment.

The writing is quite accessible, with concrete examples to illustrate the key points and strategies that can be applied when dealing with children. I've recommended this book to several of my friends and colleagues with children, and they have all found it thoroughly useful and informative. And I, merely as a party interested in behavior and children, found it an accessible and fascinating book that taught me a great deal about how to deal with my own niece and nephew!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars temperment analysis is a powerful tool to figure out a child, May 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Your Child's Temperament (Hardcover)

this temperment approach makes sense of a lot of my two children's behavior over the last few (9 &5) years. I've seen way too many children on ridelin and agree with the author that temperment has to be considered before we start doping up our kids with speed to make them temporarily easier to deal with. The case studies are carefully selected and get across the author's theories effectively while making the book understandable to any parent interested in children's behavier.