New York longitudinal study

Alexander Thomas, Stella Chess, Richard M. Lerner, Jacqueline V. Lerner, Henry A. Murray Research Center

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the development of personality variables (temperament, anxiety, adjustment, self image), cognitive development and academic achievement, family structure and function, parent-child relations, the development of clinical symptomatology, peer relationships, the development of sexuality, drug use and abuse, vocational interests and career development, and health and physical development. The core sample of this study consisted of 133 white, middle class infants (66 males, 67 females) and their families, who were first contacted in 1956 and followed up on numerous occasions until 1988. The researchers periodically conducted interviews with the subjects' parents in the first two years of life about the child's behaviors innumberous content areas (e.g. sleep, feeding, bathing, toileting, mobility, social responsivity, and sensory...