Two-year-old Jonathan has a difficult temperament. His parents respond with positive interactions, maintain close involvement with him, and to establish a stable home environment. What outcome could be predicted for Jonathan?

d) His difficult behavior will decrease with age.

Explanation:

The options for this question are missing. The options are

a) He will maintain his difficult behavior throughout childhood.

b) No long-term studies have been performed with difficult children, so outcomes cannot be predicted.

c) His difficult behavior will be maintained and even increase over time.

d) His difficult behavior will decrease with age.

According to different psychologists there are 3 types of temperament (the aspect of our personality we are born with) : Easy, difficult, and slow-to-warm-up.

A child with a difficult temperament has difficulties establishing a routine, cries frequently and is usually in a bad mood. However, there are some studies that have found that, if parents of these children maintain a stable home environment (focusing on routines) and have positive interactions with the child instead of focusing on the negative, it is likely that the difficult behavior will decrease as they grow older.

In this example, Jonathan is a difficult child but his parents have positive interactions with him and establish a stable home environment, therefore it is more likely that his difficult behavior will decrease with age.