Temperament and Learning Disability

Abstract

The link between learning problems and social-emotional difficulties is well documented and both are associated with temperamental risk factors. Whereas temperament refers to individual differences in biologically based dispositions for responding to and engaging with one's surroundings, developmental outcomes are the products of experiences as influenced by temperament in concert with other variables and the opportunities, challenges, and supports of the child's various contexts. A review of the research supports pathways between temperament and outcomes that are direct, indirect, bidirectional, and hierarchical. Interventions that are informed by temperament may address the various pathways through which temperament influences outcomes.