The Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ)

The CBQ is a highly differentiated assessment of temperament in early to middle childhood. Temperament dimensions for which CBQ scales have been developed have been adapted from dimensions we have studied in both adults and infants. Three factors have been reliably recovered from this instrument, labeled Negative Affectivity, Surgency Extraversion, and Effortful Control. The CBQ is currently widely used in developmental research. Along with Samuel Putnam, Dr. Rothbart has developed short and very short versions of the instrument. In addition, a teacher-report version of the CBQ Short Form has been created by Hedy Teglasi.

The following non-English versions of the CBQ forms are available for download:

• Arabic versions of the CBQ Standard (boys’ and girls’), Short, and Very Short Forms, translated by Mirjana Majdandzic, Waleed Al-faisal, and Karakhalil
• A Catalan version of the CBQ Short Form, translated by Nuria de la Osa and colleagues at Unitat d’Epidemiologia i Diagnostic en Psicopatologia del Desenvolupament . Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
• Chinese versions of the CBQ Standard,Short, and Very Short Parent Forms; and Short Teacher-Report Form, translated by Li Qu, Gao Shan, Li Hong, and Philip Zelazo (standard), Linman Li and Guangheng Dong (short) and Song Fang (teacher-report). Selection and minor modifications to create Very Short form conducted by Longfeng Li, Zhang Xiao and Bai Liu.
  
• A Chinese (Taiwan usage) version of the Standard CBQ, translated by Leng-Ling Lay (National Taiwan University), Kung-Yu Hsu (Fo Guang University), and Yunn-Ru Chen (National Taiwan University)
• A Czech version of the CBQ Very Short Form, translated by Lea Takács, Jan Havlíček, Zuzana Štěrbová, Miloň Potměšil, Petra Potměšilová, Lenka Martinec Nováková, Filip Smolík, and Daniela Sobotková
• A Danish version of the CBQ Very Short Form, translated by Marianne Thode Krogh.
• Dutch versions of the CBQ Standard,Short, Very Short Forms, each with girls’ and boys’ versions, translated by Mirjana Majdandzic
• A Filipino-Tagalog version of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Diane Subega.
• A Finnish version of the CBQ Standard Form, translated by Katri Raikkonen-Talvitie and the Developmental Psychology Research Group of University of Helsinki
• French (Quebec) versions of the Short and Very Short CBQ, translated by Francis Lafortune, Michele Dery, and Pierrete Verlaan
• German versions of the Standard, Short, and Very Short CBQ, translated by Franziska Nikolaizig
• A Greek version of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Argyri Eirini
• Hebrew versions of the Standard, Short, and Very Short CBQ, translated by Andrea Berger
• A Hindi version of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Tripti Verma, Ganga Tiwari and Bhoomika R Kar.
• Italian versions of the Short and Very Short CBQ, plus long form effortful control items and extra scales translated by Giada Matricardi
• Japanese versions of the CBQ Standard and Short Forms and additional scales, translated by Emiko Kusanagi
• A Korean version of the CBQ Standard and Very Short Form, translated by Ji-Young Lim and Yun-Jun Bae. VSF created from translation by Eunkyung Shin.
• A Korean version of the CBQ Short Form Teacher Report, adapted from Lim & Bae’s translation by Youlmi Bae.
• A Korean version of the CBQ additional scales. Translated by Youlmi Bae.
• A Lithuanian version of the Standard CBQ, translated by Vilma Zukauskiene and Dalia Nasvytienė
• A Malaysian version of the CBQ Very Short Form, translated by Masadliahani Masduki.
• A Norwegian version of the Standard CBQ, translated by Anne Mari Torgersen
• Norwegian versions of the CBQ Short and Very Short Form, translated by Ellen Beate Sandseter
• A Persian version of the CBQ Short Form, translated by Ali Nouri and Fattaneh Smaeili
• A Persian version of the CBQ Standard Form, translated by Golnoosh Golmohamadi and Farhad Sakhai.
• Polish versions of the Short and Very Short CBQ, translated by Jan Cieciuchand Klaudia Latkowska
• A Polish version of the Teacher CBQ, translated by Natalia Maja Jozefacka.
• Portuguese (Brazilian) versions of the CBQ Standard, Short, and Very Short Forms, translated by Vivian Caroline Klein and Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares.
  
• A Portuguese (European) version of the CBQ Short Form, adapted by Luisa Barros.
• Romanian version of the Standard CBQ, translated by Oana Benga
• Serbian-Bosnian versions of the Standard and Short CBQ, Short form translated by Siniša Lakić, Slavica Tutnjević, and Snježana Miščević; Standard form translated by Olja Borovnica.
• A Sinhala version of the CBQ Short Form, translated for Dilini De Silva by uncredited translators in Sri Lanka
• Spanish (European) versions of the Standard, Short, and Very Short CBQ, Translated by GIPSE (el Grupo de Investigación en PsicologíaEvolutiva at the University of Murcia, Spain) under the supervision of Jose Antonio Carranza
• A Spanish (Mexican) version of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Fernando Salinas-Quiroz.
• A Spanish (Mexican) version of the Standard CBQ, translated by Alberto Falcón Albarrán, Valeria Miramontes and Feri Domm.
• A Syrian version of the Standard CBQ, translated by Mirjana Majdandzic, Waleed Al-faisal, and Karakhalil
• A Swedish version of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Tommie Forslund, Matilda Frick, Maria Johansson, & Karin Brocki
• A Thai version of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Nuanchan Chutabhakdikul, Orapin Lertawasadatrakul and Irravadee Makris.
• A Turkish version of the Short CBQ, translated by Burcu Akin Sari
• Urdu versions of the Very Short CBQ, translated by Nadia Ijaz and Arifa Siddique under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Rukhsana Kausar, with additional adaptations by Attiya Siraj under the supervision of Dr. Humaira Jami; and the teacher-report Short CBQ, translated by Abia Nazim

The Questionnaire

The Children’s Behavior Questionnaire has been designed to measure temperament in children aged 3 to 7 years. The CBQ assesses the following fifteen dimensions of temperament:

• Activity Level: Level of gross motor activity including rate and extent of locomotion.
• Anger/Frustration: Amount of negative affect related to interruption of ongoing tasks or goal blocking.
• Approach: Amount of excitement and positive anticipation for expected pleasurable activities.
• Attentional Focusing: Tendency to maintain attentional focus upon task-related channels.
• Discomfort: Amount of negative affect related to sensory qualities of stimulation, including intensity, rate or complexity of light, movement, sound, and texture.
• Falling Reactivity & Soothability: Rate of recovery from peak distress, excitement, or general arousal.
• Fear: Amount of negative affect, including unease, worry or nervousness related to anticipated pain or distress and/or potentially threatening situations.
• High Intensity Pleasure: Amount of pleasure or enjoyment related to situations involving high stimulus intensity, rate, complexity, novelty, and incongruity.
• Impulsivity: Speed of response initiation.
• Inhibitory Control: The capacity to plan and to suppress inappropriate approach responses under instructions or in novel or uncertain situations.
• Low Intensity Pleasure: Amount of pleasure or enjoyment related to situations involving low stimulus intensity, rate, complexity, novelty, and incongruity.
• Perceptual Sensitivity: Amount of detection of slight, low intensity stimuli from the external environment.
• Sadness: Amount of negative affect and lowered mood and energy related to exposure to suffering, disappointment, and object loss.
• Shyness:Slow or inhibited approach in situations involving novelty or uncertainty.
• Smiling & Laughter: Amount of positive affect in response to changes in stimulus intensity, rate, complexity, and incongruity.

For questions regarding the CBQ, CBQ-SF, or CBQ-VSF, contact Samuel Putnam at [email protected] (postal mail: Department of Psychology, Bowdoin College, 6900 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011)

Please note that these questionnaires are to be used for research purposes only. If you are interested in acquiring current versions of these instruments, we request that you first complete our request form, providing us with a brief description of your plans for use of the measures. Following the completion of your research, we request that you contact us to inform us of the results of your project as they relate to the temperament scales.In this way, we hope to coordinate attempts at validation of the scales.