The Effect of Temperament on Longitudinal Academic Achievement in Primary School

Two groups of children, one comprised of children with extremely difficult temperament and the other of easy temperament, were compared in terms of their longitudinal academic performance in primary school. The study group and the comparison group, selected from a large nonclinical sample, were balanced for age, sex and socioeconomic status. Results suggest that there is a slight influence of temperament on achievement. Clinical and developmental implications of the findings are discussed. Further longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate whether the sustained weak performance observed in some “difficult” children is clinically and socially meaningful in terms of their prognosis.