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Background Accuracy of temperament assessment is a prerequisite in research studies. To identify the extent to which parental assessment of child temperament is biased by their personal attributes, we proposed a new structural equation model, in which biases of parental attributes in their assessment of child temperament can be separated from the true (i.e. non-biased) associations between the two. Methods We examined 234 father–mother pairs using questionnaires including Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity; Social Desirability Scale; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; Temperament and Character Inventory; and State–Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Results Paternal Depression and Persistence, maternal Trait Anger, and parental Novelty Seeking showed significant bias in assessment of Emotionality. Maternal Self-transcendence showed significant bias in assessment of child Impulsivity. Conclusion Researchers should be cautious about biases in parental assessment of children's Emotionality and Impulsivity, but other temperament traits may be free from such biases.

Purpose: To study the determinants of current parenting styles in Japan. Methods: Fathers (n = 312) and mothers (n = 333) of children aged between 0 and 10 attending a paediatric clinic were evaluated with regards to the following: parental attitudes rated by spouses using the Parental Bonding Instrument, current dysphoric mood assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, life time history of Major Depressive Episode (MDE), and perceived parenting styles when the parents themselves were children. Results: Path models showed that current parenting styles were predicted by parents perception of maternal rearing during childhood. Moreover, in mothers only, they were predicted by the manner in which the women were raised by their fathers. This prediction was indirect, occurring via lifetime history of MDE and current dysphoric mood. Conclusion: This study suggests that the way in which parents themselves were raised was no less important than how they currently felt in determining how they were raising their child. Current dysphoric mood or lifetime history of MDE mediated such effects only among mothers.

Bonding disorders towards their child has been recognized as a serious problem, which might lead to give adverse effects on the relationship with child or maltreatment towards their child. The aim of this study was to identify the factor structure of the Mother-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS) as well as the determinants of parental bonding disorders in Japan. In this cross-sectional observational study, the MIBS and other psychosocial questionnaires were distributed to 396 fathers and 733 mothers of children aged between 0 and 10, at 20 clinics of Kumamoto prefecture, in Japan. An exploratory factor analysis of the MIBS revealed a two-factor structure: lack of affection (LA) and anger and rejection (AR). A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated its cross-validity, with no statistical differences between fathers and mothers. A multi-group analysis using structural equation modelling demonstrated that LA and AR were predicted by parental dysphoric mood while only AR was predicted by parental anger. To be concluded, the current study suggests that the MIBS has two subscales that can be predicted by intrapersonal and interpersonal variables, and may provide information applicable to the design of therapeutic or preventive approaches to parents with bonding disorders.

In order to examine the intergenerational transmission of reported parenting styles (warmth and control) and their mediation by personality traits, a cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted of 396 fathers and 733 mothers of children from less tan 1 to 10 years of age. The participants used the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) to measure their own and their partner's current rearing styles as well as to assess their perception of the parenting they had received before age 16. Parents' personality traits were measured using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). in both fathers and mothers, the correlation of the grandparents' perceived parenting styles were correlated with the current parenting styles reported by parents themselves greater than with the current parenting styles reported by spouse. Thus, we speculated the shared observer bias and used the spouse-report for further analyses. In the fathers, (1) paternal Care was correlated with the grandmothers' Care and grandparents' low Overprotection; and paternal Overprotection was correlated with the grandfathers' Overprotection; (2) Novelty Seeking was correlated with the grandparents' Overprotection and low Care; Harm Avoidance was correlated with the grandparents' Overprotection; Reward Dependence, Self-directedness, and Co-operativeness were correlated with the grandparents' Care and low Overprotection; and Persistence was correlated with the grandparents' Care; (3) Overprotection was correlated with Harm Avoidance and low Self-directedness. In the mothers, (1) maternal Care was correlated with the grandmothers' Care; (2) Novelty Seeking was correlated with the grandmothers' low Care; Harm Avoidance was correlated with the grandfathers' low Care and the grandparents' Overprotection; Reward Dependence, Self-directedness, and Co-operativeness were correlated with the grandparents' Care and low Overprotection; and Self-transcendence was correlated with the grandfathers' Care; (3) maternal Care was correlated with Reward Dependence, Persistence, and Co-operativeness; and maternal Overprotection was correlated with low Self-directedness. The transmission of Overprotection of fathers and Care of mothers from the grandparent generations was found to be mediated by personality traits.

Accuracy of temperament assessment is a prerequisite in research studies. To identify the extent to which parental assessment of child temperament is biased by their personal attributes, we proposed a new structural equation model, in which biases of parental attributes in their assessment of child temperament can be separated from the true (i.e. non-biased) associations between the two.We examined 234 father-mother pairs using questionnaires including Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity; Social Desirability Scale; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; Temperament and Character Inventory; and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory.Paternal Depression and Persistence, maternal Trait Anger, and parental Novelty Seeking showed significant bias in assessment of Emotionality. Maternal Self-transcendence showed significant bias in assessment of child Impulsivity.Researchers should be cautious about biases in parental assessment of children's Emotionality and Impulsivity, but other temperament traits may be free from such biases.

Background: The EASI Survey, a 20-item parent report, was one of the first instruments developed to measure children’s temperament. Methods: We performed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the EASI items in a randomly halved population of Japanese fathers (n = 237) and mothers (n = 412) of children under four years of age. The factor structure was cross-validated by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Then, parents’ assessments of each temperament were regressed on the other parents’ assessments and then on a variety of intrapersonal and interpersonal variables related to the assessor parents. Results: An EFA yielded a two-factor structure but a four-factor structure according to the original report showed better fit with the data. The new four-factor model (excluding items with low factor loadings) showed in a CFA acceptable goodness-of-fit with the data. This four subscales showed moderate internal consistency. Parental assessment of the EASI subscales was explainable by the assessment rated by the other parent. After controlling it, parents with depression, anger, and less caring attitudes were more likely to rate their child’s Emotionality and Impulsivity higher than their partners. Conclusions: The EASI Survey may be applicable to a Japanese non-clinical child population.

To assess the effects of perceived rearing during childhood on adult trait anger and anger expression, we evaluated parents of young children attending paediatric clinics (N = 1118). Participants rated their trait anger level and anger expression styles using the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and also rated the rearing patterns of their parents during childhood using the Parental Bonding Instrument. A structural equation model suggested that (1) Anger In and Anger Out were predicted by Trait Anger, while Anger Control was predicted by low Trait Anger; (2) Trait Anger was predicted by the affectionless control rearing style of participants’ fathers during childhood, but not by their mothers’ rearing styles; and (3) none of the anger expression scores were predicted directly by the perceived rearing of the participants’ parents. Results did not differ between male and female participants. Adult trait anger may be explained by people’s perception of their rearing during childhood.

22 patients with IgA nephropathy aged 7-16 years, 15 of whom were found by mass urine screening of school children, were divided into three groups based on the degree of their proteinuria at admission: group A (n = 6) below 0.5 g/day of urine protein, group B (n = 7) between 0.6 and 3.0, and group C (n = 9) above 3.0 g/day of urine protein. The degree of proteinuria seemed to be related to the severity of pathological changes of the glomerular basement membrane; most severe in group C, moderate in group B, and minimal in group A. IgA deposits in the mesangial area were found in all groups of patients, but those in the capillary walls were most frequently found in group C. In addition to electron-dense deposits in the mesangial area, which was found in all groups of patients, the subendothelial and subepithelial deposits were the most remarkable changes found in group C. During the clinical observation period, which was between 2.0 and 7.1 years, no patient belonging to group A progressed to groups B or C. 4 cases in group C developed chronic renal failure, but none in the other groups did. The amount of urine protein might be used as a valuable parameter of the pathological damage of the glomerulus in children with IgA nephropathy.