Korean Standardization of Parent Temperament Questionnaire for Children

Choi, Seong Goo; Kim, S Peter; Lee, Soyoung; Joung, Yoosook; Hong, Sungdo David; Kim, E Yong

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: One of the factors that obstructs active progress of the temperament study in Korea is lack of the standardized assessment tools. Therefore, this study was designed and conducted for the purpose of Korean standardization of "Parental Temperament Questionnaire(PTQ)", which was developed by Thomas and Chess, to assess the temperament of children between the ages of 3 and 7 years through parental questionnaire. METHOD: The samples consisted of 1,175 children who were attending nurseries nationwide. PTQ was translated into Korean language by the authors and distributed to the parents of these children, along with "Toddler Temperament Scale(TTS)" and "Yale Child Inventory(YCI)" which had been previously standardized by different investigators. The reliability and validity of the Korean version of PTQ were tested.
RESULTS
Test-retest reliability, item-category correlations and internal consistency of the Korean version of PTQ were generally satisfactory. Correlations between the perceived temperament and the rated temperament were statistically significant in all temperamental categories except distractibility. The correlation between PTQ and TTS was statistically significant in all categories. The 9 categories of PTQ correlated variously with 11 subscales of preschool behavioral assessment of YCI.
CONCLUSIONS
The Korean version of PTQ is a standardized tool to assess the temperament of children between ages 3 and 7 years, which will be a useful basic tool for the study of temperament of Korean children.