Perceived Temperamental Characteristics and Regulation of Physiological Stress: A Study of

Exploredprospectively were the temperamental dimensions involved in the modulation of wheeziness in infancy. Subjects were 69 infants, 4 to 8 months old, referred to the emergency room because of wheeziness, and a control group of 30 infants, 4 to 8 months old, referred to the emergency room be-cause of an acute illness other than wheeziness. Infant respiratory clinical score for wheeziness was registered and the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire were completed. Fourteen months later the reccurrence of wheeziness attacks—that is, asthma—was investigated. Maternal reports of infant's rhythmicity signifcantly improved the prediction of asthma among wheezy babies; wheezy babies were perceived as significantly less active than nonwheezy babies. KEY WORDS: asthma; temperament; rhythmicity; infants. Temperament has been recently defined as consisting "of relatively consis-tent, basic dispositions inherent in the person that underlie and modulate the expression of activity, reactivity, emotionality and sociability". (Gold-smith et al., 1987, pp. 524). While most approaches emphasize the biologi-cal and personological basis of this construct, the effect of environmental factors on temperamental characteristics and on maternal perceptions of tem-•This research has been supported by the Levin Center for the Development of the Child an