Temperament risk factors in children: a conference report.

This review presents a report of an international conference and its published monograph, which dealt with three questions. What do we know about temperament risk factors that is useful? Depending on the "goodness of fit," risk factors may affect children's physical health, development, social behavior, or scholastic performance. What has been done or could be done with these findings? Practical applications have been made in pediatrics, psychiatry, and anticipatory guidance by psychologists. The greatest opportunity for wider use of temperament determinations will be in diagnosing and managing problems in behavior and scholastic performance, rather than in routine screening in the general population. What steps can we take in the future? Several are discussed, but the most obvious is further application of what we already know.