Factor structure of the preschool characteristics questionnaire

To develop a measure of temperament for preschool-age children, the Child Characteristics Questionnaire (CCQ) for 24-month-old toddlers (Lee & Bates, 1985) was modified for use at age 4. The modified version was called the Preschool Characteristics Questionnaire (PCQ) and was completed by 121 mothers. Maximum likelihood factor analysis of the PCQ revealed four factors—Persistent/Unstoppable, Negative Adaptation and Affect, Difficult, and Irregular—accounting for 36.1% of the total variance. Correlations between difficult temperament at age 7 months and age 4 years revealed moderate stability of the difficult temperament trait. Of the infants classified as difficult at age 7 months, 46% continued to be perceived as difficult at age 4.