The Origins of Nonverbal Sensitivity

Abstract

A prospective longitudinal design was used to examine the relation between temperament and early parenting variables at age 5 and sensitivity to nonverbal cues at age 31 as measured by the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS). The results showed that 26% of the variance in adult nonverbal sensitivity was accounted for by the childhood variables. Three predictors contributed to good adult decoding skills: easy child temperament, parental harmony, and moderate father strictness. Temperament accounted for the largest percentage of unique variance in adult nonverbal sensitivity (8.8%). No sex differences were found.