Preschool temperament in Turkish children aged 3–6 years: associations with family, perinatal, caregiving, and maternal personality factors

To integrate fragmented evidence on preschool temperament, this cross-sectional study examined correlates spanning demographic and family context, prenatal and perinatal background, caregiving and daily routines, and maternal personality in relation to Reactivity, Persistence, Approach/Withdrawal, and Rhythmicity. A convenience sample of mothers and preschool-aged children (N = 115) was recruited in Bursa, Türkiye. Mothers completed the Short Temperament Scale for Children, the Big Five Inventory, and a background questionnaire; separate hierarchical regressions used a common prespecified block structure. Maternal personality accounted for additional variance in each dimension; family and caregiving domains did so only for Rhythmicity and Reactivity, respectively, whereas prenatal/perinatal increments were nonsignificant. Higher conscientiousness was associated with lower Reactivity and Approach/Withdrawal and higher Persistence and Rhythmicity; higher extraversion was associated with higher Approach/Withdrawal. Greater screen exposure was associated with higher Reactivity; girls had higher Persistence; term-born children had higher Approach/Withdrawal; and higher maternal age was associated with lower Rhythmicity. These exploratory, dimension-specific patterns may inform family-contextualized assessment and guide longitudinal, multi-informant research relevant to family support.